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Is this kitchen remodel code compliant?

5K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  Termite 
#1 ·
Our house was remodeled in 2006. The remodel included a kitchen and adding a full bath to the basement. When we did our home inspection before purchasing the house, the inspector tested all the lights and receptacles and eyeballed the labels in the panel to see if the circuits looked up to code. During another project I noted that the labels didn't actually match the circuits so I set out to map my circuits.

I found that one 20A circuit has the new bathroom lights and its one receptacle, which isn't GFCI, as well as the stove (it's gas so I don't think it's a big deal), microwave, and dishwasher. There are also two random basement receptacles on this circuit. All of the receptacles have 15A outlets.

The panel clearly lists the microwave as having its own circuit, claims the stove is on a circuit with "kitchen outlets", lists the basement receptacles on another circuit, and doesn't mention the dishwasher or the bathroom in question. The fridge is correctly labeled and appears to be on a dedicated circuit.

I'm not concerned about the labels, I can fix that. I am concerned about the microwave being on the same circuit as everything else and I'm not sure if the bathroom can share a circuit with all of that or if a GFCI receptacle is required, which is an easy enough fix. Any help would be appreciated.
 
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#3 ·
Ok, the bath first. Your bath isn't compliant with code now, or when it was done in 2006, assuming the jurisdiction had modern codes adopted. The code allows all lights, fans, and receptacles in the bath to be on the same 20amp circuit. The receptacle(s) in the bath must of course be GFCI protected. Since the light/fan/GFCI receptacle are all combined on one circuit, nothing outside of the bathroom is permitted to be on that circuit. Nothing. If you had a dedicated 20amp circuit serving the GFCI receptacle in the bath, the lights, bath fan, and the stove in the kitchen could all be on a separate circuit legally.

As for the kitchen, it is common to have a dedicated circuit for the microwave, just because they draw a lot of amperage. It is not required to do that, but it is a nice feature. The kitchen countertop is required to be served by two 20amp circuits, and all receptacles must be GFCI protected.

I know these requirements are in the 1999 NEC, I don't have any code books older than that anymore. They're certainly in the newer editions.
 
#11 ·
As for the kitchen, it is common to have a dedicated circuit for the microwave, just because they draw a lot of amperage. It is not required to do that, but it is a nice feature. The kitchen countertop is required to be served by two 20amp circuits, and all receptacles must be GFCI protected.
Could you elaborate a bit more on "countertop required to be served by two 20A circuits"?

Our kitchen has an existing 20A circuit which powers countertop receptacles and the dishwasher. As part of a remodel, I'm adding a mounted microwave/vent fan over the stove, which will get a new, dedicated 20A circuit. Are these two 20A circuits enough, or do I need a third 20A cable to supply some of the countertop receptacles?

Also, do ALL kitchen receptacles have to be GFCI protected, or just the ones within 6 ft of the sink? If so, does it make more sense to just install a GFCI breaker, rather than installing individual GFCIs in each receptacle?
 
#4 ·
I'm not sure if the bathroom was added or remodeled but if that work was done at the same time as the kitchen then I think it's a big enough project to constitute a permit. I'm going to guess that there wasn't a permit because I can't imagine an inspector letting this slide. It's unfortunate because the sellers were very nice people but this combined with other serious electrical problems we've since discovered are probably going to result in legal action.
 
#6 ·
Your best bet is just to fix it. As far as electrical issues in a home go, this is small stuff. None of what you describe is really a big deal, and certainly isn't something that can't be overcome. Aside from the lack of a GFCI in the bath...Which is easy to take care of...None of it is going to cause any trouble except for potential nuisance trips of the breakers. You can make the necessary changes for a relatively small cost.

If your home inspector (pre-purchase) didn't catch it before you closed on it, you're going to have a hard time holding anyone liable. Even if they intentionally mis-labeled the panel, can you prove it?

I'd focus my time, energy, and money on taking care of the problems and skip the idea of trying to win some sort of judgement in court.
 
#10 ·
Yeah, it's a mounted microwave. Legal action would not be my first choice and I'm happy to pay for repairs if the costs are reasonable but once repairs start running into the thousands of dollars then I'm going to seek seller concessions. They (or a contractor working on their behalf) made this mess and it seems like steps were taken to make everything appear legit that aren't. I have an electrician coming on Wednesday and I'm going to see what realistically needs to be done and how much it's going to cost.
 
#17 ·
...Legal action would not be my first choice and I'm happy to pay for repairs if the costs are reasonable but once repairs start running into the thousands of dollars then I'm going to seek seller concessions. They (or a contractor working on their behalf) made this mess and it seems like steps were taken to make everything appear legit that aren't...
I would buy a house with the wiring up to code... Or not up to code and needing updating.

But, I would pay more for a house with all the wiring installed to code/inspected and less for a house needing work. I would pay even less for a house, if I knew uninspected electrical work was done.

I would be quite ticked if someone represented to me that a house I was purchasing had the wiring installed to code - was led to believe the wiring was installed to a certain standard, then later learned this was not the case!

FYI - When purchasing the house, I would want a reduction in price equal to the cost of paying an electrician to repair the electrical problems. In the case of electrical work not inspected, I would offer an even lower price to cover going over the entire house to be sure there were no other dangerous problems lurking. (If they cut corners on the electrical, then what else did they do which is not up to code?)
 
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