Ballpark for new plug sockets?

[Scam]

You guys are going to see a lot of me in here now

We had an electrician come round for a spot of advice in our new house. He seemed to think everything was ok, and not worth doing any major work on the electrics. That said, we probably want to;

• Lounge; move the only socket away from window and put another couple of doubles where the TV will be
• Add another double socket in bedroom (other side of bed)
• Add another double socket in second bedroom/study for computer stuff

What would be a fair price for that work? Googling seems to think about 1-2hrs per socket, anywhere from £80-250 per socket

Slightly annoyed I didnt ask him a ballpark but we were talking about so much other stuff (running ethernet , usb sockets etc.)

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It’s impossible to say, it depends on how easy or difficult it would be to get the ring main rover to the locations you want it from where it currently is.

 

[200sols]

Sounds like you will need a few chases, that can be messy work. I wouldnt expect a sparky to make good the chases either. Prices seem a bit low if I'm honest.

 

[BUDFORCE]

The actual electrical work would be easy.

It's the running of the wires behind the wall and putting the plasterboard or whatever back and looking good would be the skill.

I'd just do it myself, but it's up to you, technically I don't think your supposed to either, but the actual electrical side of running a spur off the new sockets is about as simple as it gets.

 

[Semple]

technically I don't think your supposed to either, but the actual electrical side of running a spur off the new sockets is about as simple as it gets.

Isn't that basically what an electrician would do anyway? - spur from an existing socket.

@Scam i'm guessing you're not much of a DIY'er, you'll start to find you're paying out a lot of money for bits and pieces that you could do yourself. I've spurred a couple of sockets and then made good the wall chases. As others have said though, you'll likely pay an electrician to spur the socket and then someone else to repair the wall / redecorate.

 

[lookitsjonno]

I'm going to be DIYing this soon so i've been watching some Youtube on the subject, there's loads of good advice on there and it really isn't that hard. It's the labour you pay for. Only thing to be mindful of is that you shouldn't spur off a spur so if there's 2 wires going in and 2 going out of the socket then you're good to go, but you shouldn't then go and add another (I think you can if it's a fused spur). So just be mindful if there's only 1 set of wires going into the socket.

 

[Vince]

If this is anything to go by I have recently had a load of electrical work done. £320 for a full day testing everything, fixing various issues and making good came first, next up we had wall lights removed in the lounge and 8 downlights put up as well as everything put right at the end... This was £420. Today I'm having a new consumer unit installed and that parts labour etc is just over £800.

In fact when I get out of this meeting ill show my electrician this post and see what he says.

 

[200sols]

I'd just do it myself, but it's up to you, technically I don't think your supposed to either, but the actual electrical side of running a spur off the new sockets is about as simple as it gets.

As long as your socket circuits are RCD protected you can do the work yourself but it must be up to latest reg standards.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I think posters may be over simplifying the potential for the job listed above because there just isn’t enough information to say one way or another and lots of assumptions are being made.

You can only run a spur if you have something to spur off on the same wall.

You can’t easily move sockets horizontally if the are fed from above or below because you’ll no longer be running cables in the safe zone. They’ll be an L shape or diagonal which is a big no no. By the sounds of it the ring main will need to be modified and new drop will need to be installed to move the socket.

The extra doubles depends on if there is anything to spur off, it may be easier to modify the ring main.

The socket in the bed room could be a spur of it meets the requirements.

The last one could be a spur of there is an existing socket on the same wall but otherwise it can’t and it will be the same as the first.

The most important thing anyone could contribute is if you don’t know what your doing, don’t touch it. Get a qualified electrician.

 

[ci_newman]

I think posters may be over simplifying the potential for the job listed above because there just isn’t enough information to say one way or another and lots of assumptions are being made.

You can only run a spur if you have something to spur off on the same wall.

You can’t easily move sockets horizontally if the are fed from above or below because you’ll no longer be running cables in the safe zone. They’ll be an L shape or diagonal which is a big no no. By the sounds of it the ring main will need to be modified and new drop will need to be installed to move the socket.

The extra doubles depends on if there is anything to spur off, it may be easier to modify the ring main.

The socket in the bed room could be a spur of it meets the requirements.

The last one could be a spur of there is an existing socket on the same wall but otherwise it can’t and it will be the same as the first.

The most important thing anyone could contribute is if you don’t know what your doing, don’t touch it. Get a qualified electrician.

The OP doesn't mention whether the walls are stud-work plasterboard or solid brick either. That makes a massive difference on the labour required for chasing.

 

[DanTheMan]

The OP doesn't mention whether the walls are stud-work plasterboard or solid brick either. That makes a massive difference on the labour required for chasing.

This is definitely something to know beforehand.

We wanted to do the same in our master bedroom but it's a 1950s house, plaster straight onto brick and all the wiring runs underneath the floorboards.

We were quoted £90-100 by our electrician purely for the spur and fitting of the new socket but to do so, I would have to remove some skirting, take up enough wooden flooring to expose the right floorboards and then lift up floorboards to allow the wiring to be run through.

In the end I just said no and we will wait until we redecorate.

 

[Scam]

(snip)

In fact when I get out of this meeting ill show my electrician this post and see what he says.

Thanks, very helpful.

The most important thing anyone could contribute is if you don’t know what your doing, don’t touch it. Get a qualified electrician.

Yeah. Something about playing with electrics with someone who is new to DIY doesn't sound great...

The OP doesn't mention whether the walls are stud-work plasterboard or solid brick either. That makes a massive difference on the labour required for chasing.

We've had another look and for now just want to add two double socket in the lounge/TV area, and put another double in the study. It's an Edwardian terrace so solid brick downstairs in the lounge, not sure about upstairs but it's the wall inbetween the bathroom and study. I'm guessing brick/plaster.

He asked about if we're keeping the flooring in the lounge and mentioned chasing through the walls if we are (which we are, for now!). Fun and games. It'd be good to get this done before we move in at least.

 

[Vince]

Thanks, very helpful.

Yeah. Something about playing with electrics with someone who is new to DIY doesn't sound great...

We've had another look and for now just want to add two double socket in the lounge/TV area, and put another double in the study. It's an Edwardian terrace so solid brick downstairs in the lounge, not sure about upstairs but it's the wall inbetween the bathroom and study. I'm guessing brick/plaster.

He asked about if we're keeping the flooring in the lounge and mentioned chasing through the walls if we are (which we are, for now!). Fun and games. It'd be good to get this done before we move in at least.

Spoke to my electrician... London rates.. about £350 a day. Materials on top.

 

[Hyburnate]

£350 a day sounds about right to echo Vince, making good can be done but some will say to be done by others

 

[Vince]

To quote my electrician... its a days work so around 450 for what you were asking, however that depends on how its built, if you need to chase massive amounts from walls etc. Certainly no more than a £500 job. Beware of high quotes from people that dont want the job.

 

[Scam]

Thanks guys. Well interestingly enough I spoke to him earlier. He said it's usually £70 per unit so £210 plus vat for the two doubles in the lounge, and one double up in the study. He's seen the place so he knows where he's chasing (as above he asked about not wrecking the flooring). So by all accounts that's a decent price. I'll wait and see if anything extra comes up, he's booked in for next Tuesday.

I'm hoping it should be simple because the ones in the lounge are only about 1.5ft left of an existing socket (existing one is under the bay window annoyingly so I want two in the alcove for AV stuff). And the other can go right next to an existing one in the study.

 

[ash_scotland88]

If this is anything to go by I have recently had a load of electrical work done. £320 for a full day testing everything, fixing various issues and making good came first, next up we had wall lights removed in the lounge and 8 downlights put up as well as everything put right at the end... This was £420. Today I'm having a new consumer unit installed and that parts labour etc is just over £800.

In fact when I get out of this meeting ill show my electrician this post and see what he says.

I'm jealous of your £800 cu quote. Recently had one over £2k! I'd like to think that also includes EICR testing before hand but that should only be an extra day.

 

[Vince]

I'm jealous of your £800 cu quote. Recently had one over £2k! I'd like to think that also includes EICR testing before hand but that should only be an extra day.

Finished today... total cost for new cu and new lighting in the lounge + pre inspection & fix was less than 2k. 3 days total.

New cu.. all metal, overcurrent protection and all that good stuff.



The lounge had 4 wall lights we ripped those down and replaced them with 8 dimable led downlights.. new switch etc... total cost of everything all in was £1681

This might be useful for the op but we just paid a day rate based on what was going on... all agreed beforehand:



I already paid a £300 invoice for the day of inspection and fixing things.