Moving out for a rewire is the easiest option and the least realistic one for most families. The alternative is a phased approach where the house is rewired room by room or floor by floor, with power and lighting maintained in the areas you are using. It works well when planned properly and badly when it is improvised. This guide covers what to expect and how to prepare.
How a phased rewire is organised
The installation is divided into stages, typically by floor or by zone, and each stage goes through first fix, second fix and testing before the next begins. Temporary arrangements keep essential circuits live in occupied areas, and the consumer unit change is usually scheduled near the end when most new circuits are ready to land in it.
Expect one or two full days without power, usually for the board change and final connection. Everything else should be partial outages of a few hours in specific areas.
What each day looks like
First fix days are the messiest: lifting floorboards, chasing walls for cables and back boxes, drilling joists and running cable. There will be dust, and rooms in the current phase will be unusable during working hours.
Second fix is quieter: fitting accessories, terminating and testing. Making good, filling and plastering follows, and decoration is normally arranged separately unless it has been included.
Preparing the house
The single biggest factor in how long a rewire takes is access. Clear rooms in the phase being worked on, lift carpets where possible, empty fitted wardrobes on external walls and provide access to the loft and under stairs. Every hour the electrician spends moving furniture is an hour not spent wiring.
- Clear and cover furniture in the active phase
- Lift carpets and clear cupboards on wiring routes
- Provide loft access and clear the consumer unit area
- Agree parking and a place for materials and waste
- Set aside one room as a dust free retreat
Living around it
Agree which circuits must stay live, and be specific: the fridge freezer, the router, one kitchen socket, the boiler, and whichever room the children sleep in. Give that list to the electrician at the planning stage rather than on the morning of the outage.
Plan meals around the days the kitchen will be down. A kettle and a microwave on an extension from a live circuit covers most situations, but only if that has been discussed in advance.
Dust, damage and making good
Chasing walls produces fine dust that travels. Dust sheets, plastic screens across doorways and closing internal doors help considerably. Ask whether making good is included and to what standard: filled and ready for decoration is normal, finished and painted usually is not.
Photograph rooms before work starts. It removes any later disagreement about what was already there.
Timescales
A phased rewire of an occupied three bedroom house typically runs longer than the same job in an empty property, because of access constraints and the need to leave rooms usable overnight. Agree an expected duration and a rough phase schedule in writing at the outset.
Delays usually come from unexpected findings behind walls and floors, particularly in older properties. Building a small contingency into your expectations is realistic rather than pessimistic.
Certification and completion
At completion you should receive an electrical installation certificate covering the new installation, a schedule of circuits, test results and building control notification. Walk round with the electrician and check every accessory works, every light switches from every switch position and the board is labelled clearly.
Keep the paperwork somewhere findable. It is asked for at sale and it is the record of exactly what was installed and when.
Keeping the household sane
Small things make a disproportionate difference over two or three weeks. Agree working hours in advance. Keep one room sealed and dust free. Have a plan for pets, who dislike open floorboards and strangers in equal measure. Take photographs at the end of each phase so you can see progress. And agree a single point of contact so questions get answered once rather than being asked of whoever happens to be on site.
Common questions
- How long will the power be off?
- Usually one or two full days for the board change, plus shorter local outages during each phase.
- Can I stay in the house throughout?
- Yes, with a phased plan and an agreed list of circuits that must remain live.
- How much dust is there?
- A lot during chasing. Screens across doorways and closed internal doors make a large difference.
- Is redecoration included?
- Usually not. Making good to a fill and ready to decorate standard is the normal scope.
- What paperwork do I get?
- An electrical installation certificate, circuit schedule, test results and building control notification.
We phase rewires around occupied homes and agree the plan in writing before we start. Ask for a rewire survey.
Related guides
- How Long a Rewire Actually TakesThe electrical work is only part of the calendar — plaster drying is often the longest single item.
- Partial Rewire or Full Rewire: How to DecideA partial rewire is the right answer more often than people think, and the wrong one more often than they hope.
- What Drives the Cost of a House RewireA rewire is priced on access and disruption far more than on cable.