Skirting-mounted sockets

[Kevin]

I have to prepare a relative's property for sale, and anticipate the absence of any paperwork for wiring may raise some eyebrows. None of the wiring is older than 1985, bonding looks thorough, and the Consumer Unit has mcbs and a single RCD protecting all circuits.

But there are 7 sockets mounted with steel back boxes directly on/in the timber skirting. Are these likely to cause "don't touch it without a re-wire" reports?

I could just replace some of them with wago connectors or chocolate blocks behind blanking plates, but, given that I don't really want to do serious redecorating, what would be your recommendation?

If I try to anticipate buyers' reactions and commission a Condition Report, what sort of cost would I be looking at? (East Midlands)

[Tim Watts]

Given sockets may be mounted in wooden panelling, the wood itself is not a concern.

The problem that might be spotted is if the leads from plugs are kinked by being in close proximity to the floor - and that depends on the skirting height.

[Huge]

Having recently moved house, I wouldn't worry about it, frankly. No-one so much as asked.

[Chris Bartram]

We sold my Mom's house about this time last year: the only requirement for paperwork was for work done after the date that part P certification was required, IIRC. We were asked when/if it was rewired (c. 1985).

[Huge]

Also, we sold my M-I-L's house about 4 years ago after she went into a nursing home. We gave the purchasers what little documentation we could find and responded to everything else with a shrug. The only problems that arose were totally unforeseen by us; the variations in my M-I-L's name on different bits of paper (some with and some without middle names). My wife had to swear an oath that they were the same person, and the right of way through the passage between M-I-L's house and the next door neighbour.

No-one so much as mentioned electrics, insulation, Part 'P', plumbing or anything else that people fret about on here.

[John Rumm]

Leave them as they are. No one will be that fussed, and then if questioned (unlikely) you know nothing about the electrics, and can only advise the new buyer to have their own checks done if they are at all concerned.

Leave it neat and tidy. Slap a coat of emulsion on things if they need it or look tired. Wipe any gunge off switches and sockets, and replace any obviously broken fittings. That ought to be enough. If someone comes back and says it needs a full rewire (usually just as a stick to try beat the price down), you can either tell em its a buyers market and you have other offers, or agree a reduction in price depending on the actual circumstances at the time.

[Huge]

Spot on.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Surface mounted anything in a living area would throw up doubts here. Says a cheap job has been done.

[Brian Gaff]

How likely is it to flood? To be honest it sounds more modern than mine and its only my own ones that are that low down, most are in the walls, but I have no complex circuit breakers, just the usual button ones of old.

If you are elderly the higher sockets are nice to have of course, but is it really less safe no matter what the regs say? People need to make offers on property taking into consideration expected expenses. If you do all the work and only get a small bit more for it, you have wasted your time and money. Brian

[tabbypurr]

+1, it's a non-issue really. Electrics don't need to be redone to the latest regs to sell.

If such things are raised it's purely an empty negotiating tactic, and usually best not taken seriously.

NT

[Andrew]

Quite.

If a female is involved in the purchase then she will only care about the kitchen, bathroom, whether it has a pony paddock, is in the catchment area for a decent school and has parking for at least three diesel 4X4's.

If there are snazy downlighters then she won't even consider the possibility that the original 1 mm wiring might be overloaded or wrapped around the hottest part of the downlighters.

The only thing that puts off a female buyer is if the property has a baxi bermuda back boiler, even if it is in perfect condition and very effective, or if the bathroom is nice and clean but has a pampas green suite.

If it was anywhere near London then it might as well have gas lighting, an outside toilet and original DC rubber wiring because there will be a queue of buyers.

[Andrew]

I thought the OP meant the metal back boxes had been sunk into the skirting board (which is quite possible with 11 inch deep skirting that has a big gap behind the lower, widest section).

All the fancy brass power sockets in the House of Layabouts are installed like this.

In this case all I would do is make sure than proper grommets have been used where the cable enters through the knockout.

[Graeme]

In message , Huge writes

Agreed. That sort of thing has never arisen when I have bought or sold properties, and didn't when we sold my mother's flat a few months ago. The usual enquiry form, of course, but most of that was 'don't know', which did not put off the purchaser.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Difficult to know what he meant. My initial read was he was concerned they weren't at waist height. Which only idiots would put up with in a living room.

No - that was last year. This year it is polished chrome. Or black?

It makes sense to have the electrics checked before buying any house. But to do a thorough job will take a deal of time, and mean disturbing fittings. Not something I'd allow just anyone to do here, if I were selling.

[Huge]

[13 lines snipped]

My M-I-L's house was in North London, and although recently rewired (I brow-beat her into having it done), otherwise it was in desperate need of refurbishment. Although structurally sound, it needed new windows throughout & external doors, a heating system and insulation installed, a new kitchen and bathroom, totally redecorating and doubtless much else. We went to sealed bids and got £20K over the asking price.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A neighbour across the road recently moved out. They had within the last few years spent over a quarter of a million on a basement conversion - and said they would only sell if they got their asking price. Just testing the water, as all they really wanted was to stay in the area, but have a larger back garden. So I assume they did get their asking price, or more.

New owners haven't moved in yet - about a couple of months. But workmen have been in all that time. Doing gawd knows what as it was in near perfect condition, inside and out.

[Kevin]

On 19/04/17 08:55, Kevin wrote: [snip request for advice on electrics in house being sold]

OP here:

To confirm the detail: 7 sockets in total are mounted on 6x1 nominal skirting boards. They each have a standard 25mm or so "metal box" behind them. These sockets are therefore non-compliant on height, and an easy target for any inspection.

My concern arose from having just lost a "buyer". Details are unclear, partly because people (especially estate agents) don't always tell the truth. The "buyer" had commissioned a survey of some sort, and the surveyor told me he'd found nothing serious but in the absence of an electrical report, he'd be recommending an inspection. Fast forward to the "buyer" telling the agent it needed (inter alia) completely rewiring, and then deciding she didn't want to go ahead at any price. OK, she'd changed her mind - it happens - but my concern is that she is almost exactly the type of buyer it will attract. We're trying to get hold of the survey to see what he actually said, but if I could avoid recurrence by doing something relatively trivial, it might be worth it. We are dealing with old ladies, not necessarily rational beings.

[Huge]

*Nobody* involved in buying and selling houses tells the complete unvarnished truth. It brings out the worst in all involved.

[tabbypurr]

you don't say whether these are surface mount boxes or flush ones, and whether they're surface mounted or flush.

immaterial

all surveys say that, it's arse covering.

on what basis? It sounds unlikely.

unlikely to be anything to do with wiring. If it is then they're going to find the same with nearly every house.

If your buyer pulled out they did so for reasons you're not likely to solve by paying for a rewire. And you won't get the cost of it back on the sale price.

NT

[Capitol]

Daughters house in Crouch End sold for >750K some years ago, the CU was loose in a cupboard adjacent to the fireplace with the worst wiring i've ever seen. I think it would now sell for >1M and it's totally crap. Sold in a few weeks IIRC!