Electrical is about to kill me... Really need some advice.

[Adam Avinger]

Okay so my wife and I are flipping our very first property. We got a older craftsman style home in a very desirable neighborhood, filled with homes like this one. The issue is that its basically all 2 prong electrical outlets... with open grounds of course. Ive consulted with an electrician and he has said that he can install GFCI's for a pretty good price to convert from a 2 prong to a 3 prong. But I also just read that they must be marked "No Equipment Ground", and if and when an inspector comes around to test them, it will still show "Open Ground".

Im a little confused. To those who have some experience with this, would you upgrade to GFCIs to make sure all the plugs were 3 prong? or would you leave be with 2 prong. or what would you do? Im sick thinking about having to fully rewire....

[Aaron Lovett]

Your electrician and what you read are both correct.  To comply with code, you'll have to label any ungrounded 3-prong GFCI as not being grounded.  After all, that third prong is for ground.  So yes, they can be changed, but they won't be connected to a real ground and test equipment will show that.

My advice: if you do it, do it correctly and under permits by a licensed electrician, or don't do it at all.  As suggested, might as well do GFCI breakers instead of outlets.  Not because any of that work is especially difficult, but because of the liability, doing it incorrectly can be lethal, and even if it's done correctly your buyer's inspector is going to spot that 3-prong outlet and start asking questions.  I would.