What is meant by house rewire exactly, and is it normal for the light fittings to be taken ?

The term rewire, is as it sounds, replacing all cabling that is not in good condition, with regards to the fittings, that would be down to what you agreed with the electrician, he may have disposed of all waste unless you say that you want to keep them. I always ask the customer if there is anything they want to keep, otherwise its all in the skip. Regards Chris

Hi, A "full" house rewire usually means all of the existing wiring will be removed and completely be re-wired starting from a new consumer unit going all the way through the accessories ( sockets / switches / light drops ect ). Usually ( but not always ) new earth cables are run into the mains water stoptap and the incoming gas pipe ( meter ). The rewire must conform to the current regulations ( bs7671 ) and as such offer full RCD protection. After the rewire has been completed your electrician will fully test and certify and give you the certificates, through his Part P organisation building control will also be informed that a rewire has been carried out. The old cables / lights / sockets are usually disposed off by the electrician. If the current lights were valuable or of a sentimental value to you the electrician should have asked you if you require them keeping. If you did require them keeping he would have removed them a bit more delicately than normal to ensure that they did not get damaged. Hope this helps Nigel NJM Electrical

It is considered wise to rewire a house if the existing wire is old, black in colour especially around service points like switches, light fittings, and sockets. the existing wire might not be of good enough quality to carry the required amps need to supply appliances. With poor quality wires there is an increased risk of electrical fires. Yes the existing fittings would be disposed of unless they are recently bought and could be reused.