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- 1). Shut down power to your home by opening the electrical panel and turning off the main circuit breaker. The main circuit breaker typically has the highest ampere rating amongst all circuit breakers in the panel. Leave a note warning anyone not to turn on the breaker switch while you are working on the outlet.
- 2). Using a screwdriver, remove the existing outlet from the outlet box by unscrewing the outlet's cover plate, unscrewing the outlet, and pulling the outlet carefully out of the outlet box.
- 3). Note how each wire is attached to the terminal screws on the outlet to be able to reconnect the wires to the outlet later following the same configuration. Label each wire using masking tape or take a picture of the outlet to allow you to recall the wiring configuration later. Loosen the terminal screws on the outlet, disconnect each wire from the its terminal screw and remove the outlet. Unscrew the outlet box from the wall to allow you to fish electrical cable up to the ceiling.
- 4). Go up to your attic or crawl space above the ceiling and locate the top wall plate directly above the outlet box you removed. Drill a hole in the wall plate, using a spade drill bit. Slip the end of the fish tape into the hole and drop the tape until it reaches the wall opening. Pull the fish tape out of the wall opening, using wire with a hooked tip. Hook the tip of the electrical cable onto the end of the fish tape and wrap electrical tape around the tip of the cable to secure it.
- 5). Pull up the fish tape from inside the attic or crawl space until your are able to grab the electrical cable. Pull the rest of the cable up into the ceiling, but provide a foot of cable hanging out of the wall opening below. Run the cable across the ceiling to a spot directly above the location where you will move the outlet. Fasten the cable onto surfaces, using cable staples.
- 6). Locate the spot on the wall where you want to move the outlet and hold a new electrical outlet box against the spot. Draw an outline of the box with a pencil and drill a hole in each corner of the outline, using a spade drill bit. Cut an opening in the wall by sawing along the outline, using a drywall saw. Climb to the attic or crawl space above your ceiling and find the top wall plate which is directly above the wall opening that you just cut. Drill a hole in the top wall plate using a spade drill bit.
- 7). Hold the end of the electrical cable and insert its tip into the hole you drilled. Drop the cable down to the wall opening where the old outlet was mounted. Grip the tip of the cable with needle-nose pliers and pull the cable out of the wall opening.
- 8). Insert the end of the new cable dangling out of the original wall opening through a knockout on the old outlet box you unscrewed earlier, then pull the cable from inside the box. Insert the tip of the old wires through a knockout on the same outlet box and push the box into the wall opening. Fasten the box onto the wall with a screwdriver.
- 9). Hold the wires protruding from the new outlet box, and remove 4 inches of covering from the tip of the cable, using diagonal pliers. Strip off 1/2-inch of insulation from the tip of each wire, using a wire stripper. Wrap each color-coded wire clockwise around its corresponding color-coded terminal screw on the outlet according to the configuration that you noted in Step 3, and tighten each screw firmly to secure each connection. Push the wires carefully into the outlet box and mount the outlet onto the box, using the screws you removed earlier. Replace the outlet box cover.
- 10
Using diagonal pliers, hold the new electrical cable dangling out of the old outlet box and strip off 4 inches of cable sheathing from its tip. Using a wire stripper, remove 1/2-inch of insulation from the tip of each exposed wire. Splice the old wires to the new wires inside the outlet box according to their color: black to black, white to white, green to green and bare wire to bare wire. - 11
Cover the tip of each spliced wires with wire nuts. Tighten each wire nut clockwise to secure each connection. Tuck the wires carefully into the outlet box, and cover the outlet box using a blank cover plate. Turn on the main circuit breaker and plug an appliance with corresponding voltage into the new outlet.
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