Think this series has turned out better than you think! This is the proper life of an electrician! Bravo. Great video - shows everyone what it’s about. It’s not all glitz and glamour.
I feel like all these youtube channels over hype the trade most of the time for me at least its bullshit after bullshit but at least the moneyh is good lol
The rewire from hell , I would think most sparkies have had one. I remember mine as clear as yesterday and it was 20 years ago and it was in Banbury. Typical early mid-terraced house untill your step through the front door and it dawned on your , you step into the tardis .It took 2 weeks. It had 4 different floor level down stairs and 4 different floor levels upstairs and dreaded flat roofs on the 3 extensions . Everytime you chased a wall the plaster on the wall just fell off , it was the old cement based plaster. Flooring was 8x2 T&G sheets of chipboard . The was no direct route to any room for the cables, accept for the rooms under the cellar . I lost count of the circuits I installed. I installed the largest DB available. I had to use 4inch sq trucking in the cellar to bring all the cables to the DB . The DNO had to change and upgrade the service head and the old one had been overloaded and was leaking pitch . It's scared my memory for life .I still remember the full address of that property , I never been back to Banbury since
Jordan, I need to say -Really well done - I could tell how tired you were and you still tried to film, you still put the customer first - You looked after your team and best of all you have used it as a learning experience - Brillant Job
This brought back memories. I did exactly the same when I rewired my house 23 years ago. I was behind schedule, the new carpets were going to be installed the next day and at 11pm I still hadn't screwed all the floorboards down. Bingo, I went straight through the copper pipe lying in the notch of a joist. The photo you showed was almost identical. The effect the same, water everywhere when the screw was removed and damp ceilings. I was exhausted and just not thinking straight. Morel of the storey, don't try to rush a job to completion when tired. Mistakes will happen! Well done for going back and checking with your customer. You certainly provide an honest professional job. Wish more trades had the same approach as you have. Keep up the good work and stay safe!
Great series of videos Jordan, like you’ve said it’s one to learn from, I know you said you don’t like rewired but to be honest I love them, it’s the challenges your breaking through, it’s a very realist view for people out of the trade (customers) to see the sorrow of your graft etc instead of seeing an easy installation in a property installing say an EV charger which your a master of installing. This series of videos shows the hard work involved in forward planning of the job, the first fix, and second fix planning the materials, the sorrow of working late in the day to get the job done then the heartache of the leak. It truly shows a true week in the life of an electrician you should be proud of what you’ve done here, customers see videos online of all the easy installations, who then think that were ripping them off because they’ve seen a UA-cam video this is reality. Chin up Jordan
Been there done that and it is really painful in more ways than one. Good for you sticking to the agreed time scale. A good honest tradesman will always be busy and this is real life and not the problem free youtube world.
I have watched this series as we are having a rewire done in a few weeks, and when I heard J say it will take a week I was kind of annoyed our electrician has told us 3 weeks. Now I know why. Still a great insight into how its carried out and the possible issues that anyone might encounter
Great to see you have been brave to admit Things don't always run as they are ment to be.Lots of respect Jordan for you honesty. Learn from mistake, grow move on.👍
I feel you brother with the ups and downs of running a business, we’ve been in similar situation. Make sure you learn to take a break don’t wanna burn yourself out !
Firstly thanks for a quality, informative channel. I’m an Aircraft Engineer in the Cargo Industry. Your comments about your quote are so so valid. Exactly the same in our industry, the aircraft is unserviceable, the airline want to know when it can fly, some smart arse gives them a time, BANG ... Everything goes wrong. So I fully understand how you’re feeling. Thanks to you and your fantastic team, for a very informative, interesting and sometimes fun channel. I’ve watched everything you’ve done. Rgds Noel
My philosophy is to take the figure a job would reasonably take and double it (at least), everything always happens at ‘half-speed’, any time left over is a bonus! Always remember, a five minute job always takes five hours, a 5 hour job always takes 5 days, sometimes a 5 day job takes... (let’s not go there but I think the work begins with y). House rewires bad, ev chargers good, house rewires bad, distro changes good!
Stuff happens, outside our old workshop a small water leak, on footway, water co came out speedily and declared it was a leak under building,it wasnt, so their chaps dug a hole where they thought leak was, and hit a mains cable for the street light, bloke got hell of a belt off the cable,and melted a piece of his shovel. He was really upset, as he may have been killed, tea and biscuits helped calm him down.
Huge respect for the honesty and zero bullshit mentality you approach your work, business and customers with. Stuff happens and I think you handled it better than the majority of tradespeople would. 👍 keep up the great work. And for anyone with negativity towards you or your methods, They must really like you because they keep coming back for more 😆
Did a rewire many years ago,no heating,so pipes froze,we only found out when heating back on,ceilings came down in several rooms,got home at 5am,was a great way to spend Christmas Eve & Christmas Day morning...
I once managed to somehow form a perfect seal with a screw through a pipe, I only found out months later when I had to take the boards up again and water pissed out.
I am the opposite of you, I always overestimate the time it will take, but this is the IT industry, from your 1st year at university, you are taught to do your estimate for a job and then double it. 100% contingency. I hate and refuse to work under pressure. Thie difference for me is that I always worked for someone else, even when I ran my own company, it was pretty much always on a sub-contract basis. Now in my post-stroke dotage, I work part time in research, with almost no time pressure. I find your videos fascinating, the insight into another industry, albeit one I have often worked alongside, is a great eye-opener.
the golden rule is always plan for snag days, or thats what i do, as you said you were unlucky and mistakes happen but when your rushing the chance of a honest mistake can always happen, we all have done it chasing your tail trying to catch up with your worklist, i learned that deadlines can always adjust
Mate I feel for ya. Being a sparks does beat you down now and then. I’ve followed you for a while now and find your videos inspiring. Keep up the good work, us sparks gotta look out for one another 👍
Taking on interns is something that this country has been slacking in over the last few decades, and we as a nation are starting to pay the price. You are doing a very special thing there mate, well done for your patience and teaching our next generation. I hope they appreciate it
Just reminds me of the time I had to replace a kitchen light fitting. Taking out the second fixing screw of the old fitting and warm water started p***ing out of the hole in the ceiling. Turned out “cowboy” plumbers had slotted the underside of the joists to run the heating pipes.The light fixing wood screw had been sealing the punctured copper pipe for years with no bother. Made a temporary patch with some sheet rubber and a jubilee clip. So everyone has bad days Jordan !
Haha we bought our first house just over a year ago - a small semi detached to do up, my partner did exactly the same thing rushing to ‘secure’ squeaky floorboards before the carpets were fitted in the bedrooms. We found out when my dad popped by the day before when we were out to do a bit more work and said there’s water coming down the front window! My partner had gone into a pipe leading to a radiator on my side of the bed, the last one had worked on, it had a small pool of water inside! Q my panic and my dad rushing to fix it, then several hours of heaters from below the cealing and into the cavity to try and dry it out before the carpet was fitted!
I’m so happy ( not in a bad way ) about the ending saying sometimes it don’t always go right saying it will be done in 2 days but it takes longer and sometimes you feel like you wanna quit! I started doing my own work in September and I’m always thinking that so for someone like you to do through stages like that makes me think it ain’t just me and keep me Determent, so like I said not in a bad way but thanks!!!!
Hi Jordan As I said on a previous comment it is difficult to estimate how long a job will take when you your self are not doing the work. Having said that it’s a guess , and as you rightly say you win some and you lose some . As long as you get it right most of the time it’s all a bit academic. One tip I will give is if time is limited , as was the case on your job . Get the DB mounted and ready to go , then say wire the lighting , next up stairs sockets , kitchen sockets , etc . By doing this you can cover the need for the client to move back in . And bearing in mind I’ve done total rewires with the customer still in occupation . It is really the only way . Finally there is a case to say you can have to much labour on a job , I’d say two men and a lad is probably more productive . But it’s all very easy for me to sit here pontificating from my armchair. You are the one who is at the coal face . Until you start a job you never know what you might find . Thank god I’m retired 🤣👍 best wishes to you and your crew
One thing that might help is to mark rough pipe locations on the floorboards with a little sharpie. At least you know something is right there to just take a second look before you screw anything in that area. Keep up the good work.
With the amount of labour used in a week, I did think it would have been further on, a week was always going to be tight even if you had 5 of your clones there.
I suspect if you were doing full rewires all the time you'd have better estimates of the time required, it's always tricky to estimate things you don't do regularly, and of course the more often you do things the quicker you tend to get at them as well...
I always seem to underestimate how long it's going to take to do a rewire. I did a 4 bed house last year. Quoted 20 days. Had someone helping me for 2 days and it still took me 24. Latest one is a 300 year old 2 bed cottage. Quoted 16 days. Because it was all exposed beams with no ceiling cavity it's taken forever with the additional chasing or dragging cables into the loft to go up and over. It'll be a further 3 days once the plasterer has been. I feel for you Jordan 👍👍
Fair play.... More of these type of videos Jordan. This is the reality of Electrics!!! I’ll be honest I unsubscribed before xmas as it was getting tiresome and unrealistic on how everything was problem free on your videos. More, more of these. Now subscribed again.👍
Really nice to get an honest account of what I'm sure most tradesmen have been through plenty of times! I definitely spotted that look in your eyes of a job that's overrun from the freeze frame alone... I always try to add about time to my estimate then the customer is always happy but then I know I have spare time so that often gets foiled by trying to squeeze one more job in. One day I'll get the hang of it, sure is nice when jobs come in ahead of time. I definitely do think there comes a time in the evening where you just have to accept defeat though. Sweeping up late at night is one thing but making mistakes in the consumer unit because you're tired and on your own in a dark house is a little too much risk in my book. I'd rather go home and get in early to finish off with a bit of a fresher head personally but I know when you're deep in to get it done mode it is hard to make that call. I try to remind myself that most reasonable people would rather wait another few hours than suffer the consequences of a bad error.
@@artisanelectrics i guess he's forgiven then lol. Keep up the good work, really enjoy your videos. Just started up on my own so getting inspired by a lot of the you tube sparks
You do have to remember when multiplying humans by humans you cannot go by "half's" you need to do thirds. As you increase human count you increase the likelihood of communication errors, etc. There is a small exception to this at some point a team should be running very efficiently that one can communicate without speaking at that point you may not be able to get half but you might be able to get close.
Things to note down, when taking boards up draw on top of them where pipes are run, especially if they're run in notches which is standard for any property pre push fit plastic pipe. It's a small job the apprentice can do and it saves a lot of time and cost. That said I've marked all the pipe on the floor before and had a tiler come in behind, ply the floor not transfer the marks (no biggy) but use 3 inch screws to hold the ply down onto the floor boards and drilled through the pipe at every single joist.
I really feel for you Jordan I remember drilling an outside wall to an extension to feed a 6mm cooker supply and going straight through water supply. It always takes longer when you have apprentices as your training and watching. With your outfit buy a wall chaser,vacuum and some lighting always comes in handy.
Nothing worse than when times start to get tough, everything seems to mess up to add to the pressure ! I’m going through that right now tbh. My latest rewire video I put my foot through the ceiling 🤦🏻♂️ right into the kitchen that we didn’t need to touch ! Keep going Jordan, it gets good again as you will already know 😂
@@Cablesmith did it this summer in my boys room first fixing it was 65c in the attic here in the USA you literally dripping in sweat and then I missed the joist and put my foot through the ceiling however the ceiling repair I did was a level 5 finish absolutely perfect we call that a level 5 finish nothing visible and smooth in all light conditions. So I learnt a valuable skill. All the family were laughing at me but when they saw the repair and finished product it was so well worth it for them to eat humble pie...
Yep, too many men on a job, too much pressure to get the job done. Easy done. Chasing out a kitchen once, Went through a water and gas pipe with the double disc chaser.
From dealing with contractors daily here in Canada I've always been told budget for 20 - 30% contingency plan for unexpected problems. If you don't need it you tell customer you came in under budget. But yeah sounds like even with a contingency budget you may have still ran over a bit. But plan for contingencies in your quote/ their budget of 20 - 30% for time / money/ materials. That way if something goes pear shaped everyone's prepared for it and if it goes smooth you look that much better.
Properly feel for you. We have all been there and super stressful when things don't go to plan. Pipes should always be noted before boards go back down, so no reason it should have been screwed through, but you took it really well 👍
Lots of comments around we do it in a day /two days/ three days whatever. I’d love to see a UA-cam video showing a rewire with 2 blokes in less than 3 days or one on his own in less than 7 normal days with 100 + points/ 4 beds fully installed and tested with chasing in on most of the sockets/switch drops ....please I’d love to see how you mega sparks do it
When I first started doing electrical work I got a job labouring for two electrical bashers rewiring council houses in Droitwich. They said that, with my input, they would now be expecting to do a house per day! It was insane, working virtually nonstop, 7am to 8/9pm. I remember being admonished on my first day for using a spirit level! Needless to say, the quality of the work was pretty abysmal - crash, bash and on to the next house.
Jordan, recommend that you carry a 15mm and 22mm Rothenberger Kibosh with you in your bag. Can be a lifesaver with hit pipes, not a permanent fix but certainly helps get things contained really quickly - much quicker than a piece of inner tube and jubilee clip! One of those things you’ll hope you never have to use!
@@barrybritcher Try to keep it that way! I’ve only done it once and thank god it was in my own house, but I still felt like a right tit though. From what I’ve heard the tape is good in theory, but in practice you usually don’t have enough space to get the tape swung around the pipe while keeping tension on it. I’m not sure if you’d have problems using it on central heating or hot water pipes - maybe the heat would make the tape too soft?
Jordan thats the real life of a electrican. Last year i work on sites where there is alot of pressure. Last year november i worked for mon tot thuesdays 7 tot 1 in the moring for 3 weeks
Team Jordan, great video. A lot of trust is needed when a company expands, your trying to get the work and be more office bound and need the team to do there bit as well.
Mate, you have done a good job, you just need to give yourself more time, pressure is the enemy of any job, i do really feel for you regarding the screwed central heating pipe. I am doing a rewire on my own, i have booked 4 weeks to do it, the customer is living in the house, that comes with all the usual issues, but i adapt and overcome. That's all we can do. I have even managed a few call outs as I can keep the cash flowing. Chin up, its a good place to be, you know it.
I can’t see how this rewire took so long even with the extra smokes and EV charger. The job has been flooded with guys. I wouldn’t like to see the quotation for a 2 week rewire.
I don’t think 4 or 5 guys would slow down progress because they are getting in the way of each other. After all it is up and downstairs and it is 5 bedroom. Plenty of space for that amount of tradesmen/apprentices.
O think the biggest think to take away from a project like this isn't solely to allow more time but to get yourself a PA/Admin (your lovely lady?) That WAY YOU can be on site and getting the guys working as you do (not that I'm saying Corey isn't great because he is), but you said it yourself; you're quoting as of it was you on site and the best way to stick to that is to be on site and get someone in the office - it'll cost less on the long run and keep you on site ensuring deadlines are met and issues addressed, the minute you took on someone ypuneed to be on site, not on the office. Look at Nagy, has a PA doing the admin so he can be on site with his crew doing the job and not worrying about the office.
Used to do 5 bed rewires on my own with the owners in the property,(3 weeks) don't know how or why I did it looking back 😆 total madness Would do a mobile disco on a Saturday too, Totally avoid all that horrible junk chopping out work now. Stuff the money. Keep your real knees 🙂
It may also be the family moving furniture back in etc put pressure on the floorboard in a way that hadn't happened since it went down, and made the screw move and start it weeping etc
Talk about luck in catching it before it got worse. Congratulations! Could've been a week later before you found out that there was a leak. I should know I had 2 inches of water in my basement last year and that was the highlight, 2020 was a bad year..... We also had a small pinhole leak in a water pipe when we moved in due to a wire for the hot water heater but that's a different story....
I hated rewires, don't do many these days thankfully, but when we did they were hard work. But there are rewire sparks and there are rewire sparks!! House that size 2 of us would do in 3 days, chasing, make good included and fully clipped. It has to go like clock work, and well planned. A lot of industrial sparks give out about "house bashers" but when it comes down to it they can't wire a house properly 😂, or of course make the money out of them 😉
Murphy's law, karma, zodiac signs.... However you want to name it I hate days like these and I just had one myself 😑. The best thing is to sleep it off I guess, if you can afford it
We could all say that should not happen, but in reality, it does, I have done similar three times in my life, through drilling though, not scewing down boards. Each time the pipes were run not where they really should have been...I started carrying a few jubilee clips and some strips of inner tube as a very temporary repair..since then it never happenned to start carrying them as my theory is...if you have a temporary solution..it won't happen !! 😁 Of course there are tempory pipe repair clamps nowadays, plus permanent repair sections that filly slide over the pipe cut then slide back into position as opposed the a normal coupler thatis restricted in the centre. Problem is they can be a little bulky where the pipe crosses a joist. On balance, you were lucky, an electrician was wiring my parents house, it was vacant and winter. He drilled through from outside for an external bulkhead and his bit hit a cold water pipe above the kitchen ceiling...he cut out some plasterboard and repaired a copper pipe with a standard 15mm plastic coupler, after cutting out the holed pipe. He never informed us of his mistake or repair as he fixed the ceiling. Unfortunately, when he used the coupler it was inder tension as he had removed a bit too much pipe. Of course, vacant house...winter..temperature lowered and under tension the pipe separated and flooded the property for a week, oh, solid floor also !! yup, wallpaper ruined, full kitchen ruined, appliances,carpets throughout and also the furniture, it took weeks of drying out and of course no chance of an insurance claim a year or so down the road. If only he had come clean and let us know in the first place, it could have been avoided. I hope that puts your situation into perspective, it was minor but it happened.
Stop that. That is not cool to always blame on the apprentice. I am an apprentice, and when co workers do that not only do I feel guilt, but I feel that I am not supposed to work as electrician because I cant do anything. So stop it!
@@artisanelectrics wait hold up, I posted that comment before I'd watched the part about the damaged pipe, I meant it totally genuinely and not sarcastically, oscar seems to be doing really well!
OUCH! That happens when you drill screws on the floor spray water out. Same happened. I had a drill screw on the ceiling on the floor and the electric metal cord blew out. I smelled like a burn. I took out wood. I see that metal got holes and burned. Oh well that's life. Next time when you put wood make sure to write on it where you drill screw on it. Great work hard till night was busy and busy. Thumb up!! Cheer!
I like the way people are complaining about the price for the job. I can't wait when it's compulsory to fit AFDD's and a routine board change will cost £1500
I think working long hours without another electrician was risky, your tired, agitated and that’s when things can go wrong. Is there parts of the jobs where you think ‘I really need to master doing this quicker’? I mean I’ve seen Nick Bundy have races with Adam and some apprentice for some jobs and I think Chris Reeves has as well. You no doubt have your methods which may and may not be better but you’re always learning!
When mistakes happen it’s how you deal with them afterwards that counts. I’ve had quite a few over the years. What were the problems? Inexperienced lads? House bashing can be a skill in itself
I’ve fitted joist plates over all the vulnerable pipes (and some cables where they drilled right at the top of the joist) cables in our 1970s house with badly installed heating pipes. More labour and more cost though.
@@artisanelectrics Just mark the floor. We also mark the floor where the cables come up so that the carpenter doesn't nail the cable when installing the skirting boards.
Hi Jordan. Just come across your site and love. Very educational and learnt so much and still learning. Could yu help and explain a bit about downlighter & LED's. Have spoken to several testers, and still confused. Should downlighters all be fire proofed in a house where ever they be. ? Also is there a relation number etc in the 18 th.
Forgive me, but I’ve been in the electrical contracting industry for in excess of 50 years. Both working on the tools and at senior management. Five days for an electrician and apprentice, with your assistance for some of the time should be sufficient to complete an installation of this size. It’s always best to put as much time and effort into a job during the first 50% of the time allocated even if it means working late. If a site over runs, and sometimes it does, then it’s all hands to the pump. You should have insisted that you staff stayed late with you to help complete the works, to the satisfaction of your customer, if they refuse then you have the wrong people working for you. Once again forgive me but this is good advice.
Nail plates. It surprises me that so few use them. I've got about 50 in the tool box, and always put them down - takes seconds and it saves face should this ever happen. Costs pennies per plate as well.
Touch base with apprentice 121 and mark there could be some support for artisan as well to make the experience even better for you all. Great video as always. People who do rewires in under a week maybe are doing them in standard property and specializing them. You should keep doing them and you will get better at them, the planning and costing is where the rubber hits the road. At some point you will need an admin helping you out.
Think this series has turned out better than you think! This is the proper life of an electrician! Bravo. Great video - shows everyone what it’s about. It’s not all glitz and glamour.
Thank you very much!
I feel like all these youtube channels over hype the trade most of the time for me at least its bullshit after bullshit but at least the moneyh is good lol
This is the actual life of an electrician instead of the easy " Artisan perfect jobs with unlimited time "
He said 2 weeks for a rewire must be a big rewire...😂
Yep
@@saqibnawab7532 5 bedroom house. That is big
‘Partial rewire’
The rewire from hell , I would think most sparkies have had one. I remember mine as clear as yesterday and it was 20 years ago and it was in Banbury. Typical early mid-terraced house untill your step through the front door and it dawned on your , you step into the tardis .It took 2 weeks. It had 4 different floor level down stairs and 4 different floor levels upstairs and dreaded flat roofs on the 3 extensions . Everytime you chased a wall the plaster on the wall just fell off , it was the old cement based plaster. Flooring was 8x2 T&G sheets of chipboard . The was no direct route to any room for the cables, accept for the rooms under the cellar . I lost count of the circuits I installed. I installed the largest DB available. I had to use 4inch sq trucking in the cellar to bring all the cables to the DB . The DNO had to change and upgrade the service head and the old one had been overloaded and was leaking pitch . It's scared my memory for life .I still remember the full address of that property , I never been back to Banbury since
Wow! You live and learn eh! Thanks for sharing
A trip to a shrink is required ⚡️
🤣👍
Jordan, I need to say -Really well done - I could tell how tired you were and you still tried to film, you still put the customer first - You looked after your team and best of all you have used it as a learning experience - Brillant Job
Thanks so much!!
This brought back memories. I did exactly the same when I rewired my house 23 years ago. I was behind schedule, the new carpets were going to be installed the next day and at 11pm I still hadn't screwed all the floorboards down. Bingo, I went straight through the copper pipe lying in the notch of a joist. The photo you showed was almost identical. The effect the same, water everywhere when the screw was removed and damp ceilings. I was exhausted and just not thinking straight. Morel of the storey, don't try to rush a job to completion when tired. Mistakes will happen!
Well done for going back and checking with your customer. You certainly provide an honest professional job. Wish more trades had the same approach as you have. Keep up the good work and stay safe!
Thanks a lot!
Great series of videos Jordan, like you’ve said it’s one to learn from, I know you said you don’t like rewired but to be honest I love them, it’s the challenges your breaking through, it’s a very realist view for people out of the trade (customers) to see the sorrow of your graft etc instead of seeing an easy installation in a property installing say an EV charger which your a master of installing.
This series of videos shows the hard work involved in forward planning of the job, the first fix, and second fix planning the materials, the sorrow of working late in the day to get the job done then the heartache of the leak.
It truly shows a true week in the life of an electrician you should be proud of what you’ve done here, customers see videos online of all the easy installations, who then think that were ripping them off because they’ve seen a UA-cam video this is reality.
Chin up Jordan
Been there done that and it is really painful in more ways than one. Good for you sticking to the agreed time scale. A good honest tradesman will always be busy and this is real life and not the problem free youtube world.
You never stop learning no matter how experienced you are. At least the customer still paid you the 35k for all those lads 🤣😉👍.
😂👍
lol Savage
Oooooh snap. Hehe. Cheeky banter.
Boom Mr Beck. sorry not sorry.
🖐 Hiiighh Fiivee
I have watched this series as we are having a rewire done in a few weeks, and when I heard J say it will take a week I was kind of annoyed our electrician has told us 3 weeks. Now I know why. Still a great insight into how its carried out and the possible issues that anyone might encounter
Great to see you have been brave to admit Things don't always run as
they are ment to be.Lots of respect Jordan for you honesty. Learn from mistake, grow move on.👍
I appreciate that
It’s good to see that you are honest and not making all is good even when it’s been a pain good on you
Thanks Chris
I feel you brother with the ups and downs of running a business, we’ve been in similar situation.
Make sure you learn to take a break don’t wanna burn yourself out !
Thanks! 👍
Firstly thanks for a quality, informative channel. I’m an Aircraft Engineer in the Cargo Industry. Your comments about your quote are so so valid. Exactly the same in our industry, the aircraft is unserviceable, the airline want to know when it can fly, some smart arse gives them a time, BANG ... Everything goes wrong.
So I fully understand how you’re feeling.
Thanks to you and your fantastic team, for a very informative, interesting and sometimes fun channel.
I’ve watched everything you’ve done.
Rgds Noel
My philosophy is to take the figure a job would reasonably take and double it (at least), everything always happens at ‘half-speed’, any time left over is a bonus! Always remember, a five minute job always takes five hours, a 5 hour job always takes 5 days, sometimes a 5 day job takes... (let’s not go there but I think the work begins with y).
House rewires bad, ev chargers good, house rewires bad, distro changes good!
Stuff happens, outside our old workshop a small water leak, on footway, water co came out speedily and declared it was a leak under building,it wasnt, so their chaps dug a hole where they thought leak was, and hit a mains cable for the street light, bloke got hell of a belt off the cable,and melted a piece of his shovel. He was really upset, as he may have been killed, tea and biscuits helped calm him down.
Huge respect for the honesty and zero bullshit mentality you approach your work, business and customers with. Stuff happens and I think you handled it better than the majority of tradespeople would. 👍 keep up the great work. And for anyone with negativity towards you or your methods, They must really like you because they keep coming back for more 😆
Thanks Tom
Never stop learning, i bet you nearly melted when you called back in, as long as the customer was left happy in the end you can call it a win
Thanks! Thats the way I view it too.
@@artisanelectrics positive mindset, something i need to keep reminding myself
Only a real man takes on the chin 👍 Keep up the good work Jordan you know it’s worth it in the end
I appreciate that, thanks!
A very honest vid Jordan. You didnt have to show this job warts and all, but you did. Thank you for sharing.
Did a rewire many years ago,no heating,so pipes froze,we only found out when heating back on,ceilings came down in several rooms,got home at 5am,was a great way to spend Christmas Eve & Christmas Day morning...
Oh no! That trumps my bad week 😩
This lad is too good ...talk about fair and decent..sound man..Peace from Ireland
Thanks Sean
I once managed to somehow form a perfect seal with a screw through a pipe, I only found out months later when I had to take the boards up again and water pissed out.
I am the opposite of you, I always overestimate the time it will take, but this is the IT industry, from your 1st year at university, you are taught to do your estimate for a job and then double it. 100% contingency.
I hate and refuse to work under pressure.
Thie difference for me is that I always worked for someone else, even when I ran my own company, it was pretty much always on a sub-contract basis.
Now in my post-stroke dotage, I work part time in research, with almost no time pressure.
I find your videos fascinating, the insight into another industry, albeit one I have often worked alongside, is a great eye-opener.
Thanks!
Thanks for the honest window into real life Jordan. You learn more from this kind of content than 'here's a perfect instal' etc. Bravo!
Glad you enjoyed it!
the golden rule is always plan for snag days, or thats what i do, as you said you were unlucky and mistakes happen but when your rushing the chance of a honest mistake can always happen, we all have done it chasing your tail trying to catch up with your worklist, i learned that deadlines can always adjust
Mate I feel for ya.
Being a sparks does beat you down now and then.
I’ve followed you for a while now and find your videos inspiring.
Keep up the good work, us sparks gotta look out for one another 👍
Thanks Craig!
Taking on interns is something that this country has been slacking in over the last few decades, and we as a nation are starting to pay the price. You are doing a very special thing there mate, well done for your patience and teaching our next generation. I hope they appreciate it
Just reminds me of the time I had to replace a kitchen light fitting. Taking out the second fixing screw of the old fitting and warm water started p***ing out of the hole in the ceiling. Turned out “cowboy” plumbers had slotted the underside of the joists to run the heating pipes.The light fixing wood screw had been sealing the punctured copper pipe for years with no bother. Made a temporary patch with some sheet rubber and a jubilee clip.
So everyone has bad days Jordan !
Wow thanks for sharing what a story!
No one is to blame for your future situation but yourself. If you want to be successful, then become “Successful
Haha we bought our first house just over a year ago - a small semi detached to do up, my partner did exactly the same thing rushing to ‘secure’ squeaky floorboards before the carpets were fitted in the bedrooms. We found out when my dad popped by the day before when we were out to do a bit more work and said there’s water coming down the front window! My partner had gone into a pipe leading to a radiator on my side of the bed, the last one had worked on, it had a small pool of water inside! Q my panic and my dad rushing to fix it, then several hours of heaters from below the cealing and into the cavity to try and dry it out before the carpet was fitted!
Thanks for sharing your story!
Spot on! Jobs almost always expand to fill the time available. And beyond. Not to mention budget over-runs. Thanks.
True thanks for the comment
Another great video, credit to you regarding running over on the job and sticking with the original quote, very professional 👍
Thanks 🙏
I’m so happy ( not in a bad way ) about the ending saying sometimes it don’t always go right saying it will be done in 2 days but it takes longer and sometimes you feel like you wanna quit! I started doing my own work in September and I’m always thinking that so for someone like you to do through stages like that makes me think it ain’t just me and keep me Determent, so like I said not in a bad way but thanks!!!!
Glad the video was helpful! We all have bad weeks! You will get through it 👍
That is life, it's helps that you had a good team with you Jordan. Look after them and you will find that they will always be there for you. 👍
Hi Jordan As I said on a previous comment it is difficult to estimate how long a job will take when you your self are not doing the work. Having said that it’s a guess , and as you rightly say you win some and you lose some . As long as you get it right most of the time it’s all a bit academic. One tip I will give is if time is limited , as was the case on your job . Get the DB mounted and ready to go , then say wire the lighting , next up stairs sockets , kitchen sockets , etc . By doing this you can cover the need for the client to move back in . And bearing in mind I’ve done total rewires with the customer still in occupation . It is really the only way . Finally there is a case to say you can have to much labour on a job , I’d say two men and a lad is probably more productive . But it’s all very easy for me to sit here pontificating from my armchair. You are the one who is at the coal face . Until you start a job you never know what you might find . Thank god I’m retired 🤣👍 best wishes to you and your crew
Thanks a lot!
One thing that might help is to mark rough pipe locations on the floorboards with a little sharpie. At least you know something is right there to just take a second look before you screw anything in that area. Keep up the good work.
It’s almost always : another trade driving a screw through a cable, not the other way around :)
Wow. Tough week. One of those! Nice work. One for conversations with friends when we’re allowed to have beers again 😆
With the amount of labour used in a week, I did think it would have been further on, a week was always going to be tight even if you had 5 of your clones there.
“Clones” ??
@@Marco-mg9tv yeah clones, did you not here him mention that, he was referring to exact copies of himself.
As Forrest Gump says : Life is like a box a chocolate, you never know what your going to get.
So true! Thanks Ted
I suspect if you were doing full rewires all the time you'd have better estimates of the time required, it's always tricky to estimate things you don't do regularly, and of course the more often you do things the quicker you tend to get at them as well...
Sh*t happens. Good for you for taking it in your stride with absolutely great demeanour. Methinks you would do well, no matter what you attempted.
Great videos lads keep up the good work
Thanks!
I always seem to underestimate how long it's going to take to do a rewire. I did a 4 bed house last year. Quoted 20 days. Had someone helping me for 2 days and it still took me 24. Latest one is a 300 year old 2 bed cottage. Quoted 16 days. Because it was all exposed beams with no ceiling cavity it's taken forever with the additional chasing or dragging cables into the loft to go up and over. It'll be a further 3 days once the plasterer has been. I feel for you Jordan 👍👍
Some rewires can be SUPER complicated
Great video and thanks for sharing, real life stress and pressure of us sparks!
Fair play.... More of these type of videos Jordan. This is the reality of Electrics!!!
I’ll be honest I unsubscribed before xmas as it was getting tiresome and unrealistic on how everything was problem free on your videos.
More, more of these. Now subscribed again.👍
Haha thanks welcome back!
Sometimes a beer at the end of those days is the only solution😀👍
Yeah! 👍
s*** happens, don't beat yourself up. Sounds like you did a good job regardless.
Thanks
A brilliant and raw account Jordan!! 👍🏻
Thanks!
Really nice to get an honest account of what I'm sure most tradesmen have been through plenty of times! I definitely spotted that look in your eyes of a job that's overrun from the freeze frame alone... I always try to add about time to my estimate then the customer is always happy but then I know I have spare time so that often gets foiled by trying to squeeze one more job in. One day I'll get the hang of it, sure is nice when jobs come in ahead of time. I definitely do think there comes a time in the evening where you just have to accept defeat though. Sweeping up late at night is one thing but making mistakes in the consumer unit because you're tired and on your own in a dark house is a little too much risk in my book. I'd rather go home and get in early to finish off with a bit of a fresher head personally but I know when you're deep in to get it done mode it is hard to make that call. I try to remind myself that most reasonable people would rather wait another few hours than suffer the consequences of a bad error.
Can't believe the boys left you to it. Not like they can go down the pub. Id never leave 1 guy to struggle on even on a Friday.
It was Cory’s parents anniversary so I told him to go home and be with the family
@@artisanelectrics i guess he's forgiven then lol. Keep up the good work, really enjoy your videos. Just started up on my own so getting inspired by a lot of the you tube sparks
Thanks! Glad to help!
Loving to hear about the apprentices progress. Brilliant to see. Keep going guys
Thank you! Will do!
You do have to remember when multiplying humans by humans you cannot go by "half's" you need to do thirds. As you increase human count you increase the likelihood of communication errors, etc.
There is a small exception to this at some point a team should be running very efficiently that one can communicate without speaking at that point you may not be able to get half but you might be able to get close.
Things to note down, when taking boards up draw on top of them where pipes are run, especially if they're run in notches which is standard for any property pre push fit plastic pipe. It's a small job the apprentice can do and it saves a lot of time and cost.
That said I've marked all the pipe on the floor before and had a tiler come in behind, ply the floor not transfer the marks (no biggy) but use 3 inch screws to hold the ply down onto the floor boards and drilled through the pipe at every single joist.
Sounds like a hell of a week... funny you were so cheerful at the start of the video ... and then so deflated 😩
I know 😂
I really feel for you Jordan I remember drilling an outside wall to an extension to feed a 6mm cooker supply and going straight through water supply. It always takes longer when you have apprentices as your training and watching. With your outfit buy a wall chaser,vacuum and some lighting always comes in handy.
Thanks!
Nothing worse than when times start to get tough, everything seems to mess up to add to the pressure ! I’m going through that right now tbh.
My latest rewire video I put my foot through the ceiling 🤦🏻♂️ right into the kitchen that we didn’t need to touch !
Keep going Jordan, it gets good again as you will already know 😂
Your not a sparky if you haven't put ur foot through a ceiling at some point😂😂
@@saqibnawab7532 it was a first, and probably not the last for me 🤦🏻♂️
@@Cablesmith did it this summer in my boys room first fixing it was 65c in the attic here in the USA you literally dripping in sweat and then I missed the joist and put my foot through the ceiling however the ceiling repair I did was a level 5 finish absolutely perfect we call that a level 5 finish nothing visible and smooth in all light conditions. So I learnt a valuable skill. All the family were laughing at me but when they saw the repair and finished product it was so well worth it for them to eat humble pie...
We’ve all been there!
@@mathman0101 haha excellent way of taking a positive from a negative ! My kind of person 😂
Yep, too many men on a job, too much pressure to get the job done. Easy done. Chasing out a kitchen once, Went through a water and gas pipe with the double disc chaser.
So true
From dealing with contractors daily here in Canada I've always been told budget for 20 - 30% contingency plan for unexpected problems. If you don't need it you tell customer you came in under budget. But yeah sounds like even with a contingency budget you may have still ran over a bit. But plan for contingencies in your quote/ their budget of 20 - 30% for time / money/ materials. That way if something goes pear shaped everyone's prepared for it and if it goes smooth you look that much better.
Great comment thanks!
Properly feel for you. We have all been there and super stressful when things don't go to plan. Pipes should always be noted before boards go back down, so no reason it should have been screwed through, but you took it really well 👍
Thanks
Great Jordan and Artisan electrics
Lots of comments around we do it in a day /two days/ three days whatever. I’d love to see a UA-cam video showing a rewire with 2 blokes in less than 3 days or one on his own in less than 7 normal days with 100 + points/ 4 beds fully installed and tested with chasing in on most of the sockets/switch drops ....please I’d love to see how you mega sparks do it
When I first started doing electrical work I got a job labouring for two electrical bashers rewiring council houses in Droitwich. They said that, with my input, they would now be expecting to do a house per day! It was insane, working virtually nonstop, 7am to 8/9pm. I remember being admonished on my first day for using a spirit level! Needless to say, the quality of the work was pretty abysmal - crash, bash and on to the next house.
@@lifter98 exactly- and that was effectively more like 6 normal man days on low spec low quality installations
Jordan, recommend that you carry a 15mm and 22mm Rothenberger Kibosh with you in your bag. Can be a lifesaver with hit pipes, not a permanent fix but certainly helps get things contained really quickly - much quicker than a piece of inner tube and jubilee clip! One of those things you’ll hope you never have to use!
I've not hit a pipe yet but would self amalgamating tape hold a pressure leak?
@@barrybritcher Try to keep it that way! I’ve only done it once and thank god it was in my own house, but I still felt like a right tit though. From what I’ve heard the tape is good in theory, but in practice you usually don’t have enough space to get the tape swung around the pipe while keeping tension on it. I’m not sure if you’d have problems using it on central heating or hot water pipes - maybe the heat would make the tape too soft?
Jordan thats the real life of a electrican. Last year i work on sites where there is alot of pressure. Last year november i worked for mon tot thuesdays 7 tot 1 in the moring for 3 weeks
Wow that’s intense
Thanks . Who hasn’t has a problem like that
Honesty ,I like it .
Team Jordan, great video. A lot of trust is needed when a company expands, your trying to get the work and be more office bound and need the team to do there bit as well.
We’ve all been there, good advice to allow 2 weeks, I definitely agree with that!
Thanks for the extra help! 👍
Such an honest video. We all get days like this. Keep your chin up bud and don't lose faith in your abilities we're all human at the end of the day
Thanks!
It always seems that way when one thing goes bad it spirals.
Yep
Mate, you have done a good job, you just need to give yourself more time, pressure is the enemy of any job, i do really feel for you regarding the screwed central heating pipe. I am doing a rewire on my own, i have booked 4 weeks to do it, the customer is living in the house, that comes with all the usual issues, but i adapt and overcome. That's all we can do.
I have even managed a few call outs as I can keep the cash flowing.
Chin up, its a good place to be, you know it.
Well done! Thanks for the comment
Sometimes you're the windscreen, sometimes you're the bug.
What a great saying
Haha I Love it!
Dire Straits fan by any chance?
Jordan keep up the great work. And content. As electrician you always learning even form your mistakes
Thanks! So true!
Here marks the last ever re-wire Jordan does 😆😆😆
Haha I hope! 😂
Your idea of running radials in rather than up and down rings worked out for you on this one 👍👍
Thanks 👍
I can’t see how this rewire took so long even with the extra smokes and EV charger. The job has been flooded with guys. I wouldn’t like to see the quotation for a 2 week rewire.
Often the more blokes on site the slower as everyone gets in the way and people are less focused.
I don’t think 4 or 5 guys would slow down progress because they are getting in the way of each other. After all it is up and downstairs and it is 5 bedroom. Plenty of space for that amount of tradesmen/apprentices.
@@jonny1929 you cant judge unless you're on the site mate, sometimes everything's against you
Come on guys. What do you expect for £80+VAT per hour??? 🤣
End of the day.....just because your charging for a super sparks......the client needs to understand they may still get someone wet behind the ears.
O think the biggest think to take away from a project like this isn't solely to allow more time but to get yourself a PA/Admin (your lovely lady?) That WAY YOU can be on site and getting the guys working as you do (not that I'm saying Corey isn't great because he is), but you said it yourself; you're quoting as of it was you on site and the best way to stick to that is to be on site and get someone in the office - it'll cost less on the long run and keep you on site ensuring deadlines are met and issues addressed, the minute you took on someone ypuneed to be on site, not on the office. Look at Nagy, has a PA doing the admin so he can be on site with his crew doing the job and not worrying about the office.
It happens and i cant remember how many times i been in same situation with a HVACR install.
Used to do 5 bed rewires on my own with the owners in the property,(3 weeks) don't know how or why I did it looking back 😆 total madness
Would do a mobile disco on a Saturday too,
Totally avoid all that horrible junk chopping out work now. Stuff the money.
Keep your real knees 🙂
It may also be the family moving furniture back in etc put pressure on the floorboard in a way that hadn't happened since it went down, and made the screw move and start it weeping etc
Talk about luck in catching it before it got worse. Congratulations! Could've been a week later before you found out that there was a leak.
I should know I had 2 inches of water in my basement last year and that was the highlight, 2020 was a bad year.....
We also had a small pinhole leak in a water pipe when we moved in due to a wire for the hot water heater but that's a different story....
I hated rewires, don't do many these days thankfully, but when we did they were hard work. But there are rewire sparks and there are rewire sparks!! House that size 2 of us would do in 3 days, chasing, make good included and fully clipped. It has to go like clock work, and well planned. A lot of industrial sparks give out about "house bashers" but when it comes down to it they can't wire a house properly 😂, or of course make the money out of them 😉
Great point!
Murphy's law, karma, zodiac signs.... However you want to name it I hate days like these and I just had one myself 😑. The best thing is to sleep it off I guess, if you can afford it
Yep, I did!
I'm sad you're not nearer us. I'd love to work with you when we buy our first home!
We could all say that should not happen, but in reality, it does, I have done similar three times in my life, through drilling though, not scewing down boards.
Each time the pipes were run not where they really should have been...I started carrying a few jubilee clips and some strips of inner tube as a very temporary repair..since then it never happenned to start carrying them as my theory is...if you have a temporary solution..it won't happen !! 😁
Of course there are tempory pipe repair clamps nowadays, plus permanent repair sections that filly slide over the pipe cut then slide back into position as opposed the a normal coupler thatis restricted in the centre.
Problem is they can be a little bulky where the pipe crosses a joist.
On balance, you were lucky, an electrician was wiring my parents house, it was vacant and winter.
He drilled through from outside for an external bulkhead and his bit hit a cold water pipe above the kitchen ceiling...he cut out some plasterboard and repaired a copper pipe with a standard 15mm plastic coupler, after cutting out the holed pipe. He never informed us of his mistake or repair as he fixed the ceiling.
Unfortunately, when he used the coupler it was inder tension as he had removed a bit too much pipe.
Of course, vacant house...winter..temperature lowered and under tension the pipe separated and flooded the property for a week, oh, solid floor also !! yup, wallpaper ruined, full kitchen ruined, appliances,carpets throughout and also the furniture, it took weeks of drying out and of course no chance of an insurance claim a year or so down the road.
If only he had come clean and let us know in the first place, it could have been avoided.
I hope that puts your situation into perspective, it was minor but it happened.
Did I miss where u said how much it actually cost ?? Be interested to know
ua-cam.com/video/ntAHKvT5pFg/v-deo.html
Shame about the leaking pipe just bad luck sh- - t happens but a fantastic rewire of course to smooth things over
👍
Nice one oscar!!
Stop that. That is not cool to always blame on the apprentice. I am an apprentice, and when co workers do that not only do I feel guilt, but I feel that I am not supposed to work as electrician because I cant do anything.
So stop it!
Have you never made a horrible mistake? Nobody is perfect
It wasn’t Oscar! It was an experienced fully qualified sparky! It happens
@@artisanelectrics wait hold up, I posted that comment before I'd watched the part about the damaged pipe, I meant it totally genuinely and not sarcastically, oscar seems to be doing really well!
👍
OUCH! That happens when you drill screws on the floor spray water out. Same happened. I had a drill screw on the ceiling on the floor and the electric metal cord blew out. I smelled like a burn. I took out wood. I see that metal got holes and burned. Oh well that's life. Next time when you put wood make sure to write on it where you drill screw on it. Great work hard till night was busy and busy. Thumb up!! Cheer!
Thanks
I would not have estimated this as a "rewire" because there was a good portion of new wiring that had to be done as well.
Very good point
I like the way people are complaining about the price for the job. I can't wait when it's compulsory to fit AFDD's and a routine board change will cost £1500
So true
I think working long hours without another electrician was risky, your tired, agitated and that’s when things can go wrong. Is there parts of the jobs where you think ‘I really need to master doing this quicker’? I mean I’ve seen Nick Bundy have races with Adam and some apprentice for some jobs and I think Chris Reeves has as well. You no doubt have your methods which may and may not be better but you’re always learning!
Yeah you’re right there!
When mistakes happen it’s how you deal with them afterwards that counts. I’ve had quite a few over the years. What were the problems? Inexperienced lads? House bashing can be a skill in itself
One of them things. Keep a couple of joist plates on the van next time
Good tip!
I’ve fitted joist plates over all the vulnerable pipes (and some cables where they drilled right at the top of the joist) cables in our 1970s house with badly installed heating pipes. More labour and more cost though.
@@artisanelectrics Just mark the floor. We also mark the floor where the cables come up so that the carpenter doesn't nail the cable when installing the skirting boards.
Hi Jordan. Just come across your site and love. Very educational and learnt so much and still learning.
Could yu help and explain a bit about downlighter & LED's. Have spoken to several testers, and still confused. Should downlighters all be fire proofed in a house where ever they be. ? Also is there a relation number etc in the 18 th.
Been there mate the pain is real
Thanks
Forgive me, but I’ve been in the electrical contracting industry for in excess of 50 years. Both working on the tools and at senior management. Five days for an electrician and apprentice, with your assistance for some of the time should be sufficient to complete an installation of this size. It’s always best to put as much time and effort into a job during the first 50% of the time allocated even if it means working late. If a site over runs, and sometimes it does, then it’s all hands to the pump. You should have insisted that you staff stayed late with you to help complete the works, to the satisfaction of your customer, if they refuse then you have the wrong people working for you. Once again forgive me but this is good advice.
Thanks for sharing your experience
Nail plates. It surprises me that so few use them. I've got about 50 in the tool box, and always put them down - takes seconds and it saves face should this ever happen. Costs pennies per plate as well.
Touch base with apprentice 121 and mark there could be some support for artisan as well to make the experience even better for you all. Great video as always. People who do rewires in under a week maybe are doing them in standard property and specializing them. You should keep doing them and you will get better at them, the planning and costing is where the rubber hits the road. At some point you will need an admin helping you out.
Absolutely
Respect the hustle
Thanks
Some days are a pina colada, some are a rough end of a pineapple, thanks for sharing.
Yes they are!