Install ground wires or call electrician?

[mountains_o_mustaches]

So this weekend I thought I had a quick DIY project of swapping out the ugly off-white outlets in our home with white ones; however, we discovered that even though almost all the outlets were 3-pronged ones almost none of them had ground wires.  Seems like only the outlets in the kitchen and bathroom (and the outlets on shared walls with these rooms) had ground wires.

Here's my question - is installing ground wires in the other outlets a feasible DIY project (we have a crawl space under the house that gives us access to the conduits) or is this something we should call in an electrician to do?

Let me know your thoughts!  And if you've successfully completed a project like this would love if you could share any resources!

[Dave1442397]

I would feel safer having an electrician do it. Check your local bylaws, too. You might need a permit and a licensed electrician.

[sokoloff]

It's a feasible DIY, but it's a lot of work.

There is an easier alternative:
Assuming the existing wiring is otherwise OK, a perfectly code-compliant and safe alternative is to install a GFCI outlet at the first position and then tie all the downstream outlets (via the existing two wires) from the load feed on the GFCI. You then need to mark the downstream outlets with stickers that say "GFCI protected" and "No equipment ground".

It is legal and safe to have three-prong outlets in those downstream locations (provided your equipment doesn't actually *need* an equipment ground; that would be exceedingly rare).

[Spork]

Just curious about this statement: "we have a crawl space under the house that gives us access to the conduits".

So... is everything run in metal conduit?  Is it possible the conduit *IS* the ground?

[mountains_o_mustaches]

Just curious about this statement: "we have a crawl space under the house that gives us access to the conduits".

So... is everything run in metal conduit?  Is it possible the conduit *IS* the ground?

Looks like there are conduits under the kitchen and bathroom, which were remodeled by previous owners and those rooms do have grounded outlets.

[BudgetSlasher]

I second the idea of GFIC protection coupled with a no mechanical ground sticker, unless there is a specific reason you need/looking for a grounding wire.

[threefive]

You will almost certainly need a permit to run new wire unless your municipality is really weird, and they're typically weird in the opposite, more authoritarian direction. It's not hard, expensive, or particularly onerous, but you will want to make sure you get the permit if you do decide to DIY. It's cheap insurance to prevent a house fire not covered by insurance due to un-permitted electrical work.

Sokoloff's alternative is the easiest and by far the cheapest. If you have metal conduit and metal boxes, with the conduit going from box to panel with no interruptions, then you can use the conduit as your ground carrier according to the NEC, but your municipality very well may have different rules for this. You would need to call to confirm if this would pass. However, you could probably do this without a permit anyway, since you'd just be "fixing" the existing system instead of new work.

Otherwise, you're pulling all new wire. Have you priced copper yet? Because you need to be prepared for how much that copper wire is going to cost.

[sokoloff]

Also, be aware that point-of-use surge protectors work by shunting surges over to the safety ground. Surge protectors are probably the most common piece of equipment that won't work on the ungrounded outlets.

You can use a whole house protector, mounted in or next to the main service panel, as an alternative.

[mountains_o_mustaches]

Thanks for the advice.  We're gonna call an electrician out to take a look.  We're hoping to ground 1 outlet in the living room and 1 in the office (so that surge protectors for TV/etc. and computer actually work).  The others will either be left 2-prong ungrounded or switched to GFCI outlets.  Was hoping this would be an easier DIY, but alas!

[Guide2003]

When was the house built? I had a house from 1924 that still had the original knob-and-tube wiring with nothing grounded, and somehow that didn't make it on the home inspection. I was too naïve to know. We ended up having to rewire the whole house.

[J_Stache]

Just curious about this statement: "we have a crawl space under the house that gives us access to the conduits".

So... is everything run in metal conduit?  Is it possible the conduit *IS* the ground?

Bingo.  Metal Conduit or Armored Cable (BX or MC) combined with metal junction boxes (not plastic) are (barring some shenanigans like a random plastic box along the way) grounded and don't need a ground wire.

[Jon Bon]

I would run new grounded romex. I would not call an electrician or pull a permit, but that is just me.

If you truly can easily run wire to the ungrounded outlets it would probably only take a few hours start to finish. The kicker wtih old electrical wiring is always access. Sometimes electricians have tricks up their sleeves to get access in the least disruptive way possible. By disruptive of course I mean cutting holes in existing drywall to run wire!

If you competent enough with electrical to switch out some outlets I think you would be fine running new wires. Good luck!

OH and as for the metal boxes with armored cable, look for that little ground wire to the box and or buy a tester.

[paddedhat]

Just curious about this statement: "we have a crawl space under the house that gives us access to the conduits".

So... is everything run in metal conduit?  Is it possible the conduit *IS* the ground?

Bingo.  Metal Conduit or Armored Cable (BX or MC) combined with metal junction boxes (not plastic) are (barring some shenanigans like a random plastic box along the way) grounded and don't need a ground wire.

Absolutely wrong.  First BX and MC are not interchangeable when it comes to grounding. BX is an obsolete metal clad cable that relied on the jacket for a ground. Inside the assemble is a very small, very malleable wire that is supposed to be wrapped around the jacket at terminations, to assure conductivity of the jacket as a ground. It is not a ground wire, even though it is commonly, and incorrectly assumed to be one. MC cable is also a metal clad cable, and replacement for BX, it typically has a separate, insulated and identified ground wire. There are many older installations where the presence of BX cable does nothing to assure that there is a usable ground path available at the box, or cable jacket. This can be for countless reasons, including everything from corrosion, loose cable clamps, poor initial installation, or even hidden transitions to other systems (cloth covered Romex, knob and tube) I have seen ungrounded BX countless times, and done service work where an entire house is full of metal boxes and BX and there isn't a ground to found anywhere.

The other thing to watch out for is older systems that "found" grounds at the nearest water pipe. It's no longer legal to do this, and for good reason. Most repairs done on water systems at this point are done with non-metallic piping. Once a piece of plastic is spliced into the run, the ground is done.  This can be both inside the home, and underground in the service leading up to he house. It's not uncommon to have a water service ground that looks legitimate in the home, but is connected to new plastic supply line, out to the street, since the utility replaced it.

[mountains_o_mustaches]

We did end up calling a local electrician who came out to do a consultation for free.  Real nice guy who runs his own business and even suggested that we'd likely be able to make the repairs ourself!  He recommended GFCI outlets at the beginning of the circuits.  He said if we really wanted he could install grounds, but would have to cut up the drywall and that he didn't think it was necessary.  He confirmed that the kitchen and bathroom were updated w/ real grounds; however, some of the "grounded" outlets elsewhere in the house were not actually grounded (he suggested they might be falsely grounded to water lines that have since had portions replaced w/ PVC or even grounded to the lighting fixtures (he says he's seen all sorts of bad wiring jobs).  We're going to move forward w/ GFCIs and put the computer in a different room that has a real ground.