What are the homes around Braunstone Park like?
Mostly council-built houses from the inter-war and post-war years, laid out around Braunstone Park, with a mix of semis and short terraces towards Rowley Fields. Many have since been bought by their tenants and are now owned outright or rented out privately, while others are still council homes.
That history matters for the electrics and plumbing. The houses were built to a standard pattern, but decades of different owners mean no two are the same inside. One has a new kitchen and an old fuse box; the next has a modern board but wiring that was extended by someone who wasn't an electrician. We look at what is actually there before we price.
Should I replace the fuse box in an ex-council house?
Not automatically, but it's often the first thing worth checking. Many of these homes had boards fitted during council upgrades years ago, and they may lack the RCD protection a modern board gives every circuit. Send photos with the cover on and off and we can usually tell you what you have.
Signs worth mentioning when you send them:
- A separate switch box for the shower or cooker
- Often added on later, outside the main board.
- Fuses you can pull out
- Rather than switches that flip down.
- No labels, or labels that don't match
- Makes isolating a circuit guesswork.
- A board that keeps tripping everything at once
- One RCD covering too much.
When does a house here need a full rewire?
When an inspection shows the wiring itself is worn out, not just the board. Old rubber or fabric-sheathed cable, lighting circuits without an earth and a patchwork of joins are the usual reasons.
A rewire is easiest in an empty house: between tenants, or after you've bought the property and before you move in. It needs a survey visit rather than photos. Cables go in first, then sockets, switches and the new board, and the work is notified to building control as the law requires.
Why doesn't my bathroom fan clear the steam?
Often because it's an old through-wall or window fan that was never strong enough, or its ducting is long, crushed or blocked. Some fans in lofts were even left venting into the roof space rather than outside.
A modern fan with a humidity sensor runs only when it's needed and keeps going until the air is clear. In the kitchen, a fan or cooker hood that vents outside does far more than a recirculating one. We check the ducting route before pricing, because that's where most weak fans fail. If there's already black mould, we can tell you whether a fan is likely to solve it or whether something else is going on.
Can you fix fences and side gates on estate gardens?
Yes. Long back gardens, side gates beside the house and fences along corner plots take a lot of wind, and posts set straight into soil eventually rot. We replace posts and panels, rehang gates that drag and fit latches and bolts that actually lock.
If your home is still council-owned, boundary repairs may be the council's job, so check before booking. We're about a mile away, so when the diary allows, we come out the same day for a gate that won't shut.