Green on the terminals
Salt finds its way into cupboards on the seaward side and settles on bare copper. The fix is rarely a new circuit; it is cleaning back to good conductor, re-terminating properly and sealing the entry the air was using.
Auden Isle · the terraces, the flats and the ridge farms
Salt air is hard on wiring. We plan for that.
Domestic and small-commercial electrical work across the island: consumer units, rewires taken a floor at a time, outdoor power that survives a westerly, and fault-finding that ends with an explanation you can repeat to someone else.
Before you write to us
The four things most people ask first, answered without a conversation.
Where we work
Harbour Row, Kestrel Point, Marnie Flats and Quarry Lane, plus the farm tracks beyond the ridge. Anything further out we book as a half day.
What the van carries
Full test gear, a stocked drawer of accessories and enough cable to finish most single-circuit work on the first visit.
How we price
Fixed price for defined work. Hourly only for fault-finding, counted from arrival and stopped when the tools go down.
What you keep
Installation or minor-works certificates issued after testing and emailed as PDFs, with the measured results included rather than summarised.
The call-out list
Six jobs, most weeks
What people actually write in about
If your problem is on this list, say which number it looks like and we can usually plan the visit in one reply.
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Trips you cannot reset
A breaker that goes on wet mornings is telling you where the water gets in. We split the circuit, measure insulation resistance leg by leg and find the fault, rather than fitting a larger device and hoping.
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Consumer unit replacement
Steel enclosure with a protective device per circuit, so one fault no longer takes the kitchen and the upstairs lights at the same time. Main and supplementary bonding checked and brought up to standard as part of the work.
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Rewires in stages
Whole-house rewiring done one floor at a time so you can stay in the house. Chase routes and socket positions are agreed and marked on the wall before anything is cut.
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Outbuildings and outdoor power
Armoured runs to sheds, workshops and mooring stores, buried at depth and ducted, with weatherproof accessories rated for the exposure they will genuinely get rather than the exposure a catalogue photo suggests.
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Lighting that suits the room
Switching plan first, fittings second. We work out where you want to stand when you reach for a switch, then set dimming that matches the lamps you chose and leaves nothing humming at low level.
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Inspection reports for lettings
Condition reports with coded findings and a written order of works, so the urgent items are unmistakable and the rest can be budgeted across a season instead of all at once.
How a visit runs
Four steps, no surprises
Testing comes before the price
Nobody can quote a fault they have not seen. Here is the order we work in, and where the number appears.
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Step one
Describe it in plain words
Tell us what happens, when it started and what you were doing at the time. “The hall lights dip when the shower runs” is more useful than any technical term.
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Step two
We confirm a window
You get a reply by email with a date and a two-hour arrival window, plus what we will need access to. If the ferry timetable affects it, we say so in the same message.
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Step three
We test, then we price
Measurements first, opinions second. For defined work you get a fixed price in writing before anything is dismantled. For fault-finding we agree a limit on the hours before we start.
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Step four
You get paperwork that means something
Certificates with the measured values on them, a note of anything we chose not to disturb, and a short list of what is worth doing next year rather than this week.
Board guide
Useful before you call anyone
How to tell what is behind your board door
Open the cover, look, and close it again. What you can see from the front tells you roughly which decade the installation belongs to and what the next sensible step is.
| What you can see | What it usually is | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramic carriers and fuse wire | A rewireable board, pre-1960s | Replace before adding anything. The cable behind it is often the same age as the board. |
| Cartridge fuses, no test button | A board from the sixties to the eighties | No residual-current protection anywhere. A unit change is normally the first job. |
| One large test button, two banks of switches | A split-load board | Workable and compliant for its time. One fault still takes half the house with it. |
| A test button beside every switch | A device per circuit | Current practice. A fault stays on its own circuit and the rest of the house keeps working. |
| Brown marks or a smell near the cover | Heat at a terminal | Stop using the affected circuit and have it looked at straight away. |
Tell us the same day
Signs that should not wait
- A smell of hot plastic anywhere near a board, socket or switch.
- A faceplate that is warm to the back of your hand.
- A protective device that trips again as soon as you reset it.
- Any tingle or shock from an appliance, a tap or a metal sink.
- Water dripping near a board, a meter or an outside socket.
- Scorch marks, or a plug that has discoloured at the pins.
Until someone is with you, switch off the circuit at the board rather than at the wall and leave it off. If the whole board is affected, use the main switch.
Field notes
Three things the sea does to a house
Island work is not mainland work
Exterior lights that only last until February
Most outside fittings fail at the gasket rather than the lamp. We fit accessories that can be opened and resealed, mount them where water can drain away rather than pool, and leave a drip loop in the cable.
Garden runs that were never buried deep enough
Half the shed supplies we find are a flex under two inches of soil. A proper armoured run, ducted and marked, costs less than the second repair and does not stop a spade mid-season.
Questions
Asked often enough to write down
Before you book
If your question is not here, put it in the enquiry form. We would rather answer it in writing than have you guess.
Do you work off the island?
No. Everything we take on is on Auden Isle, including the ridge farms and the outer terraces. Keeping it that way is what lets us hold short arrival windows.
How quickly can you come out for a circuit that keeps tripping?
Anything with heat, water or a shock involved is treated as same-day where the day is not already committed. A circuit that trips once a week is normally seen within the same working week, and we will tell you which category we have put you in when we reply.
Will the job be finished on the first visit?
Fault-finding and single-circuit work usually is. Board changes, rewire stages and anything needing a supply interruption are booked as their own appointment once we know what is involved, because rushing those is how corners get cut.
My sockets are old. Does that mean a full rewire?
Not by itself. Age of accessories tells you very little; the condition of the cable insulation tells you almost everything. We test first, and more than once the answer has been a board change plus two circuits rather than the whole house.
Can you work alongside a builder or a kitchen fitter?
Yes, and it is cheaper for you when we do. Give us the first-fix date and we will schedule around plaster and units, so cable is in before walls close and there is no chasing finished surfaces later.
What paperwork do I get, and when?
Certificates are emailed within a few working days of completion, with the measured test results on them rather than a tick. Inspection reports include coded findings and a written order of works. Keep them with your deeds or tenancy file; the next electrician will thank you.
Do you charge to look at something before quoting?
Not for defined work such as a board change, extra circuits or a lighting plan. Diagnostic visits are chargeable, because finding the fault is most of the work, and that time comes off the repair if you go ahead with it.
Request a visit
One form, one reply
Tell us what it is doing
Describe the problem the way you would to a neighbour. We answer by email with a date, an arrival window and, where the work is already clear, a fixed price.
No automated call-backs and no sales follow-up. If we are not the right trade for it, we will say so and tell you who is.