Relocating a plug socket – Extending the wires

Wa gwan.

I’m in the process of planning a job for some fitted cupboards where a plug socket is annoyingly located in a place in the alcove into which it is being built so it wants extending as the customer wants to keep and run their shredder inside the cupboard.

Having never done this before, and having not had a massive amount of electrical experience, can anyone advise a good way of going about it?

Calling an electrician is the obvious one, but it’s got to be a fairly straightforward job to extend a few wires by about 6 inches so I’d rather have a go myself, and obviously can then deal with it again should it crop up.

So, I’ve got my socket tester, I know the procedure for checking and double checking that the power is off at the outlet. Now what?

Can you get extension kits specifically for this?

Cheers

For a paying client?  Will your insurance cover you if you muck it up and burn the house down / kill a baby robins nest / disfigure a child’s face?

Get a pro in who’ll issue a certificate.

Yeah that was my first thought, and I told the client this. They said they’d only had the socket installed there recently and didn’t want to get someone in to move it again, so said Could I cut a hole in the cabinet to access it, mount an extension bank inside the cabinet.

I can do this of course and was planning to, but I just thought how much neater it would be to remount the back plate inside. Be a shame to cut a hole in the cabinet, plus it complicated the install too.

Also, it’s my understanding that you do not need to be electrically qualified to relocate an existing socket, only to install a new one?

I wouldn’t dream of attempting it if I thought it couldn’t be done safely. I love baby Robins faces.

There’s ‘rules’ about how you can join cables which you’d need to know to do it legally (something about ‘hidden’ joins).

Rules may cover DIY but perhaps not a paid professional.

Plus, as above – does your insurance cover you for electrical work?

If there’s ‘spare’ cable and you can just pull it out the fole, run it up some trunking to a new location and reattach the socket to the wall then go for it but if you need to undo any connections or add cable I’d be careful.

It’s your company though and your decision – it’s not technically a difficult job to do.

“Also, it’s my understanding that you do not need to be electrically qualified to relocate an existing socket, only to install a new one?

I wouldn’t dream of attempting it if I thought it couldn’t be done safely.”

I believe you are correct and it is something I would look to do myself in my own house. A paying client is a slightly different kettle of biscuits & it’s a question whether your professional insurance would cover you if it went wrong – if no cover then too much of a risk for the sake of a £100 or so IMHO

No, I’m sure I’d be fine doing it in technical terms, but as you say, I’d need to make sure I’m covered.

 A paying client is a slightly different kettle of biscuits & it’s a question whether your professional insurance would cover you if it went wrong – if no cover then too much of a risk for the sake of a £100 or so IMHO

Very true. Just thought if it was very simple and safe, i’d do it. I’ve certainly been part of kitchen fits where the dude I was working with (when I was younger) moved and mounted plenty of sockets into cabinets.

It’s not an easy job if done properly. If you extend from the original socket using screw terminals (junction box, connector block, etc) then you must leave the connections accessible, which might defeat the object

You can use a permanent connection and cover that; crimps are best on a multi-strand conductor and a ring is often a solid conductor,  I’m not sure whether Wago lever connectors are compliant and there’s soldering

The bottom line, ask a pro and get it certified

Edit: moving a socket is one thing, altering an existing circuit is different

My initial reaction was the same as wwaswas, but on re-reading is the plan to move the socket horizontally out of the plane of the wall and into the cupboard, or as wwaswas describes moving the socket on the wall?

Have you taken it off and given it a tug?

There /might/ be 6 inches of slack in the wall if you’re lucky…

 on re-reading is the plan to move the socket horizontally out of the plane of the wall and into the cupboard, or as wwaswas describes moving the socket on the wall?

Horizontally and slightly vertically into the cabinet yes. It’s currently mounted centrally on the skirting board.

This is where it is now.

plug location by kayak23[/url], on Flickr

Cabinet will cover it a bit like this.

Socket location by kayak23[/url], on Flickr

Have you taken it off and given it a tug?

There /might/ be 6 inches of slack in the wall if you’re lucky…

No. I guess I could try this first, but I had planned to cut the holes out nice and neat in the workshop before the whole cabinet gets painted professionally so I’d rather get it done before on location.

P.s – Ignore the garish colour. It’s for illustration porpoises only 😉

so said Could I cut a hole in the cabinet to access it, mount an extension bank inside the cabinet.

Just do this or talk them around to getting a spark in. Sounds like you’re more bothered than the client (which is understandable given that you’ve made them a nice cabinet.)

^^^ Yeah, I think that’s probably true 🙂

If an extension bar is acceptable, what about mounting a socket in the cabinet and rather than hard wiring it to the house, put a flex and plug on the back of it so you effectively “plug in” the unit. You could then have the socket and plug assembly tested before you fit it by someone qualified (or insist that the client does so)

One option is to design a blanking plate into the cabinet with a small cut out for cable run. Removes all risk to you.

Fitted into skirting there is probably some spare cable behind, but sod’s law may well be in effect and brings the risk back on to you.

Double socket inside the cupboard fed from the existing socket in the skirting, via a 13 Amp plug top!

That’s  the easiest way and what I’d probably do, and I’m a spark.

Are you allowed to mount sockets on skirting board nowadays?

Double socket inside the cupboard fed from the existing socket in the skirting, via a 13 Amp plug top!

So essentially, take a plug and lead, chop off the girlfriends hair curlers that were attached, and instead wire that end right to the socket mounted into the cupboard?

Is it ok to go from that single plug to a double socket? 1 feeds 2?

I guess it’s exactly the same as an extension lead really.

I wonder though if I ought to be leaving access to the existing socket by law?

Hmmm 🤔

That looks a simple job.

I would either – run a spur from the existing socket to the new socket in the cabinet – assuming it is not already a spur.  This would enable it to easily be removed again and be as it was before.

Or I’d use wago connectors and a blanking plate for the original position of the plug to hold the connections (still technically accessible) and run the cable to the new outlet

Iana sparky but done minor home alterations such as moving sockets / switches / lights

should be no issue going from a single to a double unless it wasn’t wired right in the first place

Repeat after me ‘ Keep it in the ring, Keep it in the ring’.

If the existing socket is a ring, then you will have 6 wires to lengthen – 2 live, 2 neg, 2 earth.

I would kindly suggest that if you are on here asking, then you are not competent or confident about doing this.

Get a sparky in.

I don’t see how you could possibly indemnify yourself from the possible results of you cocking it up (or even you being blamed for any DIY cocking about they do subsequently), regardless of how easy it seems. At the moment it’s simple, you have instructions on how to get around the issue from the client. if you leave them enough of a removeable panel, a spark will find it easy to do the necessary once the client realises that their solution is a bit ugly.

Don’t touch their electrics. Not worth it.

honest question why keep it in the ring?  admittedly only one more cable / 6 connections but what is wrong with a spur in this circumstance?

“Are you allowed to mount sockets on skirting board nowadays?”

They’re mounted higher (450mm+) to give easier access, but I think that it’s a “should”

“what is wrong with a spur in this circumstance?”

Assuming that it’s directly off a ring, certified, etc, nothing. Extending the ring would allow kayak to make the cupboard a cleaner design though, especially if access is easy under a wooden floor

As above, effectively use an extension lead, cut the plug off to the length you want. Fit a rewirable plug, mount the socket end where you want. Simple and if you can wire a plug you’re golden.

Egg-sucking time, mount the new socket high enough that you can get a plug in with a flex below 🙂

4 times ive nearly been electrocuted by some idiot messing about with power cables and altering the run of the things, do anything wrong and its all your fault, the customer will say.

Egg-sucking time, mount the new socket high enough that you can get a plug in with a flex below 🙂

Or mount the socket upside down so that the cable has a free run out of the top???

Just do the plug top idea if you’re not going to get a spark in.

Or wago it under the floor then run a spur from that into the new location. Then of course you’ll test it  – r1 r2, ir, Zs, rcd trip time to ensure compliance and issue minor works cert

Unless the house  is victorian the cables will come down the wall. As the cabinet is going to cover the wall i’d make a hole in the wall at 450ish high. Pull the slack up from the skirting out of the hole. Router the cupboard out to accept a d/s face plate. Unless it’s upstairs of course.

I would expect it’s quite likely the cable run is from the floor.  People are lazy and not likely to have chased all the way down the wall to a low skirting location.  In my place the sockets on the skirting seem to be where some of the original old school round jobbies were and the 50s retire just replaced then in situ

Pull the boards near it.

Though as others have said if this is for paid work not your own diy I wouldn’t touch it…

Cheers folks. Some great pointers.

I’m thinking I’m going to leave it and do what we originally suggested. Guess I’ll have to cut a dirty great hole in my cabinet then… 😭