A hot board, a burning smell or a fuse that keeps blowing
In an older house, these are signs to act on the same day. If you smell burning you can't trace, see smoke or sparks, get everyone out and call 000. If a fuse or breaker keeps going, don't keep replacing or resetting it, and don't fit a heavier fuse wire: that's how old circuits overheat. Leave it off and call a licensed electrician.
Unley's houses, decade by decade
A very early suburb
Unley and Unley Park were subdivided in 1840, and paddocks gave way to houses mainly from the 1880s. By 1911 Unley had 24,000 people living in more than 5,000 dwellings.
Four eras of character homes
The City of Unley's heritage design guide lists Victorian cottages from the 1840s to 1890s, Victorian villas from the 1860s to 1890s, turn-of-the-century cottages and villas to the 1920s, and inter-war styles through to the 1940s. In Historic Conservation zones, demolition is assessed on heritage and character merit.
Flats and renters
At the 2021 Census, 27.1% of Unley's occupied homes were flats or apartments and 20.2% townhouses or semis. 35.6% were rented.
The jobs Unley homes keep needing
Replacing fuse boards. Rewireable ceramic fuses protect the cable, not the person. A new board with circuit breakers and safety switches is the first upgrade we'd want in any Unley house that still has them. Old fuse boxes explains what's involved.
Testing old wiring. Villas have been rewired in parts over a century, and older rubber-insulated cable can go brittle. An electrician can test each circuit and tell you which can stay. See old wiring.
Care around the meter panel. Some older meter panels contain asbestos, so it pays to have the electrician look at it before any work nearby, and never to drill into it yourself.
Flats. In a block of units, the board in your flat is usually yours, while the main switchboard is common property. Problems with the main board go through the strata corporation.
If we'd just bought in Unley
We'd get the board and wiring tested before the first renovation, not during it. In a house this old the results decide everything else: where new circuits can go, whether a rewire is due, and whether the meter panel needs special handling. Better to learn that before the walls are open than after.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.