Quite Harvey I think this latest man was 'extra keen' and a fanatic about regulations .

and we've all met some of them in our lives

This 'cyber plonk' is not having the desired effect on me Losos!

I think I'd sum it up like this - if your house was re-wired 17 yrs ago and you've been living in it since - you would know by now if there was ANY problem with the electrics.

I will treat you one day to the responses I had to (by law) send to my solicitor the last time I bought so he could be absolved from blame for all the stuff I DID NOT want carried out! Turns out (if you don't need a mortgage) there are very few checks that are compulsory.

Thank you all for your great help and opinions. It's great to be able to come on here and get people's opinions knowing they are not giving me advice to benefit themselves. Seemed to have a lot of this recently.

I will see what his electrician says when he comes next month and if I am not happy I will get my own. I haven't had any problems with the electrics but I would definitely get the sockets changed to match the new Walls.

Hi.Sockets are easy peasy,they dont really need an Electrician,but if electrics worry you as they worry me,and you feel better having them done by an electrician,its just the cost and everyone seems to have an opinion which in the end costs you more money crystalgirl

Hi just thought I would update on my wiring question. The electrician came last week and to my surprise didn't try to hard sell me a rewire. He basically said my wiring was fine and if he was to rewire it it would be the exact thickness that it Is now just a different colour.
He said if it was him he would have it done just so that it was updated and would look good if I later sold my house. Also if I had it done he would install smoke alarms .

I think I will leave It as it would mean I could spend extra on my new kitchen.

Good to get the update. I'd do the same as you are. If it ain't broke - don't fix it!

Poorly installed wall sockets are a major cause of fires in the home. I would always use a qualified electrician to fit this sort of thing.

That's good, now you've no need to worry. When he mentions the smoke alarms, I'm assuming he wants to do the hard wired ones, and my advice would be to you, to stay well clear of them!!!

We had them fitted upstairs in the new loft extension, and they were a nightmare when they started dying, and I mean a nightmare!!! 3 am in the morning off one of them went, we even shut down the electric from the mains upstairs, but still they were screaming their heads off! Now with the ones you buy from B&Q and fit yourself, when you have a problem and you KNOW there isn't a fire, you just pull the batteries out, if the button won't stop them, but not these hard wired things. They "talk" to each other, so Dave also had the problem of finding out which one was actually going wrong. He eventually did, and we replaced it and all 4 of them were quite happy again until we sold the place.

My advise would be to stick with the £5 jobs from B&Q they do the same job, and if you keep the batteries renewed in them, they will be fine. If you have the hard wired ones you might come to regret it, but of course, it's the EU regs that is making him say that to you. Good luck.

Hi If you dont need to do it,spend the money on something that needs doing. Its refreshing to hear about a tradesman who isnt trying to fleece you crystalgirl

Oh thats good to know Helena, I actually thought they sounded good when he was telling me about them as I am terrible about replacing batteries, but come to think of it my daughter has hers wired up and she hates them, they go off every time she cooks.

Thanks tangutica, I might ask him to be an extra socket in the front room.

I know crystal girl, I was expecting a very annoying hard sell but he told me the truth and gave me his advice.