On Sunday, March 22, 2015 at 8:45:00 AM UTC-4, John G wrote:
On Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 4:26:36 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I have a two-day old agreement to buy a condo. The condo has one full bath and a small kitchen. Today with my realtor I did a two-hour inspection. With a GFCI tester, I found that none of the kitchen nor bathroom outlets were GFCI protected. Furthermore, one of the kitchen outlets shows an "Open Ground" with my GFCI tester. I checked the voltage between the hot wire and ground in this outlet, and it reads about 0 volts (nowhere near the 120 volts or so it should read). The cover plate of this kitchen outlet has some silicone-looking like sealant around its edge.

In the condo's breaker box, the breakers for the kitchen and bath outlets do not appear to be GFCI. Even if they were, the fact is no breaker nor GFCI button trips when I press the test button on my GFCI tester for the bath and kitchen outlets.

I suspect that the bathroom and kitchen outlets at one time were GFCI, but the GFCI outlet(s) failed. Someone maybe went cheap and did not put in new GFCI outlets? Furthermore, they wired the outlet in the kitchen incorrectly?

I sold my house this past September and went through the inspection process. You all gave me a good education on GFCI protection. Because of the counsel here, I have my own GFCI tester. I also have a voltmeter.

Any advice on what to ask from the seller on this matter? I would rather make the repair myself, on a hunch that the problem is as I describe above.

I found two more problems about which I will post separately.

Thank you in advance.


*Two weeks ago I completed a bunch of repairs to house that had been sold.. A lot of things showed up in the inspection report. It took two guys 10 hours to correct all of the problems because everything that we touched opened up a can of worms. Almost all of the issues were as a result of the homeowners doing their own electrical work.

The fact that there is no GFCI protection on multiple circuits in this condo is troubling. Kitchens, garages, outside, and bathrooms all need GFCI protected outlets. I am wondering if the homeowner did their own repairs or changes to the wiring. That caulked outlet is an indication of a hatchet job.

Ask for a few hundred dollars to install GFCI's and correct problems. If you had more time I would suggest getting an electrician to have a look.

John Grabowski
http://www.MrElectrician.TV

I especially agree with the observation about no GFCI's apparently
being present. In the period it was built, they were required. That
they are all missing, suggests to me that it may be more than incompetence.
Could be someone with an agenda, that doesn't like GFCI's. Given the
missing ground, caulk job, etc, it sounds like maybe it's both.

If it were me, since he apparently has an inspection clause, I'd just
respond back with what I found, that not having GFCIs, missing ground,
etc is a code violation and I want it fixed by a licensed electrician
and for the electrician to inspect the rest of the system.
That's the safest route.


How to proceed also depends on other factors, like has it been on the
market for a long time? A great deal that you don't want to miss or
similar condos down the block available, etc.