Moving a socket

[pha]

Hi everyone,

I need to move a socket in my kitchen. It is currently at about 5 feet high on the outside of a recess, and i want to move it to the inside of the recess at a much lower height (my fridge freezer sits in the recess).

Is there a sensible way to extend the cable, or will I have to rip out half the wall and put new cable in from the preceeding socket in the circuit?

Thanks in advance

Paul

 

[JohnD]

You could run a spur from the old socket (and leave it in place) to the new one.

If you are in England or Wales there are some regulations applying to electrical work in kitchens and bathrooms.

 

[pha]

I want to get rid of the socket ideally, as it is the most ridiculously placed socket in the history of housebuilding!! The socket is nowhere near water or gas, so what implications would the regs hold for me?

 

[JohnD]

If you want to remove the socket entirely and decorate over it, you ought to remove the cable as well, or someone will drill into it one day.

If the cables come up through a wooden floor it is possible to put a permanent crimped joint on them and rerun to the new position.

Do you know where the two outlets on either side of the unwanted socket are, and how the wiring is run between them?

The regulations mean you either have to submit plans to the Building Control office of your council, pay a fee, and provide some documentation; or else have the work done by a qualified electrician who is a member of an approved self-certification scheme and will do the testing and documentation for you.

 

[pha]

I dont want to remove the socket, I just want to move it about 4 feet lower on the wall, so the cables just need to be a bit longer! I dont know where the next sockets are on the circuit, but i'm guessing they would be in the kitchen too.

 

[JohnD]

I want to get rid of the socket

I dont want to remove the socket.

i want to move it to the inside of the recess

I just want to move it about 4 feet lower

Can you clarify what you want to achieve, please.

 

[pha]

ok, i have been a bit vague....

I want to move it from its current height of 5 feet to a more sensible 1 foot. The wall of the recess is a stud wall, so i would just move the socket from one side of the socket to the other. So I just need to know if i can feasibly extend the cables, or if I have got to trace them to the next and previous sockets in the ring and replace the cable.

Thanks

Paul

 

[JohnD]

Do the cables come up from the floor (wooden or concrete?) or down from the ceiling, or along from the neighbouring socket?

If you don't know, turn off the power, take the socket faceplate off, and have a look. Also look and see if they appear to be run in conduit (probably white oval plastic).

BTW it is quite usual in kitchen to have sockets mounted above worktop height, so about a metre above the floor. The minimum height for sockets in new houses is 450mm above the floor.

Would you object to either of those heights?

 

[pha]

The wire comes in from above the socket, but I am unsure where it goes to, possibly the fusebox as the fusebox is in the garage on the back of the kitchen wall.

 

[pha]

The height of the socket isn't desperate as it will be behind the fridge freezer, but i would still need to extend the cable to do this

 

[JohnD]

if you have a concrete floor, it is quite usual to have the ring circuit run above the ceiling, dropping down the wall to outlets. If you don't know you will have to find out.

 

[pha]

That would be the case i think John, as the wires head straight up. Also i the garage we had the ceiling removed as it was asbestos, and all the wires here run around the rafters.

 

[alucard]

Couldn't you just put a junction box where the current plug is and sink it then run a cable from the junction box to the site of the new plug??

 

[RF Lighting]

Couldn't you just put a junction box where the current plug is and sink it then run a cable from the junction box to the site of the new plug??

Do you mean flush a joint box into a wall and plaster over it?

If so, NO

 

[alucard]

I take it its just better to have junction box's in the ceiling or under the floor boards then!

This due to drilling hole for hanging stuff etc?