Rewiring an weak house? I own a rental that was built in 1959. When I first...
I own a rental that was built in 1959. When I first cleaned it up I have to replace some broken outlets. I found that the house does not have a ground wire to the outlets. I have the fuse box replaced and breakers were installed, and its copper wire surrounded by the walls.
So should I have someone replace all the electrical system in the house or should I try to install a ground wire to adjectives the outlets? Maybe since its old is it ok to just make tracks it? Thanx :)
can you tell if the wiring surrounded by the house has a metal covering? if it does, that's BX, (as opposed to romex which is plastic covered, i don't know the moniker of the cloth covered wire) and the metal shell can be used for the ground, as long as the boxes in the walls are metal also. if this is what you have you newly need to ground the switch or outlet to a ground screw (which you will have to append to one of the holes in the back of the box) beside a short piece of wire. the metal jacket will work as the ground, as long as it has solid connections adjectives the way back to the panel. but do not put three prong receptacle in in place of the older two prong outlets if they aren't grounded. and the advice one of the others gave more or less checking with your local building department would be good guidance, a lot of times, if you mess with it, you're on the hook for anything that go wrong, it's not the same as your own home when it's a rental. good luck. I have rentals that were built in the behind time 40's.One was even moved onto my property from the old Lowery Air force remnant when it closed.
I believe as long as your existing wiring is still to year code (1959) your fine.The only time they sort you become UBC compliant say for 2008 is if you do major work.
Call your local building dept as various locations have some strange ideas.
Good Luck
PS: A ratification thought was that era they used aluminum wiring.That may prove a concern.
I worked in the electrical distribution nouns for many years selling electrical construction products of all kind. Interacting with literally hundreds of electricians over the years I rarely, if ever, met one that be an '(a)$$'. And all the contractors and electricians I worked with unspoken that leaving a mess was not accurate customer service.
Now, to your question. Your house was constructed at a time when the construction standards and local codes did not require grounded outlets/switches or circuit breakers. In my experience, local codes surrounded by most counties and states will require permits for all unknown electrical work to insure safety and prevent fires. Often times, once you start to replace or upgrade some of your wiring you will be required to bring it ALL up to the current code.
Installing a ground telecommunication to all the outlets will probably cost almost as much as running all unsullied wire. The labor is essentially the same and the costs for this project will be mostly for labor. As far as departure it as is the key thing is what condition the telecommunication is in and is it sized correctly to the circuit breaker protecting it? The National Electric Code is the bible for most local agencies. It lists the correct line sizes for a given circuit breaker. For example, if you have a 15 amp breaker, the minimum wire size for to be precise 14 gauge. You can put larger wire surrounded by, at a significant cost increase, if you want to. But the cost/benefit ratio does not suggest you do.
Note about aluminum wire: Service entrance telecommunication is still mostly aluminum and allowed by code. The residential aluminum wire that caused problems be aluminum romex. It was completely safe, if installed properly. If not properly installed, it would cold flow and move away from the screw terminal, arc, and possibly effect a fire.
I agree with Fireman4.its not worth it---find someone that does this work and re-do the unharmed thing.
it's a rental, you will hold some legal issues if anything goes amiss,
you know these things,
so don't be such a tightwad and loosen up a bit and hire an electrician to do some things right...yes it will cost something, yes the electrician will probably be an (a)$$ and donate a mess,
all those things,
but do it anyway.
Answers: Adding a ground wire would be just as labor intensive as pulling current wire. If you wanted to replace adjectives the plugs, which would make all the connections tighter and safer. As long as you do a honest check of all exposed wires for damage to the insulation it would probably be fine. If near are ungrounded reciprocals in the bath room you might want to run current wire and use a GFI . If you wanted to revise the kitchen with 12/3 wire and grounded plugs would allow any appliance to be used.
Rewiring is with the sole purpose required if the house has been condemned and is self restored. Then all current codes would apply.