Simple job - why so expensive?

[Felto]

Cut and cleaned away the sockets, they're also deep enough for a flat plate.

Rang a few more electricians and still got nothing below £140 and that's not including VAT + call out fee+ labour fee again, some of these were 'one man bands'


Maybe it's wiser to take the safer route and fork out 200 - 300 quid on an electrician but what are your opinions on taking it on myself providing I read up on a couple of guides and seek help on the forums?

 

[skenk]

How can it be £140 PLUS VAT, call out and labour? Are you saying that is for supply only? are you wanting gold plated accessories!?

 

[TonyW2]

Lets be reasonable. This is a DIY forum.
Replacing the switch and plug socket is easy and if replaced with plastic ones will not increase any hazard beyond any that may (possibly or theoretically) have existed prior to replacement.
You have opened the boxes already, so just note the wire colours and positions then replace like with like, but for safety, turn off ALL the electric circuits at the mains. (If you get it wrong, then send for an electrician if the fuses or breakers start blowing or the light or socket does not work.) Work neatly, & take care that no cable wire is exposed on your screw connections.


A professional would ensure safety checks had been made & do tests to ensure good Earthing, but if you were not going to have the place tested before, why worry excessively now?

 

[mikej2005]

Maybe it's wiser to take the safer route and fork out 200 - 300 quid on an electrician but what are your opinions on taking it on myself providing I read up on a couple of guides and seek help on the forums?

Jobs like this are all about confidence and experience - it can often be daunting to tackle a job with house electrics if you've not done anything similar before. You're going about it the right way though - I always read up on any DIY job thoroughly beforehand to ensure that I'm able to tackle a job competently and safely.

A like-for-like replacement of a socket or switch is often a fairly simple procedure, provided that your wiring is of a good standard and the cable cores will reach the terminals on the new socket or switch.

As has been mentioned above, isolate the electrics and make a diagram of which cores/cables go where on the existing sockets/switches before disconnecting them. Sockets are usually fairly straight-forward, but light switches can be more complicated.

If you run into problems, you'll always have the fall-back position of being able to re-connect the old sockets and get professional help. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here too if you get stuck.

I replaced most of the sockets and switches in my home not long after I moved in - the exisiting sockets were not switched and looked old-fashioned. I find it very rewarding doing a job like that myself and get a lot of satisfaction out of the end result.

 

[OwainDIYer]

As has been mentioned above, isolate the electrics and make a diagram of which cores/cables go where on the existing sockets/switches before disconnecting them. Sockets are usually fairly straight-forward, but light switches can be more complicated.

Bearing in mind that terminals are not always in the same arrangement.

For light switches etc some little sticky labels for the wires can help.

 

[Spark123]

Yep CPCs are there, so why not test them?

Where did I say not to test them?

The reason I was asking about metal faced accessories was because if the OP was intending to DIY job, and the replacement sockets are plastic, i'd suggest that a L --> E test with a multimeter or AVI would give an indication of earth connection.

If metal fronted I'd prefer a loop impedance test.

Why a different test regime for plastic fronted?
My first choice wouldn't be a multimeter for replacing an accessory like this - they have a high impedance hence can give false readings.

 

[disinfo]

Why a different test regime for plastic fronted?
My first choice wouldn't be a multimeter for replacing an accessory like this - they have a high impedance hence can give false readings.

Sorry, to be clear I wouldn't do this for someone else.

But for a DIY'er it would at least give an indication of a connection to earth, and if they are fully intent on doing the job its probably better than nothing.

Edit: Probably the best advice is, seek advice of a competent person, even if just changing an accessory.

 

[OwainDIYer]

Why a different test regime for plastic fronted?
.

Because with plastic fronted the only contact with metal is likely to be a glancing contact with the fixing screws, which are usually slightly recessed. The maximum contact area is limited.

With metal fronted a much greater area of metal would allow full palm contact which would be more serious.

Either way, a test with a decent continuity tester (at least) would be sensible

 

[Spark123]

The O/P is wanting to have accessories replaced including sockets, what difference is there between plugging in a piece of Class 1 equipment to a plastic or metal socket front?