Your electrical wiring is the one element of your home you rely on every minute of every day without thinking about it — until something goes wrong. When the installation is safe and sound, everything simply works. When it’s deteriorated, the consequences range from nuisance tripping and unreliable sockets through to genuine risk of electric shock and fire. The wiring behind your walls doesn’t last forever, and across the Medway Towns there are thousands of properties still running on installations that were adequate when fitted but have long passed the point where they can be considered safe by modern standards.
We carry out full and partial rewires across Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester, Strood, Rainham, and the wider Medway area, replacing outdated cabling with modern circuits protected by a new consumer unit with RCD or RCBO protection. Whether your property needs a complete strip-out and replacement of every cable in the house or a targeted partial rewire addressing the specific circuits causing concern, we assess the installation honestly and recommend the most proportionate approach.
Every rewire includes comprehensive testing and full certification to current BS 7671 standards. Contact us to arrange a free assessment at your Medway property.
A full rewire replaces the entire electrical installation from the consumer unit outward — every cable, every circuit, every socket and switch position, every light fitting connection, and the consumer unit itself. Everything old comes out and everything new goes in. We work room by room across your Medway property, routing new cables through walls, floors, and ceilings, then returning after plastering to fit faceplates, switches, light fittings, and connect everything at the new board. The result is a completely modern installation with proper earthing on every circuit, RCD or RCBO protection at the consumer unit, and the capacity for modern household demands. Full rewires across the Medway Towns typically take five to ten working days for the electrical stages depending on the property size, with most homeowners maintaining power and living in the house throughout.
Not every property needs a complete rewire. Where some circuits are in acceptable condition but others have deteriorated, a partial rewire targets only the cabling and circuits that need replacing. This is common across the Medway Towns in properties that received some electrical updating in the 1980s or 1990s but still have original wiring on specific circuits. Typical scenarios include replacing the lighting circuits while leaving sound socket circuits in place, rewiring the first floor while the ground floor installation is satisfactory, or upgrading kitchen and bathroom circuits to current standards while the rest of the house remains acceptable. A partial rewire combined with a consumer unit upgrade often delivers the most practical safety improvement for the budget available. Your electrician should assess every circuit individually and recommend the most proportionate approach.
Every rewire — full or partial — includes a new consumer unit as standard. The board is the central hub through which every circuit passes, and fitting new cabling to an outdated board defeats the purpose of the investment. We install modern consumer units with either a split-load RCD configuration or full RCBO protection where every circuit has its own independent protective device. The RCBO option costs more but performs better in daily use — a fault on any single circuit trips only that circuit, leaving everything else working normally. Every consumer unit installation includes full testing of all connected circuits, verification of earthing and bonding throughout the property, and an electrical installation certificate documenting the work.
Several indicators suggest your wiring has reached the point where professional assessment is needed. A consumer unit with rewirable fuses rather than MCBs. Round-pin sockets or original bakelite fittings anywhere in the property. Rubber or fabric-sheathed cable visible in the loft, under floors, or behind sockets when faceplates are removed. Circuits without an earth conductor. Frequent tripping or blown fuses without obvious cause. Scorch marks around sockets or switches. The Victorian and Edwardian terraces through Gillingham and Rochester commonly have the oldest wiring in the Medway area. The inter-war housing across Chatham and Rainham frequently has installations from the 1950s and 1960s. Even properties rewired in the 1980s are now approaching forty years old and reaching the point where assessment is sensible.
A rewire is one of the most disruptive electrical projects a homeowner undertakes, and how it’s managed determines whether the experience is smooth or stressful. We plan every rewire methodically — working room by room so you maintain power in the evenings, coordinating with your plasterer so walls are made good promptly after first fix, and scheduling second fix efficiently so the project completes without unnecessary gaps between stages.
We provide detailed, itemised quotes specifying the consumer unit, the number of circuits, socket and switch positions, smoke detection, testing, and certification. You see exactly what’s included and what it costs before work starts. If testing reveals additional defects that weren’t visible during the initial assessment, we explain what’s found and agree any additional work before proceeding.
We carry out rewires throughout the Medway Towns and the wider Kent area, covering Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester, Strood, Rainham, Walderslade, Lordswood, Wigmore, Hempstead, Parkwood, Sittingbourne, Maidstone, Gravesend, and surrounding areas.
If your installation doesn’t need a full rewire but the consumer unit has reached the end of its life, a standalone board upgrade provides the most impactful safety improvement available. We replace outdated consumer units across the Medway Towns with modern boards fitted with MCBs and RCDs or individual RCBOs. Every upgrade includes full testing of your existing circuits, earthing and bonding verification, and an electrical installation certificate. For properties where the wiring is serviceable but the board is the weak point, this delivers modern protection without the cost and disruption of replacing cables throughout.
If you’re unsure whether your property needs a rewire, an EICR provides the definitive answer. An Electrical Installation Condition Report tests every circuit, checks earthing and bonding, examines the consumer unit, and grades any defects by severity. C1 and C2 codes on specific circuits point toward targeted partial rewiring. C1 and C2 codes across the majority of circuits suggest the installation has deteriorated broadly and a full rewire is the more sensible investment. We carry out EICRs across the Medway Towns and provide honest recommendations based on what the testing reveals.
If you’re having a rewire and want an EV charger at the same time, installing the dedicated charger circuit during the rewire is the most efficient approach. The cabling runs during first fix alongside everything else, the circuit connects to the new consumer unit with its own protective device, and the charger installs during second fix. No separate visit, no additional disruption, and the charger circuit is built into the installation from the outset rather than added retrospectively. We install all major brands including Easee, Zappi, Ohme, and Pod Point.
Concerned about your wiring? Contact us today for a free assessment and no-obligation quote from qualified Medway electricians.