Electrical Problems in a Home. Electrical deficiencies are one of the most frequent problems found during a home inspection, usually resulting from DO IT YOUR SELF home owners. According to the Electrical Safety Authority survey 32% of homes in Ontario have had electrical work done by persons other than a licensed electrician. An amazing 58% of home owners who have done electrical work admit that they have little experience.
Whether you hire an electrical contractor or do the work yourself, all electrical installations or changes must be inspected to ensure they comply with the Ontario Electrical Safety Code. This applies to private homes, offices, industrial buildings and income properties.
Basement renovations are prime locations for finding Reversed Polarity outlets. Reversed Polarity typically occurs when the “hot wire” is mistakenly attached to the neutral screw of the outlet. This has become more common with the more frequent use of plug-in wire connectors located on the back of outlets. When using the screws to attach electrical leads, the hot screw is “dark in colour”, while the neutral is “lighter in colour”. Most people make the simple deduction of Black to dark and White to light, which will give you the proper polarity. The main problem with reversed polarity is that most appliances when turned off will open the “hot circuit” which interrupts the power supply. The Reversed Polarity circuit only interrupts the neutral leaving the power on to your appliance. If you are grounded and you touch a hot wire or component you will be shocked by the results. Another scenario is your table lamps light socket, when reversed the exposed metal socket becomes live and if touched will shock you. The Barrie Home Inspector will check your electrical outlets and note any with reversed polarity.
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Bathroom GFCI ( Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlets are confusing to most home owners who truly do not understand the basics wiring used in most homes in Ontario. Many subdivision homes will have a GFCI in lower bathroom and it will be used to protect the upper bathrooms which are downstream of installed GFCI outlet. Without having an outlet tester home owners are sometimes un-aware that their upper bathrooms are already GFCI protected and install another GFCI outlet in their upper bathrooms. Now whenever the GFCI trips upstairs you have to reset the lower GFCI prior to resetting upstairs GFCI.
Basement renovations will sometimes lead to some pretty simple but possibly expensive repairs. Any wall is required to have an electrical outlet every 12 feet, not including doorways, which is designed to prevent the use of extension cords, which can be a fire hazard. Steel studs are required to have grommets installed where wire is passing through stud. Most contractors would not recommend putting a steel stud wall system in a basement due to the conduction problem if used on an exterior wall. If you find a section of steel stud wall where the electrical cable was not properly installed then you would naturally assume that any finished part of basement would have the same problem, which could kill your house sale, or lead to an expensive repair.
Exposed electrical cables that are under 1.5 meters high have to have protection from mechanical harm. Typically these wires would be armored cable or encased in conduit for protection. Many people simply ignore this rule and haphazardly run their cables down walls and even out to the exterior of their home. Any wiring underground has to be installed in a PVC conduit and buried a minimum of 18 inches, depths vary for various locations such as 30 inches below flowerbeds etc. Any exterior outlets added must be protected by GFCI.
The condition of older insulation jackets must be monitored. I recently inspected a home where the majority of electrical cables located, only on the left side of panel, had all deteriorated and would have to be replaced. The home owner was totally un-aware of the condition of her electrical system. The cause of the electrical cable insulation deterioration was unknown but could have been mice or contact with chemicals.
Remember when buying a older home you need to hire a home inspector who has the knowledge and experience to not only find but identify deficiencies which could affect your safety and help prevent unexpected repair expenses. Call the Barrie Home Inspector for your next purchase.
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