Light switch relocation (fair price or DIY?) (Ed.)

[Sandwhale]

I'm looking at moving a couple of light switches to a new location and thought I'd see if anyone had any good advice on this at all.

So, first off, I've messaged a couple of electricians to see what they'd quote for the job. One has come back to say they'd do it for about £400, which seems steep to me for the work involved.

I'll see what the other quotes come in at, but if anyone has any thoughts on a reasonable pricing then I'm all ears.

If I don't go down the route of someone doing the whole job, I figured the next best solution would be for me to basically so all the wiring and then get a qualified electrician to rubber stamp the work or do the final steps. I'm no electrician, but extending cables to make a light switch reach a new location seems like the easiest of jobs.

The trickiest part to my mind is getting those cables to the spot that I want.

The attached pictures show the two switches I'm looking to move. The orange hilighting showing where brickwork exists and the green where plasterboard exists. The black boxes where I'd be looking to move the switch and the black dotted line is a 90° corner in the wall that became less visible after the highlighting.

For the brickwork, I imagine I'd just need to drill out a chanel for the extension wire to run along. Then afterwards I just need to plaster and repaint.

For the plasterboard, I'm honestly not sure on how best to run that behind. Should I be drilling holes at intervals to fish the wiring along? Also, how would I deal with any supports for the plasterboard? Try to go behind somehow or make a cut in the front?

As you can probably tell, I'm a bit clueless here.

In terms of where the old switches exist, I know that a faceplate needs to be added, which is fine as pictures/mirror is going in front

Also, there's no joy to be had from going above as there's parquet flooring that'd stop that.

What do you think? Am I making life hard for myself by even considering this, or is this totally doable?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm no electrician, but extending cables to make a light switch reach a new location seems like the easiest of jobs.

As you can probably tell, I'm a bit clueless here.

Hmm ....

 

[pete01]

Quinetic....wireless....maybe=less headache?

 

[Sandwhale]

Hmm ....

Awesome, you're cherry picking quotes from my long text without context and adding nothing of value. How helpful!

To clarify, I'm confident in my ability to understand that two wires can be connected. I'm also pretty sure I said I'd be getting an electrician to approve/sort any electrical connections.

The part I have a lot of uncertainty about is routing the cable from one place to another.

 

[Murdochcat]

Those charges are much more involved than you think.

Does you CU have rcd protection ?

Why do you want to move them?

Have you heard of safe zones?

 

[ETAF]

I figured the next best solution would be for me to basically so all the wiring and then get a qualified electrician to rubber stamp the work or do the final steps.

unlikely to find anyone to sign off work they have not done these days

not 100% sure i follow the images supplied

is thet 3 switches moving - one on 1 wall and 2 on another

what do the switches actually supply ?

 

[Sandwhale]

Quinetic....wireless....maybe=less headache?

Hmm, honestly this is the first time I've heard of anything like that. It does seem like it might do the job.

I guess I imagined that any wireless connection wouldn't be self powered, which those seem to be.

I'll look into it in more detail when I don't have an armful of toddler, but is there any downside to this. Such as the signal interfering or being interfered with by a other source?

 

[pete01]

I'll look into it in more detail when I don't have an armful of toddler, but is there any downside to this. Such as the signal interfering or being interfered with by a other source?

Not that I know of, I've got one in my bathroom and it's been fine.

 

[Sandwhale]

Those charges are much more involved than you think.

Does you CU have rcd protection ?

Why do you want to move them?

Have you heard of safe zones?

Thanks for all this. There's a lot that I don't know and will only appreciate when someone draws my attention to it.

So, I'm away from home so can't photograph, but I'm pretty sure my circuit breaker has rcd protection, though I'll check when I can. The electrics were completely redone when the previous owners extended the house about 5 years ago.

As to why I want to move them, it's that there in inconvenient locations. One is in the hallway when it controls the light for the dining room (not too far, but a nuisance). The other is smack in the middle of the lounge wall, which is where I'm looking to put a large mirror.

From searching, safe zones seem to be a practice of routing cabling around edges or corners of walls. Presumably so that idiots such as myself won't drill through them when adding large mirrors. Sounds very sensible and I've no idea if the electric works in place have followed this.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Awesome, you're cherry picking quotes from my long text without context and adding nothing of value. How helpful!

I asked for your thread to be moved to the right section, so there is that. You're welcome.

 

[Sandwhale]

unlikely to find anyone to sign off work they have not done these days

not 100% sure i follow the images supplied

is thet 3 switches moving - one on 1 wall and 2 on another

what do the switches actually supply ?

Ahh, that's a fair point about someone not wanting to sign off on work that I'd completed myself. I suppose I imagined doing the more manual and time consuming element of the work and the professional could do the part of the work that they're most skilled at.

It's just two switches I'm looking to move. The one by itself and the left most of the two. I've mentioned what they supply in another message

 

[Sandwhale]

For that, you do have my thanks

 

[jj4091]

In your second pic. the new position of the switch looks like it is going to be behind a door when the door is open, which is not advisable. Unless the door hinges the oposite way to how it appears.

 

[Sandwhale]

In your second pic. the new position of the switch looks like it is going to be behind a door when the door is open, which is not advisable. Unless the door hinges the oposite way to how it appears.

So it's going to be on the right as you walk through a partitioned divided space that folds back away from that wall, so it should be fine. Thanks for the thought though

 

[SUNRAY]

I'll look into it in more detail when I don't have an armful of toddler, but is there any downside to this. Such as the signal interfering or being interfered with by a other source?

A ;lot depend on how many of them there are in your immediate locallity and additionally what radio masts there are nearby. Using them for an entire developement of 600 houses resulted in significant false triggering and rewires within weeks of occupation. As a radio person I have received 2 instructions to close down radio equipment due to the 'interference' my correctly installed and licensed transmitters caused, however the same authority who identified the 'interference' also accepted my invitation to test my kit and gave them clean bills of health.