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using gfci breakers

1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  peyton 
#1 ·
my late '50s house was purchased and "refurbed" after hurricane Katrina by a contractor intent on "flipping" it. long story short, he cut every corner possible and invented some new ones along the way.

the house had 2 conductor wiring and altho the house got 4' of water in it and the sheetrock had to be replaced, he did *not* rewire. he ran 12ga green wire from to/from every outlet/switch/fixture using press-on connectors rather than wire nuts. so what we have now is a "grid" of ground wires in the attic and in the walls which end at the main subpanel ... a total of 8 sets.

this seems to me to be a particularly poor way to add grounding to old 2-conductor wiring. i was wondering if i should rip the green wires out and replace the breakers with gfci breakers. any advice? thanks

peyton
 
#2 ·
It's perfectly compliant to run a separate ground wire according to the NEC. However, the wires must be protected from physical damage and terminate at the panel board for each circuit just like a neutral must do. My biggest concern is how it passed inspection?
I know of no jurisdictions where when the walls are open the contractor/builder/HO would not be required to pull new cables. Renovations at this level would definitely require new wiring. If the house was not permitted and inspected, then too bad and shame on whomever owns it..
 
#4 ·
It's perfectly compliant to run a separate ground wire according to the NEC. However, the wires must be protected from physical damage and terminate at the panel board for each circuit just like a neutral must do. My biggest concern is how it passed inspection?.
I hope each set of gnds is tied to a separate circuit but don't know for sure ... so many corners were cut on the redo. As for inspection, in the aftermath of Katrina a lot of work was done without any inspection and the contractors took advantage of that. I did ask the city about permits and a general permit was pulled but no followup inspection was done ... the city waits for the contractor to call for inspection and he didn't. No automatic timeout for inspections ... not a good system.


I know of no jurisdictions where when the walls are open the contractor/builder/HO would not be required to pull new cables. Renovations at this level would definitely require new wiring. If the house was not permitted and inspected, then too bad and shame on whomever owns it.
I would have thought new wiring would be mandatory too but see above. I own the house now ... surely you don't mean shame on me. thanks

peyton
 
#5 ·
i would not trust the wire.you should look for legal ways to get contractor back.your ins co probaly wont insure it any if you have it inspected.if they won't ins it give it back to bank.they are the ons getting screwed beacause till it is fixed they can't sell it.but then again???the wire is going to be wet and will detereate.just my opinion.
 
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