Second Fix Electrics

Who is qualified to do the work?

The person who carries out all electrical work on the bathroom project should be a qualified electrician, whether that’s you or another member of your team. As with every stage of the installation, you need a trained professional to do this type of work, however minor.

How long do you need for the work?

Each individual electrical task at this point can seem quite minor. However, you’ve probably learnt from experience that when you consider all the different features of many modern bathroom designs, the jobs can quickly add up. The bathroom you’re working on might include the full menu of modern features, including underfloor heating, recessed lighting and multiple outlets.

How will the finished work look?

Up until the second fix, you will have been laying the groundwork for the bathroom’s practical functions. Now, however, cosmetic issues are a lot more important.

It’s immensely satisfying to see outlets, fans and other items set into walls or ceilings and installed with precision. Your client will love it when you leave them neatly aligned, with no traces of adhesives or sealants visible around their edges.

A wide range of electrical tasks might crop up at the second fix stage, like some of the previously mentioned tasks. Below is a more detailed look at a few of them to refresh your memory.

One obvious but obligatory reminder: switch off the power supply before you embark on any of these tasks.

Adding light fittings

You’ve run all the cables you need for the bathroom lights through the walls and ceiling during the first fix stage. If the bathroom only has a simple ceiling light such as a pendant light, you won’t have to do much more at this point.

However, many modern bathroom designs feature recessed spotlights, which means connecting each light to the wires you installed at the first fix stage. Next, neatly slot each light into the carefully measured hole you created for it earlier on in the renovation process. Show off your precision again, and fit the light perfectly with no extra space around it, where it’s held in place by unseen spring clips. See our range of ceiling spotlights.

You’ll know if you have to check the spotlights from both angles, standing below in the bathroom as well as going to the room or attic space above. Setting up a work platform can make the process of fitting spotlights far easier.

Mounting the underfloor heating thermostat

Not all bathrooms have underfloor heating, but you’ve probably noticed that new bathroom ideas increasingly include this feature.

You will already have chosen the location, run the cables and installed the back box during the first fix stage, so all that remains now is to connect up the wires and mount the thermostat itself.

Visit the dedicated underfloor heating section to learn more about underfloor heating installation.

This video on underfloor heating by Flexel is another helpful guide.

Installing shaver sockets and other outlets

Again, most of the in-depth work for this will have already been carried out, but you will need to fit the socket itself and connect its wires to the main circuit.

Wiring an extractor fan

Most extractor fans connect to the light circuit, meaning they come on and off in response to the light switch. You’ve already laid the cables that will connect the fan to the circuit, so now you just need to join those wires to the ones in the fan unit itself.

Find out more about extractor fan installation.