Extending cables query

[bhamoggy]

So I have an old house with the sockets just sitting above the skirting boards. The floors are all laminate so can’t go taking them up.
I want to raise the sockets up the wall to the correct height but there’s no give on the cables in the existing sockets.
Anyone got any ideas how to extend the cables allowing for the sockets to be sited higher up the walls?

 

[Murdoch]

Use wago's in the existing back boxes then use a blank cover plate and run new cables up to the desired position.

This will ensure you can access the connections in the future

Or if the sockets form part of a ring, keep them in position AND run a spur up to the desired position.


Obviously all new cables and sockets need to be RCD protected

 

[Fleeting]

That is your only option but don't forget the existing back boxes if they are metal still need an earth, a common omission.

 

[Andy™]

or as many DIYers (and some so called 'elctricians'), twist, cover in parcel tape and plaster over

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Is this just laminate over a standard wooden floor.. i.e. NOT a concrete solid floor?

If it were my house, and there is space below the floor...
I wouldn't waste my time faffing around with unsightly blanking plates over old socket positions..

I would either lift the laminate...
Or get my multi-tool out and cut a neat access through both the laminate and the floor boards so that I can box, join and extend the cables below floorboards.. then pop the access section back in place....

A small access point next the skirting shouldn't be too difficult to conceal without causing much of a problem to the rest of the floor...
(it may end up with some furniture hiding it anyway!!!).

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

or as many DIYers (and some so called 'elctricians'), twist, cover in parcel tape and plaster over

You forgot to add.. Then just run the cable diagonally up the wall by the shortest route..

AKA "builders joints".

I am just trying to remember when that method was still permitted by BS7671 ???

 

[Geoff1946]

How old is the existing wiring? It's a long time since sockets were commonly placed near floor level so perhaps a more drastic update is due.

 

[BorisJ]

I want to raise the sockets up the wall to the correct height but there’s no give on the cables in the existing sockets.

There is no “correct height”. You put them where you want them.

 

[bhamoggy]

Thanks for replies, I am qualified by the way but do a maintenance roll in a hospital so don’t do much domestic stuff at all so wanted a few ideas.
Thanks for the input guys

 

[King Arthur]

All my sockets, including the newly added ones, are on the skirting boards. Easy to run the cables behind the skirting, no need to channel into plastered walls and far more discreet than being 600mm up a wall. Mind you, the skirting is about 9 inches of tall so this approach might not work for the modern thin stuff.

 

[Murdoch]

All my sockets, including the newly added ones, are on the skirting boards. Easy to run the cables behind the skirting, no need to channel into plastered walls and far more discreet than being 600mm up a wall. Mind you, the skirting is about 9 inches of tall so this approach might not work for the modern thin stuff.

Not really in approved safe zones though

 

[King Arthur]

Not really in approved safe zones though

A few vertical inches from a suspended floor is ok isn't it? My pro electrician thought so.

 

[Murdoch]

A few vertical inches from a suspended floor is ok isn't it? My pro electrician thought so.

Vertical runs yes

 

[Sensai]

As BorisJ referred to above, the 450mm requirement is for New Builds under Approved Document M. For existing sockets it basically says that they are sited so there is no worse level of compliance than existed before. Moving them to comply would be a personal choice.