How do I know if my house needs rewiring?
Age and evidence: wiring in old red-and-black colours predates 2006, rewireable fuses suggest decades without major work, and any rubber or fabric-covered cable means 1960s or earlier and genuine urgency. The definitive answer costs £150 to £280: an EICR tests every circuit and codes exactly what needs doing.
Start with the visible clues. Open the meter cupboard: a modern consumer unit with switches suggests relatively recent work; a board with rewireable fuse carriers or a wooden backboard suggests the opposite. Look at cable colours where any are visible (loft, under stairs): red and black cores predate 2006; brown and blue are current-era.
The urgent tier is textural: cable insulated in rubber (perishing, black, crumbles at a touch) or fabric braid dates from the 1960s or earlier and is beyond its design life in the most literal sense. Finding any is a rewire conversation now, not eventually.
Symptoms add weight without being conclusive: scarce sockets and extension-lead dependence, lights dimming under appliance load, warm plates, frequent tripping (or worse, never tripping because nothing modern protects the circuits). Houses that feel electrically tired usually are.
Then stop guessing: an EICR turns all of this into tested readings and codes for £150 to £280. It is the correct first step for buyers, inheritors and anyone whose honest answer to 'when was it last checked?' is never. Sometimes the answer is a relieving 'the seventies rewire is holding up fine'; either way you decide from evidence.
More in rewiring & fuse boxes, or browse all 40 questions on the FAQ index.
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