When you’re renovating a room or an entire house… Not all the jobs are glamorous ones. Yes, it’s fun painting walls and arranging furniture – but it’s the ‘less glamorous’ jobs you’ll want to ensure you’ve done right. 

Rewiring is one of those jobs. Rewiring might not be the most exciting DIY job on your list, but it’s likely one of the most important and one of the most urgent too. Getting a good electrical system in your home, and ensuring the house has been rewired correctly is so important to getting your home ‘up and running’ quickly.

First and foremost 

We want to give you our biggest tip with regards to rewiring. 

That has to be, if you’re not a professional with experience in electrics, get someone else (a professional!) to do the work. We know you’ve come here to read DIY tips and to figure out how to do it yourself – but the biggest favour you can do for yourself at this stage, is to put budget towards getting a professional involved, so you know everything has been completely safely and in-line with industry standards. 

Electricians got through years of training, and it’s because rewiring and electricals are difficult and need an expert touch. For many people – they think doing their electrics themselves will save them money in the long run – but when things go wrong further down the line, it might cost more to replace or repair whatever the mistake was. 

When you hire a professional, you cut out the risks of that happening, and you can sleep easier knowing the job has been done right, the first time. It’ll save you time too – as you won’t need to be researching and reading instructions. Remember – by choosing to rewire a house yourself, you are risking making it worse. Faulty wiring is actually one of the main causes of electrical accidents, and can cause fires and serious accidents. 

But we understand that sometimes hiring a professional just isn’t possible, so keep reading for our Dos and Don’ts in regards to rewiring!

DO – Look for safety accreditations 

When you’re doing the electrics yourself, you’ll also need to buy the equipment yourself too. This means researching appropriate brands and fittings, and ensuring you’ve picked the right combination of items. One thing to always look for, and to spend time checking – is safety and quality accreditations. Always look for the right safety markings, and be suspicious of anything that seems to ‘cheap’. 

DO – Take your time 

If you haven’t rewired a house before, don’t rush it. It needs to be done with plenty of research, care and attention-to-detail. Skipping small details, or scanning over important information can lead to lethal mistakes and dangerous outcomes. Electricity is something that has the power to be extremely dangerous if done incorrectly, so you need to ensure you’re following every step to the letter.

DO – Familiarise yourself with the law

Electricity needs to comply with lots of regulations, and if you’re working on an apartment, or even a maisonette – you’ll need to check in with the building’s regulations before doing any work. You need to be sure the work you’re doing is legal too, and passes safety standards. Remember – for a lot of buildings, they require houses to be wired by a professional (with proof) – and if it isn’t you’ll struggle to sell or rent the property going forwards. 

DO – Ask for help 

If you have a friend who is an electrician, maybe they can come and give you some guidance or help when it comes to rewiring your home. Some of us know people in the trade industries, and their knowledge is really valuable on DIY projects like this.

DON’T – Be lazy 

One of the key things we want to communicate with you if you’re planning on rewiring your home yourself – if not to be lazy or cut corners. If you’re doing this as a DIY job, then you need to ensure you are paying attention to every small detail, and fully researching all options and techniques.

DON’T – Overlook safety 

When fitting electrics, don’t ever overlook safety precautions. It’s not just for your own wellbeing, but for your families and friends too. You don’t want any accidents in the home whilst you’re rewiring, and you certainly don’t want any afterwards. Don’t overlook the safety aspect of a DIY job – just because it is DIY doesn’t mean it has to be dangerous

DON’T – Work when you’re tired 

Sounds obvious, but people have a habit of fitting in DIY projects whenever they have a ‘spare minute’ in between their everyday routines and working hours. Don’t be tempted to fit in rewiring during a busy day, or when you’re feeling sleepy or tired. That’s how mistakes are made, and mistakes will end up costing your more time and money. Rewiring requires you to be focussed, alert and energetic.