Help in deciding- electrical work post handover such as External lights, Weatherproof PP, Downlights and Television point

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  whooah1979 on 03/11/2019 - 17:41

  Airtasker may do it for half price.

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  pjetson on 03/11/2019 - 18:35

  +1

  I don't really understand exactly what you're proposing to do post handover. Electrical wiring is difficult to do after the building is finished. Some things can be impossible. Do you just mean that the electrical fitout will be done post handover? You probably won't get an occupancy certificate with unfinished wiring.

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    EssendonUser on 03/11/2019 - 19:52

    Hei pjetson, Its like the builder would finish the home with single batten lights. Then after the handover, it can be changed to 2 to 4 downlights. As the builder charges $151 per new downlights, doing it later works out cheaper. I know this is what most of the people doing. My question was specific to external Junction Boxes, External weatherproof PPs which involves bricks possibly and then TV points which needs long cables.

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  cabler365 on 03/11/2019 - 18:46

  Let me make sure I understand - you've got a rendered exterior facade with a wooden or timber frame? Plaster board on the inside walls by the time you do handover?

  I would not be doing any of that work post-handover. Its going to take way longer and be impossible in some situations to get cabling where you need it. For example, the TV antenna points typically are placed low on the wall, 200-300m above floor? With exterior render, frame and then interior plaster, you cannot get cable down the inside of that wall easily. The only possibility is to use a very long drill bit (1 to 1.5m long) and drill down through the top plate any any noggins to get access to the place you need the cable. To do that you will likely need to remove your colorbond sheet over that section of the roof.

  Not worth it - a lot of effort, time and may not even get it through. Better to get it done during the building…

  You could run draw-cables through the walls to locations you want them and then install the actual cable yourself after handover?? But you'd need to do this way before handover…

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    EssendonUser on 03/11/2019 - 19:58

    Thanks for the detailed reply. Facade is rendered on brick. I feel external JBs, External Power points and TV points etc would be little but difficult and may not worth the effort. But I think downlight would be very well doable. Like one batten light to be converted to multiple downlights.

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      cabler365 on 03/11/2019 - 20:07

      Brick Cavity? That's easier, it is possible to do after handover (because you have the cavity between the bricks and the timber frame to run through. However, you need to bear in mind that sarking can make it difficult and if they've used any structural ply that will make it much more challenging. So yes, its possible but still problematic and takes hours. Believe me, I would avoid it any way I could!

      Downlights are on the internal ceiling? Yes that should be doable after handover. Only consideration if you are putting insulation in the ceiling that will sit on top of the plaster. If you mean downlights in the soffit - yes that could be done after handover too but much harder that during the build. Getting the cables from the main ceiling cavity into the ceiling above the soffitt it possible but a hard part of the ceiling to work in.

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        EssendonUser on 03/11/2019 - 20:18

        Yes mate, I was looking for downlights in the internal ceiling. I have Anticon blanket, but that would sit between ColorBond and Frame if I am right. I am sure if the builder put any additional insulation on top of the ceiling.

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  EssendonUser on 03/11/2019 - 19:57

  Thanks for the detailed reply. Facade is rendered on brick. I feel external JBs, External Power points and TV points etc would be little but difficult and may not worth the effort. But I think downlight would be very well doable. Like one batten light to be converted to multiple downlights.

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  pjetson on 03/11/2019 - 20:41

  Replacing batten fittings with downlight fittings may not be as easy as it sounds. As cabler365 says, there's probably insulation to worry about, and depending on how the roof is constructed (maybe the OP has vaulted ceilings, which means little or no roofspace), there may not be a lot of room for the fittings. There's also the problem that batten fittings will be screwed into roof timber, but downlight fittings need to be away from the timber. And then there's the power supplies (or LED drivers) - will you be able to fit them into the space available?

  I know this is what most of the people doing

  Are you sure? Are "most of the people" building exactly the same kind of house as you?

  TV points which needs long cables

  A colorbond roof means you may not have access to the wall cavities to run your TV cables, unless you lift the roof sheets. And if you need TV points on non-outer walls, you can't do that at all.

  Also, TV points all have to meet up somewhere in common, where you have a splitter and/or amplifier. Will you be able to even get to that place once the plasterboard is up?

  Also, have you thought about network cables? Phone wiring? Security camera and/or alarm wiring?

  Basically, once the plasterboard is up, any kind of wiring is much more difficult. Which is another word for expensive.

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  brendanm on 03/11/2019 - 21:01

  Sound like you are doing this an extremely difficult way. You are going to be paying way more for someone to redo work already done, and to do it once the house has actually been finished. Madness.

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    EssendonUser on 03/11/2019 - 23:20

    Nope. At least gettting downlights fitted in single storey house is an easy task. Electricians charges $40 to get 90mm ones installed including material whereas my builder charger $151 for smaller downlights and $176 for 90mm downlights. I have 60+ downlights and it makes a lots of difference. Even if I get the electrician to put philips hue and I still will have spare money. Doing 60+ downlights from builder is a rip off. Yes, double storey house, for the ground floor there is no choice than doing it while construction, but for single storey it is never a big task. The thing I wasn't sure was only the external ones like JB's and WeatherProof PP's where the brick is involved.

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      brendanm on 04/11/2019 - 00:10

      Why not just organise your own electrician during the build?

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        EssendonUser on 04/11/2019 - 00:16

        +1

        Yes mate, that would have been awesome. Unfortunately that's not something they allow :(

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      fantombloo on 04/11/2019 - 07:25

      Electricians charges $40 to get 90mm ones installed including material

      As part of an overall build or larger job where they have easy access and plenty of other things to do on the same site - yes.

      To come around and do a few lights on an otherwise finished house - I don't think so.

      For sure the builder is paying around that $40 and marking it up, but I don't think there's an easy or much cheaper way out of this for you at this point unless you have some idea of how wiring works, inspect the house and make intelligent decisions on which things might be worth holding off on based on how easy / quick they will be for the next sparky.

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  dasher86 on 04/11/2019 - 07:32

  Is the builder the site manager?
  Maybe have a chat over a slab of beer and ask for a cashie..

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    EssendonUser on 04/11/2019 - 11:03

    Not yet into that stage. I am kind of finalysing what should be included in the Tender.

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  Nickels n Dimes on 04/11/2019 - 14:07

  I did something similar when we had our house renovated. The builder only installed 50c battens in each room, then I just called a local sparky to come and install a variety of new fixtures and switches purchased online / from bunnings. He just charged me by the hour for his licensed electrical work, including swapping out single lights for pendants and multi-downlights. Cost me overall about a quarter of what the builder was going to charge, and I had full control of what went where and how it was all connected.

  Note: this was a single storey house with a pitched roof, so ceiling access was no issue at all.

  Ground ceiling - First floor space would be very tricky if there isn't much room, and you would need a bit of replastering and repainting after the electrical work was done. Subfloor would be harder still, esp. with a slab on ground, (ripup flooring, cut conduits in concrete, replace/relay flooring).

  My only question is, why bother with TV cabling, when all TVs now support ethernet and if you have useable internet you can just stream all of your free-to-air TV directly ? I recommend you save the money on TV antenna/coax wiring, and just spend that on cat7 and HDMI cables to each TV / computer, which is a far better long-term option.