How to Install a New Electrical Outlet in an Existing Wall 

Why didn’t you earth the new metal back box to the new double socket ?

Thanks for such a simple video mate. An electrician quoted me £120 to do this. I did it myself exactly as you’ve done here in about 45 minutes.

“Use my trusty damaged screwdriver, if you don’t have a damaged screwdriver use a normal one and it will soon become damaged” Brilliant, just spat my tea out laughing! Love it !! Great vids.

When drawing round a back box it is easier to turn it around so the sharp edges are against the wall and stops the box from moving as it digs into the wall a little.

Thanks man, that’s given me the confidence to screw up a similar project slightly less than I would have done otherwise! Nice edit and well presented.

Just popping out to buy a new screwdriver so I too can make a damaged one. Great tip, thank you 🙏🏼.

"if you don't have a damaged screwdriver, then just use a normal one and it will be damaged soon enough" - that had me in stitches

Really love your content because you describe things so simply.

Another great video, very well explained. When you removed the existing socket and the wires were temporary exposed for a short while, instead of wrapping the ends in tape, I put a wago connector on the end of eash wire, much easier to remove than tape and possibly safer. Keep making your great videos.

Fab video - def consider if you don't need it recessed is going for a low profile surface mounted socket, or if you do go recessed you go off alignment so both back boxes are not directly back to back. Going slightly up (higher) the other side reduces any risk of damage to the power feed to the original socket when taking out the wall material. Perfect timing on this one though as I'm needing to add a few spurs!

Just used for a refresher to install one after years of not having done it. Really useful, thanks!

Love your videos. I am the head of our neighborhood watch scheme and we have a community of new builds of young home owners. I always share your videos to help us new home owners to save a penny. A potential future video idea that has come up quite often. How to replace a composite front door canopy , alot of us seem fed up with the cheap ones the developer put on.

Such a clear and well spoken commentary. Thank you.

Hello, this is actually unbelievable, good clear content, instructions and advice. RU-vid has needed a decent DIY channel for a VERY long time and I think it finally has one, also you're a great presenter which is rare in this genre. Look forward to watching more content. It's especially good that this is UK based as much of the bigger channels are in the US and it's not always easy to know what applies to the UK and Europe especially with electrics. Great stuff.

I always use block connectors to separate my wires while doing the same electrical job Stuart. Thanks for the video.👍👍

Good work with fitting the grommets, Stuart, this is very important. As a qualified electrician, I must say this does get forgotten about/ not done at all.

"i'm using my trusty damaged screwdriver for this, which comes in handy for so many jobs. if you don't have a damaged screwdriver then use a normal one and it will be damaged soon enough.." HAHAHAHAHA! man you made my day right there!

Nothing flashy, it’s almost an idiots guide which is the best way to show people. Impressed 👍

Thank you for this video i didn't realise they did these Fast fix sockets, made life so much easier.

This is excellent! Alot more clear than other videos

Another fantastic video Stuart, you have such a considered approach with calm collected attitude, speaks to my hash bash approach, taking ones time and thinking before you progress is a important aspect to your work… keep up the great work.. I look forward to every video. More!!

Another good and useful video - you're building up quite a library here. One little point: when you forget something, like the grommet, it could be useful to add in a clearer shot of what you should have done... This might help the rookies, who might never have seen a grommet before, to clearly understand what you later did...

Proper DIY you're a bloody Proper guy! Thank you!

Hi Stuart. Thanks for the video. I wasn't initially looking for this content as I'm sat on the loo channel hopping, but saw 'Proper DIY' & knew it would be worth watching. I never knew it would be so simple to fit a spur socket. I'm a general handyman (but obviously not that handy!) & take on most jobs I feel confident with, so thank you for the instruction.

Brilliant video. Calmly explained and good tips and tricks.

Nice one...so glad you remembered the grommets. Those MK Rapid fix sockets look great.

Thanks Stuart - your videos always make good Friday night viewing 👍🏻 I especially like your electrical videos as it gives me the confidence to have a go.

Nice video, Important to mention for anyone watching that has an old consumer unit, that an RCD is a requirement for new sockets.

Nice video - thanks. Just a few of tips for anyone thinking of doing similar. Metal boxes can be used in stud walls. I have some in my house, for whatever reason the builder preferred to fit metal boxes on noggins in the stud wall rather than plasterboard boxes after the boards are up. Peek through the screw holes in the existing box to see. You can also often judge the wall construction by looking how wide the door lining is. Blocks + dot and dab are thicker than studs. Cutting out a neat box - an oscillating saw is great for this. I've done this with metal boxes and the socket is wide enough to cover any minor gaps as you say - no filling/painting required if you're careful and lucky. If laying 1 cable, often it is better to lay 2, and add the new socket to the ring. Join the other cable with ideal splice connectors or any other connector rated at 32A in the back of the original socket. If you're on a stud wall, you may even be able to pull 1 leg through to your new socket and avoid the connectors. Your auto wire strippers should be great at removing the outer sleeve on the T&E cable. Rather than the knife and cheesewire earth method. You mush share your trick of instantly aligning the screw with the lug on the back box when re-fitting the socket. That's the bit that usually takes me a few attempts and a bit of language to persuade it to engage :) Loving your videos - thanks again.

Channels growing rapidly! And for good reason. Great content as always 👏🏻

Greetings from the US. Interesting to see how things are done “across the pond”! I like how simple and modular the sockets and switches look. We do a lot more splicing with wire nuts at each box. They look lighter weight too than what we use, which makes sense. Not surprised to see that being an electrician in the UK also means that you still need knowledge outside the trade, with plastering and painting as well. I always say that it’s a trade that requires you to be very well rounded to excel. Thanks.

Great job, as usual. You always make it look so easy.

Fantastic advice on how to create a damaged screwdriver. I will have a toolbox full of them soon. 👍

Friday is my favourite day not just because it’s the start of the weekend but I get to see another great video 😃 cheers Stuart 👍

Good clear demonstration. Thanks . 👍🇬🇧

Thanks for this! Really well explained!

Brilliant video, I've learned alot from this, I love the ease of the new click lock system, it makes life easier 👍

Love every video on the channel, always great stuff! Could you do a video on how you'd run a channel in the plasterboard? For example if you wanted to extend this ring in the same room (no socket on the other side of the wall) and had to run a 5ft twin and earth?

Another excellent video thanks Stuart. One word of warning about installing socket outlets back to back; if the wall is thin it can be a good idea to remove one of the side knock outs and drill at a shallow angle so the new socket is offset, i.e. not directly back to back. Chopping in a new 35mm box can result in a big hole with nothing to fix to. Similarly using screws and plugs to fix the back box in a thin wall can lead to drilling right through the original back box and socket.

I really enjoy watching your videos, and the projects you do around the house!

Really helpful video, thanks. Clearly explained and some very good tips, too. The MK Rapid Fix socket looks like a great product.

Very good instructor 👍 well worth watching this guy, thank you 😊

Great Stuart those new sockets are great time savers 👍👨🏻‍🏭

Now there's a man that needs a multi tool. great video, just subscribed, looking forward wot working my way through the rest of your content 🙂

Thank you Stuart. Very helpful.

Watching this video with absolute wall envy! I have a cottage bungalow built in the early 1700s... our walls don't look like that! A 'simple' picture hanging takes a rented jackhammer just to make a small dent! Haha!

Great contnet. Love the pace of your videos. Perfectly explained.🙂

Great video, I used a makita multi tool to cut into the wall, found that very easy and neat. Although that was cutting through lime and soft clay brick, might not work on harder material 🙂

THANK YOU..- a proper straight to the point, short demo video. Without need for chatting & faffing irrelevant stuff just for ego.... Seriously appreciate your direct approach, much needed on RU-vid! Do you do instruction/ courses at all as I'd really value your concise presentation, I'm looking to skill up 'all round' general skills around diy/ fixing things, more for life skills than as trade, pls advise

I really enjoyed it, thanks😊

Great clear and concise video 😃

Come on Dewalt, surely a missed opportunity to get your multitool into Stuart’s hands!! As I continue working through your vids mate it’s increasingly spooky just how many of your jobs I’ve also done the last 12 months or so. I do admire your attention to detail around the edges and the painting. As soon as I realised the plastic cover overlapped by a good 8mm or so I just left the jagged cut edge of the plasterboard based on the premise of what lies beneath will never be seen. In reality im just a lazy old sod!

i now have the confidence to do the same thanks pal your a star

Great idea to use the filler to align the back box :-)

Another great video! Loved the song at the end when wiring the plug. ‘When sleeping with someone new’. Perfect music for wiring 😂!!!!

Thanks so much Stuart, very good video.,…have a good weekend, much love from South Africa

Helpful AND funny. Many thanks.

Fantastic job very well 👏 done

Great work Stuart, that tester looks like a good bit of kit.

Well detailed and easy to understand, even for a complete novice like myself. Great video and a new subscriber. Thanks for sharing.

I love this channel! Thanks!

Many thanks for that demonstration as I was about to do one like that myself.

Really love your content. I’d tackle that job now. Thanks

I really like the trick with the filler I will use that next time I need to add a socket. Unfortunately our walls are very hard and many an hour had been spent chiselling and grinding to chase in sockets. I think on a cost basis I would only use those new MK sockets if there was good to be three cables. I can just about manage with two.

I love watching your video

love the envelope stuck to the wall tip. i shall be using them and the new type of socket - though will be going to a new build so shouldn't need to anything like that!

Thank you for uploading the video very clearly demonstrated too 👍🏼😷

Nice video. Simple informations, nice watching, good voice and great music (Someone New). I like it a lot. Thank you.

"Blobs"...a highly technical word I like to use a lot. ...lol, Great video as usual Stuart.

The new MK socket use Wago like connectors... that is awesome. Having experienced a short that marked the wall and an interesting time connecting what was left of the wire due to come one not putting a rubber grommet in a metal back box... put the grommet it. I used a couple of layers of insulating tape as a fix until I got the grommet and had to clean down and repaint a freshly painted wall all because the person that owned this house previously couldn't be bothered to do the job properly.

Thank you for this video 😍😍😍

Very interesting and logical as always, thanks.

Great video! I have done the same job, except using a slightly bigger paintbrush. 🙂

that's clever its like a plug combined with a waygo.

Usual informative, tip laden video. Great stuff stuart

Good video. Very clear and easily understandable. But you should get an oscillating multi food for cuting out plaster, they're brilliant.

Great Video...Great Idea to glue the box,,with caulking...good neat job thank you....NY

Another really helpful (and amusing) video. Re cutting out the space for the back box, would you ever consider using a multi tool with blade? They’re a godsend for straight tidy lines 👍🏼

Are you reading my mind? Just what I've contemplated doing next after installing new euro-lock! Great video didn't know about those new MK sockets, will look for those. Thanks for great info, cheers.

awesome video!!!!!! good work!!!

thanks easy and clear

My new favourite youtuber! Another great vid Stuart 👍🏼

Great video and thanks for making it.

Great stuff! Enjoyed this video and will be giving that a go myself fairly soon I suspect - cheers!

Great simple video. Both back boxes being metal really should be earthed. I liked the way the back box was bonded rather than screwed to the wall. Going back to back you may drill through the box on the other side so this prevents this.

As always, very helpful video. Since you have an industrial table next to the socket your next upgrade would be adding sockets which incorporate twin USB ports.👍😊

Good work

Very well made video. Thanks

Another informative video! Only comment is the music “When I’m sleeping with someone new, I close my eyes and think of you…” but different I guess 😂

Interesting as always Stuart

The tip at 8min in revolutionised my life

Thank you for the great videos , great knowledge to learn and know tha

Proper job, like the dance music, not a bad choice for an oldie, excellent video again my Bhoy, 👍🏻

Good tip on the glue.

Cheers buddy 👍

Should have an earth lead to the back box for good practice.

Great video! I have no idea why the metal back box on the existing socket was painted inside as it’s never going to be seen by anyone but did a good job there! One trick I have for you is instead of using filler to stick the box in use expanding foam adhesive and you can cut it back and put some filler on round the edges - it really does work well cause it gets into all the awkward gaps where you haven’t applied filler in your case and makes it more rock solid, done it for years and works really well!

Great helpful video.

Great video. Neat job. Oh and liked the music

Awesome video thanks 👏