Moving a socket with a spur in it.

Candy53

Hi,

We have a double socket in the living room that is flush with the door. It's on the side where we open door.

We find this dangerous, because of the wires and looks terrible too. When we moved in to the house, we know it had been kicked as it was on a slant.

We corrected it, but we want to get it moved further along the wall away from the door, but, it has a spur in it. This leads straight up the wall and through to a bedroom, where it's connected to a socket there.

We only found this out, when there was an electrical problem upstairs, which blew all the sockets up there, but also this one down here.

Because it has a spur in it, will it still be possible for us to move it?


Thanks,
Candy

Avoriaz

From what you have written, (there was an electrical problem upstairs, which blew all the sockets up there, but also this one down here) it appears that your living room socket is a spur off the upstairs circuit. Perhaps that is what you meant although what you have written suggests that you think a spur is run from the living room socket.

Provided the total load on the upstairs circuit plus this living room spur is within the correct limits and the wiring has been correctly done, then it is quite feasible to move it.

A competent and properly qualified electrician (or DIYer if the regulations allow that) could put a suitable junction box within the wall where the existing socket is and run cable to the required new position. The electrician may find that your new socket is more easily and more sensibly done by linking into the downstairs circuit. Are there other sockets in the living room, or on the other side of the wall, from which you could run a new spur? Only an on site examination can determine which is the better option.

But overall, moving the socket should be easily achievable although you will probably need to make good, plaster and redecorate afterwards if you want the wiring etc out of sight.

However I suggest that you get the wiring checked as it does sound as if this living room spur could have been bodged. It might be perfectly ok but it should be checked. What was the electrical problem upstairs?

Don’t mess with electricity. Get a good electrician in unless you are absolutely sure that you are competent to do this job. It shouldn't be more than a few hours work.

Candy53

Thanks for replying Avoriaz.

Yeah, you're right, the spur comes down, not up.
There is one other single socket on the opposite side of the room.

The reason the sockets went was because there was a leak in the cupboard where the emersion tank is upstairs, and it went onto some wires.

Will it cost us more for moving the socket because of the spur?


Candy

Avoriaz

Candy53 wrote: »

Will it cost us more for moving the socket because of the spur?

Not really.

Provided all the existing wiring is ok all that is required is a junction box, a bit of cable and the cost of an electricians time.

A junction box will be pound or two at most.

You can probably reuse the existing socket and box if they are in good condition. If not, again those are only a few pounds.

The biggest cost will be the electricians time.

It is an easy job for a competent DIYer but I am not sure of the legalities of that.

But please don't think about DIY unless you are certain of the competence of whoever does the job.

I'm sure some of our resident sparkies will be along tomorrow to comment.

Candy53

Oh good, thanks.

No, we weren't going to try it ourselves. My DH knows nothing about electrics. I thought it was illegal to do anything like that yourself anyway.

Thanks for the advice.


Candy

Avoriaz

I'm not sure of the legalities. I used to do my own basic electrics such as installing extra sockets and spurs etc but I haven't done any for many years now.

One point that did occur to me later was that it might now be bad practice to run a cable horizontally along a wall. Most electrical cables are run vertically from above or below to a socket as that makes it less likely that someone will drill a hole and pierce the cable.

But a good sparky should know the regulations and give you better advice than I can.

Good luck.

Myser

This may help explain how to spur correctly:

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/spursocket.htm

It's generally not good practice to spur between floors.

Candy53

Thanks Avoriaz, and thanks for the link Myser.

Look's like we're goin to have to leave it there. It's been done like that for cheapness, but in the link it says a spur has to go vertically, so I can't see how it can be moved to further along the wall, but the only thing we can do is see how much it will cost for an electrician to come and have a look.


Thanks both



Candy

Ben84

All wires hidden in the walls shouldn't be run anything other than straight up or down from fixtures. The reason is that you don't know where is safe to drill or put in nails when the wires might be going all over the place. However, placing wires in the cavity between the ceiling and floor above is much more flexible, so you can take a cable to wherever you need it and drop it down through the wall vertically to a new socket.

southcoastrgi

don't assume that all sockets are fed vertically, spurs are sometimes fed hortizontally especially in kitchens, what the cable shouldn't do is go at an angle

Rockingit

It matters not whether cabling feeds a spur, a ring or a hungry donkey, what matters is that people have a chance of knowing that it's there. To do this we have 'allowable zones' and basically a zone is formed at right angles horizontally and vertically to an outlet - both sides of the wall. It is bad practice to put cables in wall cavities for a number of reasons.

If you need a socket moving, no problem. The only issue is what moving it might entail by way of patching up etc. You can always just fit a blank plate cover and extend the cable horizontally along the wall to a new socket, nowt wrong with that.