The job of an electrician can be quite physically demanding. Sometimes, you have to be tradesman enough to know when you are beaten. The ladder is a tradesman's constant companion, and there will be times when a ladder is not up to the job.

I have been working for a client who purchased a water mill. The place and location are stunning; as you can imagine, plenty of water runs alongside. The property needed an electrical upgrade, and while this was the initial first step, the client had bigger plans! Plans to utilise the watermill to generate electricity. With a supply already coming into the property from an electrical supplier, their role in this project stopped at the pole. The installers of the generator at the mill also meant that their responsibility stopped at their generator. The bit in between... the bit to connect the watermill to the house and the house to outbuildings, became the responsibility of an electrician, and as I am already part of the project, that meant me!

I was responsible for connecting the 25mm 5core cable from the first fuseboard in the outbuilding and then running the cable outside to a resting position on the electricity pole. From the electricity pole with tight tension and special pigtail bolts, secure the cable to the house and into the second fuseboard. From the second fuseboard, back out from another corner of the house, with tight tension, connect the cable to another pigtail bolt and into the watermill, ready to connect to the third fuseboard. The hydro team had already installed their generator. Once all the cable was in place, the hydro team could connect to the final fuseboard to allow electricity to feed back through the complete electrical installation. I have been informed by the client that electricity is now being generated!

Unfortunately, 25mm 5core cable is not malleable, especially during these cold winter months. Although I had sourced winches and pulleys to help manoeuvre the cable, there came a point quite early on in this section of the project where one man and a ladder were not going to cut the mustard.

At the end of November, on a cold and foggy morning, accompanied by my wife, we set off for the first part of the installation, connecting the 25mm 5core cable from the fuseboard in the outbuilding, up into the loft space, outside and up to the electricity pole. The cable is hefty, so imagine carrying this up the ladder each time to correctly connect the cable under the eaves outside. On second thoughts, please don't imagine; it was difficult and took a lot of time and energy. Unfortunately, this resulted in medical attention, which I won't elaborate on here. So wife's wise words, "get down off that ladder now! and we will need to rethink this and provide a more efficient and effective safe solution."  

And that is what we did. We found an efficient and effective safe solution by contacting Steve Beck, the Cherry Picker Man, who gave us a price agreeable to the client. In addition, I reworked my hours, which allowed for this expense without additional funds to the client. And so, on another freezing cold day mid-January, Steve and I met at the client's property and successfully completed the mission together. All done in a day!

I, my tools and the cable were safely housed in the cherry picker basket and escorted to the correct heights at the various buildings so I could safely and efficiently carry out my electrical duties.

I now know my physical limitations. I also now appreciate my wife's wise words, "safety and efficiency" are always the order of the day. Sometimes, and I am sure other trades are the same, years of experience means you take a few risks because you know what you are capable of. But there are times when the risk is not worth compromising life and limb. This project had given me some sleepless nights, and once we knew the Cherry Picker Man was on board, the worry, which was as heavy as the 25mm 5core cable, also became lighter!

Now that the external side of this project is complete, my work continues inside.

For more information on how the Cherry Picker Man, Steve Beck can help you visit his website and or Facebook page.

And as always, I am here to provide safe electrics to every home!   

It has been an exceptionally busy time for me this year right from January 2nd to Monday 14th August, when I took a well earned rest for a couple of weeks. The first time in 5 years! A proper break.

As well as remedying electrical problems for existing customers and tending to electrical additions for many, I have also been busy with rewires. Three in particular have kept me busy this year and each have been different.

Sauze Vaussais - Dept 79
I was particularly delighted to work on a rewire on my door step. The clients had purchased a property which needed a complete renovation. They had purposefully purchased something that they could put their own personal stamp on and incorporate some cool gadgetry for their minimalist but functional home.
After completely gutting the property builders set to work in reconfiguring the home exactly to the clients wishes. With me doing my bit to include lighting of stairwell, zonal lighting in the lounge, dining and kitchen areas. All controlled by a panel in the main lounge/diner. Even the external lighting is controlled by a separate remote system either by a hand held fob or wall panel. Continuing on, high ceilings meant the installation of velux window blind which are controlled by hand held remote. I love it when clients want to explore creative lighting options in their home fused with advanced control.   

Here's what the client had to say about my work:
​“Nothing is too much trouble for Paul! Having installed the complete wiring from scratch for our renovation he was happy to come back and do the smaller jobs like garden lighting and even making the trip to add a single socket in one room. Paul clearly knows exactly what he is doing and ensures that everything conforms to the French regulations and standards. He worked well with the other builders on site and fitted into their schedules as much as he possibly could. We are delighted with the results.”

Champagne Mouton - Dept 16
June was dedicated to a 4 week rewire at Champagne Mouton. A lovely town house with great history and a real depth of character. I had been recommended by Andrew Johnson/Karen Jones in Ruffec for some electrical works to the kitchen. Having visited the property so that I could prepare my devis, it was clear that the main fuseboard and earthing was a little unsuitable. As safe electrics is paramount I brought it to their attention immediately. They were aware that the system was old and as they were planning to do a number of aesthetic works themselves to the property, they invited me to present a devis for a rewire. Once accepted, a new fuseboard replaced the old with clear identification of the various zones, with surface mounted trunking and surface mounted sockets and switches.
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Here's what clients had to say about my work:
Thank you Paul, for the great job you have done rewiring our house.
We were impressed by how hard you work, your pleasant attitude and friendly disposition.
We would highly recommend you to other people who need electrical work done.

Fontenille - Dept 79
After the 4 week rewire in Champagne Mouton my next job was a 3 week rewire in Fontenille. Client was keen for a rewire of an old non compliant installation before commencing with internal decoration. We had several meet ups before deciding on final works. Trust was of paramount importance for this client, living solo. It is a huge undertaking for many people when they live in their homes, fixtures and fittings are in their place, everything is how they want it to be. Invite a few tradesmen and suddenly dust sheets, moving of furniture can be pretty disruptive to their day to day lives. The house was originally 2 separate houses and electrical works included 2 fuseboards to provide adequate supply and circuits for a bigger property, with an additional fuseboard in the garage to feed circuits in the garage and provide overall protection. Circuits were rewired and all 2 pin sockets replaced to comply.

Here's what client had to say about my work:  
I had Paul Wilkins do a complete rewire on my house, it was a complicated job & he advised me accordingly.He was extremely tolerant of my need to understand the process & my changing my mind. (A woman’s prerogative). He was always very punctual (I could set my watch by him) and he always had cheerful smile (despite my constant questions). I am thrilled with the results & have no reservation to recommend him to anyone.

When customers are not living in France full time and have commissioned work to be carried out they need peace of mind that the job is going to be done in their absence.

I have recently finished an electrical job at L'Isle Jourdain, Vienne [86] for a client who divides time between France and the UK. I initially was asked to provide a devis for the work via a team of builders who I have worked with before and submitted the devis to the client which was accepted shortly after submitting. The work commenced with the client the other side of the Channel and was more than happy for me to liaise with her designated key holder along with other trades who were on site.

The property was a typical older French property which didn't not comply to current NF normes. When clients are not here full time I take photos of the work that I am doing and then share to either dropbox or google drive so that they can see exactly what I have done, as per the devis submitted. Regular updates help me keep in mind any considerations or suggestions I need to make as the job goes along.

This particular job continued right up to Christmas and the New Year. With other works continuing, such as installation of the heating system, it meant working on site was cold, as working alongside a plumber who was installing the central heating system. A lovely job to do with no real challenges other than the fact initially it was a 3 phase installation but when EDF came along for some strange reason they had made it single phase, so modifications had to be made to accommodate single phase installation.

The job was completed on time and with the detailed photographic work, the client was more than happy with the results. I shall look forward to returning in the Spring to work on new recommendations that I have made. ​

Paul Wilkins
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