Electric socket

[itbemay]

Can anyone help with an electrical query. I am redecorating our bedroom and there is a plug socket in the middle of a wall that I want to remove. I've watched a few you tube videos and it seems fairly straightforward.. has anyone else done this themselves that can offer any advice, it looks like just removing front plate, using electrical blocks to secure wires then filling in hole?

Electrician wants £120 but did say to me on phone it's easy to do myself

TIA!

Personally, I wouldn't fill it to hide it if it's still got live wires in it. I'd put a blanking plate over it. That way you still have access in future years should a problem arise with the terminal block connector, or should you wish to reinstate the socket. If there's no evidence of a socket, there's also the increased risk of you (or a subsequent owner) drilling in or knocking into the wall and hitting a "live" cable.

The best alternative if you want to fill it and smooth over it is to isolate the wires from the junction box in the floorboards above or below the socket, that way the socket and the wires leading to it are dead and there's no problem of future problems.

Leaving live wire in a wall isn't really OK. I don't know what regulations say. Is it a spur or ring? (how many cables are connected to the back of the socket)

I think you’d be insane to mess with electrics when not qualified to be honest

like he says it’s a pretty straight forward job, you can even solder them together if you want, the only problem can be if you want to fill the hole where the socket was the moisture in whatever you fill it with can tripthe fuse make sure you tape/ heat shrink it up properly.

most people are scared to death of anything electric, just take your time and think things through and you’ll be fine.

this reminds me of an electrical socket in our house when we were rewiring ( don’t do it like this ). 😀 they had shoved a bit of polystyrene in it 🙂

Thanks all @Diyextension

If you have a socket in the wall, what hardship does it cause you?

It is a straight forward job, for someone that knows what they're doing, unfortunately, it sounds like you don't.

Op, £120 is pretty much the going rate for that sort of job. Get it done by a professional.

Will your house insurance cover you if you get it wrong? I'm pretty sure @Diyextension won't be putting up the money for rebuilding your house.

If you are removing it and hiding it in the wall get an electrician to do it so it it done properly, if you do it yourself it is best to put a blanking plate on so people know it is still there. We have a couple of redundant sockets with blanking plates which DH did but he wouldn't have hidden them in the wall and plastered over them himself

This is what I like about this site ,unless your a professional/ qualified then you don’t know anything about anything …….. if you touch / do anything your insurance won’t pay out because your house will just be a pile of rubble.

When anybody asks for advice on doing things here most people usually jump on them and say NO YOU MUST GET A PROFESSIONAL TO DO IT ( or you’ll probably die ). 🙂. Yes I’ve done things for the first time and made mistakes , but who hasn’t ? you learn from them and then do it right.

There is nothing more satisfying than having a go at something yourself and making a good job of it. Doing lots of things are a lot simpler than they look,it’s just the fear of the unknown that holds people back from giving it a try.

ive always thought if someone else can do something then why can’t I ?

With the internet now everything you need to know is on there for people to follow/learn .

It is easy op just make sure you turn the power off when doing it. When your done and turn it back on if you have done anything wrong it will just automatically trip the fuse, that’s the worst that will happen, you can just turn the whole power off to the house when you do it if you want to be extra careful.

Good luck 👍.

A blanking plate would meet building regs (but why bother?) Leaving live wire in the wall and plastering / filler over the top wouldn't, and it's dangerous.
A proper job would rewire with a single wire from the sockets either side on the ring main, remove the back plate, any wiring from the wall, then fill / plaster and decorate. That's more than £125.

I'd be OK with removing the wire and back box from the wall and joining the cable in the floorboards with a junction box, but I believe that contravenes building regs.

There are live wires in everyone’s walls with just thin layer of insulation to cover them, and most people have no idea where they are. It’s no different. All the electrician will do is remove the socket , connect the wires together if it’s on the ring or if it’s a spur he may be able to find where it’s spurred from and disconnect it from there. If not make the end of the cable safe so it can the filled over.

Even if an electrician did it I doubt he would issue a minor works certificate for such a minor job.

Do people on here get electricians in to change a light fitting ?

Cables should normally only run horizontally or vertically from sockets & switches. So look left,right,up&down before drilling a hole in a wall. By plastering over a socket, you are effectively placing a live cable into what looks like a 'safe zone'. I think you are probably right about spurs. And I think a suitable maintenance free junction box is fine for joining ring under floorboards or in ceiling.

Do people on here get electricians in to change a light fitting ?

Of course not, we always do our own, I think most people do their own if it's just a new replacement light.

Where abouts is it on the wall?
If it is low down, I'd leave it. (you can never have too many electrical sockets.
If it is high up, put a picture over it - even better I saw a lovely illuminated picture of a realistically moving waterfall in a Chinese Takeaway that would require an electrical socket to get the full asthetic benefit.

@Diyextension

There are live wires in everyone’s walls with just thin layer of insulation to cover them, and most people have no idea where they are. It’s no different.

Any decent electrician will embed cables vertically up/down the wall, not diagonally, so most people know to expect a cable directly above or below a socket or light switch. Few people would think to check if there was no switch or socket in line (horizontally or vertically) anywhere they were screwing or hammering.

yes mostly this is how it’s done , however it’s not always the case I’ve seen cables in walls all over the place ( see pic above). Sometimes you need to get a cable from one floor to another with no socket or switch to guide by. I’ve drilled a live cable before it was actually run behind some skirting ( this is common ). And I’ve also drilled through a live gas pipe embedded in a wall while putting a kitchen unit up.

I’ve learnt from experience, never take anything for granted and when drilling a hole in a plastered wall that’s not in my house to always poke the wall with a screwdriver till it’s through the plaster so I can see brick/ block before i drill.

Bloody hell - do you all do your own root canals - tattoos - eye tests - get a bloody professional electrician ( pref NICEIC) to do job 👍🏿☘️ Or at least a live wire detector ( Truvo)

The key is to know what you can do yourself and when you need a professional.

Over our 25 years of marriage, OH has learned to do more and more himself. At first, he couldn't do much at all, but we've taught ourselves decorating, basic plumbing, basic electrics, filling/plastering small areas, fitting pvc windows, laying flooring, basic car servicing etc. Most of it is having the right tools, and he's now got quite a selection of all kinds of power and hand tools whereas when we bought our house, he had a couple of screwdrivers and a pair of pliers! You tube videos are also excellent for telling you the right way to do something and to give you confidence when you see someone else do it.

Funny thing is that often the so-called "professionals" botch things up. We had a new kitchen fitted, and of course, they needed a qualified electrician to "re-wire" the kitchen to comply with standards. He made a right botch of it. OH took off a socket to replace it with one with USB port, and behind, the wires were twisted together and covered in insulation tape - he cut the wires in the wall too short so had to "extend" them to reach the socket! That's not "professional" and almost certainly not in accordance with standards. Then when we turned off the upstairs socket circuit to replace a socket up there (something we've done several times previously), he checked with his tester before touching a wire, and it was live - the "professional" had somehow joined the upstairs, downstairs and kitchen circuits so you can't isolate one circuit anymore - must have done it when he installed a new switch/circuit on the main board for the kitchen which used to be on the downstairs circuit. We had to get an electrician to rectify that who was pretty gobsmacked that it was such a botch and couldn't believe it had been done by a professional/qualified electrician! Now we're back to being able to isolate the different sections again like we always used to be able to!

Missing the point entirely I know - but why in earth would you want to get rid of an electric socket? I can understand hiding it behind furniture etc - but surely no one can ever say they want less sockets in a room; Why just why would you?

@Kazzyhoward your right about confidence, basically doing anything different that your not trained/ used to doing is all down to it. Some people have bags of it and can’t wait to give things a go and some people need to get a builder in just to hang a picture or paint a wall ( or disconnect a socket )

Your also right about having the right tools for the job, it makes doing the job a lot easier and enjoyable. Anything you need to know now is on the internet you can read and watch your way through anything.