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I have 1955 home with two wire romex,is there any option or way around no ground?Basement is finished.Attic has ten inches insulation.Having no ground presents no problems except if selling with inspection.
Replacing wire would make a mess of home?
Typically the grounding conductor is reserved for equipment grounding. Most items really do not require it. Just don't change to grounding receptacles, and you shouldn't have any trouble. You could use GFCI if you follow the instruction inside. These are for personal protection, and not protection of the circuitry. Hot is black, grounded is white, and grounding is green, or bare.
I have 1955 home with two wire romex, is there any option or way around no ground?
Having no ground presents no problems except if selling with inspection (to the uninformed)
Correct. So if you sell be prepared to do some informing then.
But unless you have some highly sensitive electronics to protect... you're fine just as you are.
Quote:
Replacing wire would make a mess of home?
Leave what you have AS IT IS. A reasonable compromise for many is to ADD a couple of circuits for things
like those highly sensitive electronics or to have more power available in a bathroom or kitchen.
In your case that would mean some attic work to drill down into the wall caps.
Cross that bridge if/when you get to it.
GFCI is the best option. While it does not provide a ground it does protect against ground leakage. For example a lamp with a worn wire causing live connection to its metal frame. Could cause injury or death, but a GFCI would trip out, alerting the user to a problem. Indeed in this case (assuming an ungrounded lamp) it would provide more than putting in a conventional grounded outlet and running the ground wire.
I have 1955 home with two wire romex,is there any option or way around no ground?Basement is finished.Attic has ten inches insulation.Having no ground presents no problems except if selling with inspection.
Replacing wire would make a mess of home?
You could always rewire as (if?) you renovate. That's the way I've been doing it. So far I've been able to hide all holes by cutting the bottom of the sheetrock to get access to where the wire enters the wall / leaves the crawlspace.
I don't understand why the two wire romex is a problem. I thought it was more of a problem if you put in a 3 prong outlet where there is no ground. You can add a GFCI in your bathroom/kitchen but you have to label it 'no ground'. Maybe it depends on the market but inspectors here will point it out but you would have a heck of a time telling a seller to upgrade their outlets. They'd probably tell you to take a walk or just, 'no'.
I think other options are upgrading to a GFCI breaker at the box or putting in a GFCI outlet at the first receptacle in the circuit (they aren't grounded and I think still have to be labelled as such).
If it's like ours, it's undersized and the outer layer of insulation is starting to crumble. Previous owners put in grounded outlets and the wire ends were fatigued from being bent too many times with no slack left to strip any more wire to use. The choice was simple.
If it's like ours, it's undersized and the outer layer of insulation is starting to crumble. Previous owners put in grounded outlets and the wire ends were fatigued from being bent too many times with no slack left to strip any more wire to use. The choice was simple.
The romex is in good shape,heavier insulation than today along with sheath.The old BX wiring would crumble with age and conductor quality more questionable.I agree that ground is not necessary for the most part.
Reading the post about bottom of sheetrock made me think about removing baseboard and drilling down and placing metal guard over where I drill down.I will deal with basement ceiling with molding for the most part.
I did purchase this home,1200 sq ft knowing this but positives outweighed this.It has new 100 amp service from pole,main 100 amp box with 60 amp sub panel in another cormer.New thermal windows,insulated walls with rockwool,ten inches blown on top of four inches in attic along with copper plumbing and 3/4 inch copper to street.We also got appliances.
Bathroom has to be redone,this was an estate sale for $114.900,owner had lived in home for 50 years,we were lucky.This in CT nice area.I would like to add gas furnace
Thank you for your courteous answers.
Last edited by DanBev; 09-18-2013 at 01:01 PM..
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