Your property questions answered

How much should renovation cost?

I recently returned to Ireland after 10 years and am renovating a 1950s three-bedroom semi-detached house in Dublin. I am frustrated at every turn in terms of getting tradespeople to do anything and when I do get people out to quote on jobs, I have - probably through my own inexperience - no yardstick by which to judge their quotes. For example, the house needs rewiring. I talked to two friends who have had that job done on a house similar to mine - one cost around €1,500, the other close to €6,000. A massive difference you'll agree. How can I stop being ripped off?

As you now well know, getting any sort of official figures on what services should cost is like coming across the third secret of Fatima. George Kennedy at the Association of Electrical Contractors of Ireland was at least able to come up with a base figure. If you are quoted less than €2,000 (excluding VAT) to rewire a three-bed semi, you should, he says, walk away. Below this figure, he says, you can't be sure that the job is being done by a properly paid, registered, trained professional, using high quality materials. This is a highly regulated profession with two registration bodies, RECI and ECSSA. You should make sure that your electrician is a member of either and you should get three quotes. As for your friend's €6,000 quote - it doesn't necessarily mean that she was ripped off. Domestic electrical work has changed radically in recent years and by and large, you do get what you pay for.

There was a time when a house rewiring meant one socket, a simple light switch and a hanging central light in most rooms, with a couple more sockets in the kitchen. Now it's downlighters, everywhere, several double sockets even in bedrooms, dimmers, timers - really the list goes on. And that's before you get into wiring for home cinema systems, multi-roomed sound systems, electric underfloor heating, plasma screens, broadband, Jacuzzis, electric showers, patio lighting, alarms, etcetera etcetera.

Then there's the difference in price in terms of specification, for example between getting brushed-chrome light switches everywhere instead of the bog standard white ones.

The important thing (after making sure your contractor is registered) is to make sure you compare like with like - the low quote might only cover a basic job, the higher one, your fancy extras. All this means you must be sure you know what you want before you start. An electrical plan sounds like a complicated thing to do but all it means is that you go through your house room by room - draw a simple map - and decide exactly what you need in each by thinking about how you live. If, for example, you use the spare room as a home office then you need more than one double socket to accommodate your computer, printer, desk lamp etcetra. All this will help in assessing quotes.

• The Q&A mail box was flooded with readers' advice and personal experiences on halogen lights. The high level of response indicated that the problem of blown bulbs is experienced by many, many more people than the reader who wrote in last week for advice. Next week this column will pass on some of the very helpful advice on the problem - as ever, we welcome not just your problems but also your advice and personal experiences on anything to do with property, buying, selling or renovating.

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