Two tips for homeowners who want to stay in their properties whilst they are being rewired
If you have hired an electrician to rewire your home and you are planning to remain in the property throughout the rewiring process, here are a few tips that should make this experience as simple and straightforward as possible.
Make it easy for the electrician to do their job
If you want to ensure that your rewiring project is completed quickly and efficiently, then it's important to make it as easy as possible for the electrician to do their job.
For example, rather than asking them to move your furniture out of the way or to take down the photos or artwork from your walls (so that they can access the wiring behind your home's walls), you should take care of these tasks yourself before they start the rewiring process.
This means that they won't have to spend their time and energy moving your possessions out of harm's way before they can actually begin to replace your home's electrical system.
Additionally, a week or two before they are due to start rewiring your property, you should purchase a few inexpensive items that will enable you to store and heat up food and drink without access to mains electricity.
For instance, you might want to buy a small camping stove so that you can heat up small amounts of food, a battery-operated kettle so that you can make hot drinks, as well as a cool box that will prevent your perishable consumables from going off.
Having these items on hand will mean that you won't be forced to disrupt the rewiring process by asking your electrician to switch on the electricity supply every time you want to make a cup of coffee or prepare a meal.
Keep a very close eye on your children and pets
If you have children or pets that will be present in the house throughout the rewiring process, it is extremely important to keep a very close eye on them at all times.
There are several reasons why you need to do this. Firstly, if your children, dogs or cats are running around the rooms in which the electrician is working, they may distract this person and or accidentally damage some of their tools and equipment. This could potentially extend the length of the rewiring project.
Secondly, if they are allowed to play unsupervised in a room that is being rewired and the electricity supply is back on, they could touch and then be electrocuted by the exposed wires that are protruding from the walls.
Furthermore, if the electrician has had to break through large sections of the wall to replace the wiring behind it, there may be large and very sharp plaster shards left lying on the ground. If your pet or your child steps on this plaster, the shard could cut their skin and leave them with a severe wound.