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Moving Electrical Sockets

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Sycamore3House | 21:28 Sat 15th Mar 2014 | Home & Garden
8 Answers
I live in a fairly old house. The plug sockets are mounted on the skirting boards. I want to refurbish my kitchen and move some of the sockets. I do not require any additions.
On one side of the kitchen the sockets are above worktop height but on the other side there are two double sockets that are on the skirting board and it is these two that I would want raised to above worktop height.
Would an electrician just joint a cable and then move them higher or is it more complicated.
TIA
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Look inside the sockets...(switch off at fuseboard)..to see if they are fed from the top,bottom or sides.If fed from the top it will be an easy job because the cables will need shortening.If they are fed the other ways then a certain amount of rewiring will be needed..unless you want to leave the original sockets in situ.
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The are fed from the bottom.

So it is possible to join cables?

If I left the sockets in place could I just do extensions up to where I want the sockets above the work tops.
Thanks for the info
As you are making changes to the cables and are considered to be within a special location ...according to part P of the building regs..you must use a registered contractor and the work must be notified to local building control.
After I lowered a stair landing socket so the earth wire a previous owner thought hilarious to disconnect and cut off, could be reconnected, I was informed it would have been permitted to simply crimp a wire extension on. Unsure if that also applies in a kitchen area but your electrician would know.
I may be misinformed but I think you are allowed to do it yourself but it'd need to be checked afterwards, which may cost as much as getting someone to do it for you in the first place.
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I will not do it myself I will get an electrician in. I am just trying to determine how much work would be involved and therefore cost.
Be careful - I have just had a new kitchen fitted, and because of the socket work, the electrician said I had to have a new fuse-box. Cost me over £1,000, just for his bill.
Let alone the cupboards, worktops, plumbing, fitting, etc.
It depends on whether you have the wall chased out so as to put conduit in the wall from the existing socket up to the new ones (recommended but most expensive.) or have a cable surface mounted along with the new sockets. Either way depending on the existing installation it may be possible to keep the lower sockets too. The electrician will either just daisy chain the new sockets onto the old ones or ditch the lower sockets and replace them with junction boxes.

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