What actually drives the timescale.
- Size and storeys. More rooms means more circuits, and more floors means more vertical cable routes to fight for.
- Occupied or empty. An empty property rewires fastest. An occupied one is planned room by room so you always have somewhere to live, which stretches the programme slightly.
- Construction. Solid walls chase slower than stud walls. Original floorboards lift kinder than glued chipboard.
- The finish. First fix is quick. It is the making good, plastering of chases and second fix that carry the tail of the job.
The order of work.
A well-run rewire follows the same shape: agree the layout socket by socket first, then first fix the new cabling while the old system keeps the lights on, then switch over to the new consumer unit, then second fix faceplates and fittings, then test and certify. The switch-over day is the only day the power is properly off, and you get warning of it.
How to keep the disruption down.
Three things matter more than anything the electrician does. Decide the socket and switch positions before work starts, because changes after plastering are the expensive kind. Clear each room before its turn comes. And if you can move out for the first fix week, take the chance, though plenty of families live through it fine.
Asked about this.
Can you rewire a house while we live in it?
Yes, and most of our domestic rewires are done exactly that way, room by room with the power staying on outside the room being worked.
Does a rewire include a new fuse board?
Almost always. The new circuits terminate in a modern consumer unit with RCD protection, and the certificate covers the whole installation.
How do I know if my house needs rewiring?
Age is the clue but not the verdict. Rubber or fabric-insulated cable, a fuse box with rewirable fuses, or sockets that pre-date the modern flat-pin standard all point to a survey. An EICR gives you the honest answer before any commitment.