What to do with protruding wall sockets

e36Adz · 2 Mar 2020 at 23:58

Hi all, some advice please.

Two of the bedrooms in my new house have single protruding wall sockets which are very low down, infact, on the skirting board. Bearing in mind the rooms were already recently carpetted, and I've had one painted the other was fine, what is the easiest solution with these, without having to lift the carpet and break into the wall above the socket/skirting board.

I already have double usb wall sockets which I'd prefer to swap them with and I'm happy to have a go myself but would it be easier to buy a single one? Would a slimmer backbox work? Could I chisel into the skirting board to make a double backbox fit in there??

I swapped my first ever wall sockets only yesterday but that was a straight double socket to double socket swap so hardly rocket science, but I'm learning.

Mcnumpty2323 · 3 Mar 2020 at 00:33

Pretty normal for skirting board sockets just to be screwed on they
Aren't normally flush
I guess you could cut out a bit of
Skirting and put a back box in the wall
But is the effort involved worth it?

ShadowMan · 3 Mar 2020 at 00:36

Although it’s more work, I would lift the carpet. Find joists and cut access into the floor. I would junction box the cables feeding the socket (assuming it’s in the ring and there are 2) and then would spur up to a new double socket fitting in the wall at a better height.

yes it’s work, yes it’s messy and requires channeling out the wall. But I would rather get it down now than wish I had done it later on. If the wall is just painted then channel out, cable, fill and repair won’t take too long.

I have just done exactly this with 2 singles in our bedroom and also took opportunity to add 2 more doubles by extending the ring. My dad is a electrician so was easy to ensure it was right and checked though.

just finished redecorating including new wallpaper as had to modify that wall too.

200sols · 3 Mar 2020 at 08:20

e36Adz said:
what is the easiest solution with these, without having to lift the carpet and break into the wall above the socket/skirting board.

There isnt a solution if your unwilling to make some mess. But sockets on skirting... how naff. I would remove the skirting, chase up the wall a bit and add new sockets there. Not as spurs, extend the ring. Its easy work for a sparky if you dont fancy it.

a1ex2001 · 3 Mar 2020 at 09:45

e36Adz said:
Hi all, some advice please.

Two of the bedrooms in my new house have single protruding wall sockets which are very low down, infact, on the skirting board. Bearing in mind the rooms were already recently carpetted, and I've had one painted the other was fine, what is the easiest solution with these, without having to lift the carpet and break into the wall above the socket/skirting board.

I already have double usb wall sockets which I'd prefer to swap them with and I'm happy to have a go myself but would it be easier to buy a single one? Would a slimmer backbox work? Could I chisel into the skirting board to make a double backbox fit in there??

I swapped my first ever wall sockets only yesterday but that was a straight double socket to double socket swap so hardly rocket science, but I'm learning.

Simplest solution would be to swap the single surface mount back box for a double install your new socket front and put up with the slightly ugly arrangement that is a surface mount socket (If it's not a very visible location I would just do that it's quick simple and you can move on to more important tasks.

Anything else will involve making some mess the least messy is probably cutting a hole in the skirting board and mounting a back box in it, this isn't popular for a few reasons firstly some electricians wrongly think it is against regs to have a socket in a skirting board this is not true provided the correct back box is used, secondly it can be difficult to attach some molded plugs as the sockets are too close to the floor and finally it is not considered aesthetically pleasing.

Beyond that you will be looking at lifting carpets and floor boards and chasing walls which can be extremely messy if it is old plaster on a solid walls, I would only consider this if I was decorating anyway as it really isn't worth the hassle for a single socket in my book.

e36Adz · 3 Mar 2020 at 10:25

Thanks for all the responses guys, it's given me some food for thought.

As I said the rooms were painted and the carpets laid under a year ago and still look new, and we really like the colour, so we decided to keep it. One of the small bedrooms was unused and simply locked off, I've matched the paint and carpet and just had that done. It's only now that I'm looking at some of the smaller details and wall socket locations aren't really ideal.

Am I correct in assuming the actual swap from single to double wall socket itself (the wiring aspect) is as straight forward as it was when I changed from a double to a double? Aside from me requiring a bigger back box.

200sols · 3 Mar 2020 at 11:30

e36Adz said:
Am I correct in assuming the actual swap from single to double wall socket itself (the wiring aspect) is as straight forward as it was when I changed from a double to a double? Aside from me requiring a bigger back box.

Yes.

lewism · 3 Mar 2020 at 11:45

e36Adz said:
Thanks for all the responses guys, it's given me some food for thought.

As I said the rooms were painted and the carpets laid under a year ago and still look new, and we really like the colour, so we decided to keep it. One of the small bedrooms was unused and simply locked off, I've matched the paint and carpet and just had that done. It's only now that I'm looking at some of the smaller details and wall socket locations aren't really ideal.

Am I correct in assuming the actual swap from single to double wall socket itself (the wiring aspect) is as straight forward as it was when I changed from a double to a double? Aside from me requiring a bigger back box.

You'd be as well buying a single socket to double/treble/quadruple converter to suit what you need in that area before altering the back box. Less of a faff until you get round to redecorating the room and doing other work.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/socket-converters/cat830536

a1ex2001 · 3 Mar 2020 at 14:42

lewism said:
You'd be as well buying a single socket to double/treble/quadruple converter to suit what you need in that area before altering the back box. Less of a faff until you get round to redecorating the room and doing other work.

https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/socket-converters/cat830536

the don't work very well if youhave a surface mount back box which I think is what the OP was describing as the converter won't sit flush to the wall!