We rewire a lot of flats, and it's on arriving in a house that you measure what co-ownership usually imposes: an earth you don't control, a power supply you don't choose, cable routes constrained by the neighbours. In a house, all of that becomes a decision again — yours, with our advice. This page runs through the four subjects specific to houses; for the general method, see our electrical renovation page.
Earthing: in a house, you genuinely create it
This is the most important difference, and the least known. In a flat, earthing depends on a collective conductor in the building; if there isn't one, the answer lies with the co-ownership — we explain it on the page about rewiring an old apartment. In a house, none of that: we make the earth electrode ourselves, and it belongs to you.
In practice, we drive one or more rods into the ground, or lay a loop at the bottom of the excavation when groundworks allow it, and connect the whole to the panel through a disconnecting link that will let it be measured later. Because an earth is only worth what it measures: we check its resistance with an instrument and aim for under a hundred ohms. Dry, sandy or rocky ground resists more; we then add rods or drive them deeper. It's half a day's work that changes the safety level of the whole house, and it comes first in any renovation.
Single-phase or three-phase: a real question, not a reflex
Most houses are single-phase, between 9 and 12 kVA, and that's enough for reasonable electric heating, a water heater and an all-electric kitchen. Three-phase is justified beyond that — a large house heated electrically, powerful equipment, a workshop — or when it's already there and you inherit a suitable tariff.
What we check before deciding is the power budget: we add up what may run at the same time on a January evening — heating, water heater, oven, hob — and see whether the supply supports it. If three-phase is chosen, the circuits have to be balanced across the three phases, otherwise one phase saturates while the other two sleep. It's the kind of calculation done on the drawing, not afterwards, and it avoids the service breaker tripping every winter evening.
Distribution: the main panel and its sub-panels
A flat fits on one panel. A two-storey house with a garage and an outbuilding gains from being split: a main panel near the incoming supply, and sub-panels upstairs, in the garage or in the workshop, each fed by a properly sized link and protected by its own residual-current device.
The point isn't only shorter cable runs. It's that a leak in the garage doesn't plunge the bedrooms into darkness, and you know immediately which part of the house to look in. On a house extended several times, it's also the cleanest way to put each extension back onto a sound circuit — the make-up of each panel is detailed on our electrical panel replacement page.
The routes: loft, basement, crawl space
This is the comfort of a house. Where a flat forces you to chase walls or run along skirting, a house offers a loft above the ceilings, a basement or a crawl space beneath the floors. We run most of the cable there, and only the vertical drops remain to be handled in the walls — often by reusing the existing conduit, as we explain on the full rewiring page.
Two precautions specific to lofts: cables mustn't be buried in insulation without protection, and recessed spots in an insulated ceiling have to be designed for it. And for everything outside the house — path lighting, gate, outbuilding —, our page on the houses of Auteuil details the rules of outdoor electrics.
Older buildings, cost and Consuel
An old house — stone, timber frame, wooden floors — adds its own constraints: no conduit, partitions you don't chase, sometimes an installation dating back to when the village was first electrified. We apply the same method as in old Parisian buildings, adapting the routes to the structure rather than the other way round.
On cost, rewiring a house starts at €150/m² incl. VAT with standard-brand accessories, excluding the earth electrode and sub-panels, which are priced separately according to the layout. When the installation is entirely redone, a Consuel certificate is required before the meter is reconnected. The assessment is free when it goes with the quote, and the detailed costing arrives within a week. Our electrician pricing is public; for a visit, contact us.
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