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Ungrounded outlets

Merry Christmas
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bergz22

Member
Location
Lemont, IL USA
I’m helping to sell my deceased aunts home. It was built in 1993. All the outlets in the house are wired correctly.

The garage (attached) has outlets that someone messed with or added. It is wired with romex, the ground conductor is cut off short and there isn’t enough slack to hook up the ground wire.

They are all 3 prong ungrounded.

Is a gfci breaker acceptable? Or do the outlets have to be grounded becuase the house was built in 1993?
 

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
According to the forum rules all we can offer is you should contact a licensed Electrical Contractor or your local code enforcement

This site is designed for:

  • Electrical Contractors
  • Electricians
  • Engineers
  • Inspectors
  • Instructors
* This NEC� Forum is for those in the electrical and related industries. Questions of a "How-To" nature by persons not involved in the electrical industry will be removed without notice.
 

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrical Engineer
I am reopening this thread just long enough to try and answer the OP's question, as it doesn't appear to me that the OP intends to do the work himself. Then I will close it again and echo Roger's recommendation that you contact a local electrician.

The NEC does sometimes allow installation of 3-prong receptacles in cases where no ground wire is present. Replacing a breaker with a GFCI breaker can be part of the solution. But there is a bit more to it and there are other options. Your electrician can explain what is needed.

If there is a panel in the garage, the best solution would likely be to replace the romex and properly connect the ground wires. That should not be too expensive if the garage walls are open (i.e., not covered by drywall). If the receptacles are fed from a single circuit breaker inside the house, the electrician might be able to intercept the circuit's wires, install a junction box, and run new wires from that point.

By the way, it seems like you live within 10 miles or so of me (Lockport). I recently had a great experience with a local electrical company for a project in our kitchen. If you want their name, send me a PM.
 
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