Motor City Sonics Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 Hi, I have a house built in the 40s so it has almost all 2 prong outlets...........which are pretty useless today. I hate them. Not as much as I hate vertical blinds, but I hate them. (Vertical Blinds are 3rd worst thing ever invented after cigarettes and cellphones). I am sick of not being able to plug something in because I can't find a 50 cent adapter, plus when you use those adapters they tend to fall out of the outlet with the slightest bump. So I need 4-6 outlets changed. Before you say "you could do that", I do not mess with anything involving electricity or gas. Just knowing my limitations there. I don't want to die yet. Anyone recommend an electrician that won't charge me a fortune and works in Wayne/Western Wayne county? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted September 25, 2021 Share Posted September 25, 2021 (edited) I don't know when they started using grounded wiring in US house construction. I grew up in a pre WWII house and it did NOT have ground wires going to the outlets. OTOH, my house built in '58 did, so even though it had all 2 prong outlets when I bought it, conversion go 3 prong was trivially easy because the wiring was already there for the 3 wire outlets. If your house does not have the ground wires already there, each outlet you upgrade will have to have a wire run to it from the panel - so things like whether the electrician can get into the wall from below (unfinished basement ceiling) or above (unfinished attic) will figure into how hard/expensive the job is. Edited September 25, 2021 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 I have an electrician friend but he is booked months out on side jobs. When he did a few of those for us he put in GFCI’s for that very reason G2. That basically does the job the ground wire would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 1 hour ago, oblong said: I have an electrician friend but he is booked months out on side jobs. When he did a few of those for us he put in GFCI’s for that very reason G2. That basically does the job the ground wire would do. yeah - that's a slick workaround. Occasionally you run into certain loads that won't work on GFCI's, but sure they can be a cheaper choice than tearing up your walls because you don't have existing wiring! Speaking of GFCI's, I ran into a weird thing with one house I owned where the the GFCI's for the outdoor circuits were built into the breakers in the panel instead of using GFCI outlets. Elegant - except the damn things constantly tripped when I tried to use the outlets. Replaced them (expensive!) - no help. So on a guess, I switched out the CFGI breakers for plain ones and switched out the outlets to local GFCIs - no more problems. Apparently between the outlet and the panel, the ground system to those circuits was picking up enough stray field energy - probably from the back wall of the house which was aluminum sided, that the setup couldn't work. Previous owners had apparently just never used the outside outlets in 20 yrs..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 1 hour ago, oblong said: I have an electrician friend but he is booked months out on side jobs. When he did a few of those for us he put in GFCI’s for that very reason G2. That basically does the job the ground wire would do. This is what my parents have done. On their house in Detroit, it failed city inspection when they sold it so they just replaced all the outlets with GFCI. In their current house, it was built in 1952 and same issue. They replaced some with GFCI outlets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motor City Sonics Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 20 minutes ago, Motown Bombers said: This is what my parents have done. On their house in Detroit, it failed city inspection when they sold it so they just replaced all the outlets with GFCI. In their current house, it was built in 1952 and same issue. They replaced some with GFCI outlets. How much did that cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motown Bombers Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 2 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said: How much did that cost? I believe it was $75 per outlet. I'll have to see who they went with. They live in Macomb County so I don't know if they'll be able to come out to your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motor City Sonics Posted September 27, 2021 Author Share Posted September 27, 2021 10 hours ago, Motown Bombers said: I believe it was $75 per outlet. I'll have to see who they went with. They live in Macomb County so I don't know if they'll be able to come out to your area. My kitchen and bathroom have those outlets already. I just need it in my office and living room, so 4 or 5 outlets total. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Yes, they are required for outlets near water. I know you said you don't mess around with electrical but honestly.... look up a couple of youtube videos. It's really not hard. I know it's electrical and dangerous but if you shut off the power to that outlet.... but I get it.. electrical and plumbing are those kinds of things that if you do it wrong can either kill you or make a huge mess. But I have swapped out outlets before. Once my guy said the GFCI is what I needed then I figured I would do the rest myself. And as I think about this we have a few "grounded" outlets and I wonder if they truly are grounded. If you are on facebook join the snow woods neighborhood group and throw out a request on an electrician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRamage Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 28 minutes ago, oblong said: And as I think about this we have a few "grounded" outlets and I wonder if they truly are grounded. You can get a tester for that. I saw this one on Amazon for $7, but I'm sure there are cheaper ones as well as available at local hardware too of course. https://www.amazon.com/Receptacle-Tester-Klein-Tools-RT110/dp/B01AKX3AYE/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=electrical+outlet+tester&qid=1632751982&sr=8-7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 17 minutes ago, RedRamage said: You can get a tester for that. I saw this one on Amazon for $7, but I'm sure there are cheaper ones as well as available at local hardware too of course. https://www.amazon.com/Receptacle-Tester-Klein-Tools-RT110/dp/B01AKX3AYE/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=electrical+outlet+tester&qid=1632751982&sr=8-7 YES! An outlet/GFCI tester is definitely something that should be in every kitchen junk drawer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblong Posted September 27, 2021 Share Posted September 27, 2021 Thanks... will be getting one today at Lowe's.... I love being 5 minutes away. Just wish they'd bring the hot dogs back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewsieg Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 Even if you don't want to do it, take the faceplate off, shine a light inside, and check to see if you see a bare copper wire in the back. Being able to give that information to an electrician might change it from "I'll call you in 8 weeks when I have a chance to come give you a quote" to 'Well, that's a quick job, if the end of the day works, I can run by after my Thursday job and take care of that real quick. When I sold my old house, I had outlets on both sides of my kitchen sink. The one to the right was on the same circuit and closer to the box and was a gfci, so it was protecting the one on the right as well. Which could be confirmed with similar testing tool as posted above designed to trip the gfci. Their inspector claimed both had to be gfci outlets. I honestly don't if that's the case based on local codes, but a 20 dollar outlet wasn't worth fussing about. I then learned I had to have a licensed contractor make the change. A little annoying. I had no luck finding an electrician that could come out quickly even for that, ended up searching 'handyman' and found a local jack of all trades guy that was licensed and came out within a day or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, ewsieg said: When I sold my old house, I had outlets on both sides of my kitchen sink. The one to the right was on the same circuit and closer to the box and was a gfci, so it was protecting the one on the right as well. Which could be confirmed with similar testing tool as posted above designed to trip the gfci. Their inspector claimed both had to be gfci outlets. I honestly don't if that's the case based on local codes, but a 20 dollar outlet wasn't worth fussing about. I then learned I had to have a licensed contractor make the change. A little annoying. I had no luck finding an electrician that could come out quickly even for that, ended up searching 'handyman' and found a local jack of all trades guy that was licensed and came out within a day or two. There is nothing wrong with a single GFCI protecting more than one outlet if the pass through wiring is done right. The guy was just hassling you or more likely didn't know his own ****. Some of the stuff in the codes is beyond silly anymore though - the system has become largely one big employment program for contractors. Edited September 29, 2021 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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