Residential electrician, Sydney
From a single power point to a full rewire. Licensed domestic electrical work across the St George area and Sutherland Shire.
Everyday work
- Additional power points, USB outlets and outdoor weatherproof sockets
- Downlight installation and replacement of failing halogen fittings with LED
- Ceiling fans, exhaust fans and bathroom heat lamps
- Hardwired smoke alarm installation and replacement
- Fault finding on circuits that trip intermittently
- Oven, cooktop and hot water system connection
- Garden and security lighting, sensor lights
Older homes in the St George area
A lot of housing stock around Hurstville, Rockdale and Kogarah still runs original wiring from the fifties and sixties. Two things show up again and again: rubber-insulated cabling that has gone brittle and crumbles when disturbed, and switchboards with ceramic rewireable fuses and no residual current devices at all.
Neither is illegal to keep. Both are worth addressing. Brittle insulation is the usual cause of the mystery fault that appears when someone puts a nail in a wall, and a board without RCDs offers no protection against electrocution — a fuse protects the wiring, not the person touching it.
We can inspect the installation and tell you what genuinely needs doing and what can wait, rather than quoting a full rewire on sight.
Smoke alarms and your obligations
NSW requires working smoke alarms on every level of a residential property. For rental properties the landlord is responsible for installation and annual checking. Alarms have a service life of ten years from the date stamped on the unit, after which the sensor degrades whether or not it still chirps. If yours have no date on them, they are almost certainly past it.
A recent job in Monterey
A Monterey client had a light circuit tripping repeatedly. We traced it to water that had got into an outdoor light fitting, which was leaking current to earth and tripping the safety switch every time it rained. We replaced the fitting and the tripping stopped. Three hours.
Common questions
How often do smoke alarms need replacing?
Every ten years from the date stamped on the unit, regardless of whether it still beeps when tested. The sensor degrades over time. NSW requires working alarms on every level of a residential property, and for rentals the landlord is responsible for installing them and checking them annually.
Do I need a whole rewire, or just some of it?
Rarely the whole house. Most older Sydney homes need the switchboard brought up to standard and specific runs replaced where the insulation has perished, not a full rewire. Anyone quoting a complete rewire without inspecting the installation first is guessing.
Why do my lights dim when an appliance starts?
Usually too much load on one circuit, which is common in older homes where the kitchen was never given its own. It can also indicate a loose connection, which is worth looking at sooner rather than later because loose connections heat up.
Before we start
You get a written quote covering labour, materials and any make-good required. If we open a wall and find something unexpected — and in older homes that happens — we stop and talk to you before spending your money.