Outlets Open Ground

[Chip Marchand]

Looking for some advice on a rental property I just purchased. The inspection report indicated that the electrical outlets were not grounded or “open ground.” In talking to an electrician it would cost $900 to completely ground the house or they could install GFCI at the beginning of each circuit for $550. Technically the house is not out of code, however, if there were to be an electrical surge it could damage appliances plugged into ungrounded outlets or potentially cause a fire. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation and is this something that I need to spend money on before placing a tenant due to safety or liability risk? Thanks.

[Gail W.]

Having GFCI's on every general purpose circuit will come with a lot of nuisance trips of GFCI breakers. It should only take a drop of water to trip GFI. More important than that and I think what Jim K was alluding to is if a tenant somehow gets across a circuit then they become the ground. This is easier done than most people think. I have seen it happen for instance when someone touches the steel case of an appliance that has a bare wire touching the case, in a grounded circuit the amperage would go to ground causing the breaker to trip. In this case the power would flow through the unlucky person drying to dry his clothes.