Ballpark figure for replacing light fittings?

[TheOtherBoleynGirls]

Does anyone have even the roughest idea how much it might cost to get someone round to replace about 8 of those big flat chrome ceiling lights with basic plain pendants so we can put normal lampshades on?

You can get pendant light fitting from Screwfix for £1.45 each…. Plus the cost of the lamp shade - I would shop around though - B&M have a good range and reasonably priced.

You’ll find the priciest is the electrician - unless any major re-wiring required - re-positioning of the fittings then it is a straight swap, should take an hour roughly to do this work. It all depends on what their rate is.
I mean if you’ve got the knowhow to do basic electrical work then you could do the work yourself but it is recommended that you get someone qualified and competent…

Definitely no electrical experience so I’m not even going to think about doing this ourselves! But that it might only take an hour or two is useful, thank you

I paid £25 for an electrician to change the light fitting in my son's room from a standard pendant to one of those industrial type bulbs. It took him less than an hour & i provided the new light.

I think it's helpful if you send pics of the job when getting initial quotes so they know the scale of the job & can quote more accurately.

Do you mean a downlighter?

If so there'll be a big hole that will need to be replastered.

Like @VeniVidiWeeWee, I'm unsure what you mean by "those big flat chrome ceiling lights". If these are recessed fittings that sit in/above the ceiling then they'll leave big holes to be filled. Can you post a picture of the existing lights?

Sorry, I mean these kind of things - they’re in almost every room and I hate them!

We had an electrician round at the weekend to change our hallway lights (they have a complicated 3 sets of switches system that eluded us) and he charged us £20

Ours charges £30 an hour. He's v good though and filled in the holes left when he'd finished.

A handy person should be able to do this for you. Will be cheaper than an electrician.

We had an electrician in London do all our fixtures for £20 a fitting. If the wiring is up to scratch it’s also an easy DIY: if it’s an old property wired by a maniac, it’s not.

Yep, ours was an old property wired by a maniac that had the electrician scratching his head. A particular favourite was him finding out a chandelier was held up literally by a bit of string tied round a joist.

It's a fiddly job but not a complicated one. My neighbour taught me, he did all his own and now I do my own. The only one I won't touch hangs over the stairwell..😬

They look rather easy to switch - doesn’t look a complicated job - I say that and you’ll find that there might be some re-wiring that needs to be done…

I’ve paid about 40 a fitting but one at a time as and when I can afford it , but would definitely be cheap if I did them in one go

Round my way it's about £50 per fitting to change lights.

I think you could do this yourself. Obviously switch lights off at mains first. Look at some YouTube videos or ask someone with a bit of DIY know how.

Thanks for the figures, really helpful. We’re not that practical and while there’s plenty of DIY stuff I’ll teach myself to do, plumbing and electrics are something I’d much rather pay someone to do properly!