Electrician in Dover: which of four jobs have you got?

We cover Dover for rewires, consumer unit changes, EV chargers and commercial work, as well as faults and smaller jobs.

Most people who ring an electrician know that something is wrong, not what. That is no failing on their part. A dead socket, a board that keeps tripping and a house that simply feels old can be three different jobs at three very different prices, and the words people use for them overlap.

We are based in Folkestone and cover Dover. This page is the sorting we do on the phone, written down, so you can do some of it before you ring. Tell us what the electrics are actually doing rather than what you think the job is called, and often that is enough for us to say which of the four below you have and roughly what it costs.

One thing first. If there is a burning smell, scorching round a socket or the board, or water anywhere near the electrics, this is not a sorting exercise. If you can smell burning, see smoke or sparks, or anyone has had a shock, ring 999 first. Then turn everything off at the main switch if you can reach it safely, and call us.

Start with how much of the house is involved

One question sorts more calls than any other: how far does the problem reach?

• One point. A single socket, one light, one switch. Nearly always a fault at that spot or on the short length of cable behind it.
• One circuit. Every socket in the kitchen, or all the upstairs lights, go off together. Something on that circuit is wrong, or something plugged into it is.
• The whole board. Everything drops, or the main switch will not stay up. That points at the board, the wiring behind it, or an appliance leaking enough current to take the lot out.
• Nothing has failed. It all works, but it is old, or you want more of it. That is not a fault at all, and it is worth being clear on before anyone talks to you about a rewire.

1. It worked yesterday and it does not today

Something changed overnight. A breaker went and will not stay up, a socket died, the lights started flickering whenever the heating comes on. This is fault finding, and it is £80 to £180, because the time goes on tracking it down rather than on the repair.

There is a free test worth doing first. Unplug everything on the dead circuit and reset the breaker. If it holds, plug things back in one at a time and give each a minute running; the last one in when it trips is the likely culprit, and you may not need us at all. Leave the board cover alone and do not open up sockets. The longer version is in why does my fuse box keep tripping.

2. The board is tired, but nothing has failed

Fuse wire in the board, a plastic box rather than a metal one, no RCD anywhere, or a board that trips so often that resetting it has become routine. Nothing has broken, but the part meant to protect you has fallen behind. A new consumer unit is from £550, and a clear photo of the old one with its door open is often enough for a firm price.

People sometimes take this for a rewire. It is not. The board is replaced and the cables behind it stay where they are, unless a problem turns up with one of them, in which case you hear about it before anything else is done.

3. The cable itself is the problem

Rubber or fabric covered cable in the loft or under the floorboards, round pin sockets, or lighting with no earth. This is a rewire, and the honest news is that many houses do not need the whole lot. If the kitchen and the upstairs sockets are the circuits letting you down, those are the ones that get done. It can be the whole house, a floor or room by room.

A rewire is the one job here we will not price down the phone. It needs a look, and the quote visit is free. You then get one fixed price in writing, and the rewire cost guide explains what moves it.

All completed work is inspected, tested and certificated through a registered contractor we work with, and we provide all the required certificates. Where the work is notifiable, the notification to Building Control is handled as part of the job.

4. Nothing is wrong, you just want something added

Not a repair at all. A double socket behind the television, downlights in the kitchen, a charger for the car. These are priced from what you want and where it goes: an EV charger is £750 to £1,200 fitted, downlights are £350 to £600 a room, and an extra socket is £90 to £150.

Now and then, adding something shows up something older behind it, such as a board without the protection a charger needs. If that happens you are told before you commit, and what to do about it is your call.

What changes a price, and what does not

Once we have seen the job, the guide becomes a fixed price, and the fixed price holds. If something genuinely unforeseen turns up once work is under way, say a cable damaged inside a wall where nobody could have seen it, we stop, show you, and you decide what happens before anything else is done or charged. The price you agreed covers the job you agreed. Anything beyond it is a fresh decision, and it is yours.

Anything not on a fixed price is a first hour from £80, then £48 an hour, with no VAT on domestic work. Every figure is set out on the price guide.

Getting to you in Dover

It is Louis and Finley, one family firm. Louis is on the tools in the week. Quote visits are usually Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. If you ring with something that cannot wait, you get a straight answer on whether we can reach you and when, and if we cannot, we say so rather than leave you waiting on a van.

Shops, offices and units in Dover are covered too: see commercial electrical work.