I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
and fishing them into the box.

I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
case?

On Apr 27, 10:21=A0pm, Jonathan Sachs <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:
> I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
> and fishing them into the box.
>
> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
> case?

Do it from above.

R

Jonathan Sachs wrote:
> I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
> and fishing them into the box.
> 
> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
> case?

Got an attic?  same process, mirror imaged... (and then you'll find all 
the firestops in the walls...) yes it is somewhat more difficult this 
way, a right angle drill can help.

nate

-- 
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

RicodJour wrote:
> On Apr 27, 10:21 pm, Jonathan Sachs <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:
>> I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
>> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
>> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
>> and fishing them into the box.
>>
>> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
>> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
>> case?
> 
> Do it from above.
> 
> R
Peek in the boxes with a flashlight. If the place was built mid-1960s or 
later, odds are there will be a ground wire rolled up under the romex 
clamps. This 1960 house had ground cables in place- I just had to 
connect them when I switched out the 2-holers for 3-holers. Were the 
grounded outlets wired at the same time as the ungrounded ones? If so, 
probably same type of wire. And you did plug one of those quick-testers 
into the grounded outlets to make sure they really were grounded, right? 
(well worth the ten bucks to have one of those in the toolbox, IMHO.)

--
aem sends...

In article <e...@4ax.com>,
 Jonathan Sachs <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:

> I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
> and fishing them into the box.
> 
> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
> case?

Eh? What problem?

Smitty Two wrote:
> In article <e...@4ax.com>,
>  Jonathan Sachs <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:
> 
>> I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
>> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
>> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
>> and fishing them into the box.
>>
>> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
>> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
>> case?
> 
> Eh? What problem?

Trying to ground wall outlets in a hiuse with a slab foundation rather
than joists bearing on a concrete stemwall. The latter allows running a
ground wire up to the wall outlet from the basement or crawl space.
Can't do that with a slab foundation.

-- 
When asked, years afterward, why his charge at Gettysburg failed,
General Pickett said: "I've always thought the Yankees had something to
do with it."

On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:21:30 -0700, Jonathan Sachs
<0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:

>I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
>grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
>plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
>and fishing them into the box.
>
>I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
>outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
>case?

Get an pneumatic air hammer and break out about one foot of concrete
under each outlet until you hit the ground (soil) under the concrete.
Remove the outlet from the wall, and bury the entire outlet and box in
the ground under the floor.  This will insure the outlet is well
grounded.  Then pour fresh concrete over each outlet hole and smooth
it to match the original floor.  

"Jonathan Sachs" <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote in message 
news:e...@4ax.com...
>I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
> and fishing them into the box.
>
> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
> case?


*What year was the house built and what type of wiring is installed? 

On Apr 28, 3:02=A0am, l...@invalid.com wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:21:30 -0700, Jonathan Sachs
>
> <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:
> >I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
> >grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
> >plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
> >and fishing them into the box.
>
> >I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
> >outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
> >case?
>
> Get an pneumatic air hammer and break out about one foot of concrete
> under each outlet until you hit the ground (soil) under the concrete.
> Remove the outlet from the wall, and bury the entire outlet and box in
> the ground under the floor. =A0This will insure the outlet is well
> grounded. =A0Then pour fresh concrete over each outlet hole and smooth
> it to match the original floor. =A0


For the locations where running a ground wire would be difficult or
impossible, put in GFCI outlets and forget about grounding them.

In article c...@nlpi065.nbdc.sbc.com>,
 Major Debacle <M...@the_pentagon.mil> wrote:

> Smitty Two wrote:
> > In article <e...@4ax.com>,
> >  Jonathan Sachs <0...@jhsachs.com> wrote:
> > 
> >> I used to own a house that was built on a stemwall foundation. I
> >> grounded the electric outlets by drilling a hole up through the bottom
> >> plate under each outlet box, pushing ground wires up through the hole,
> >> and fishing them into the box.
> >>
> >> I'm now buying a house that is built on a slab, and many of the
> >> outlets are ungrounded. How should I deal with the problem in this
> >> case?
> > 
> > Eh? What problem?
> 
> Trying to ground wall outlets in a hiuse with a slab foundation rather
> than joists bearing on a concrete stemwall. The latter allows running a
> ground wire up to the wall outlet from the basement or crawl space.
> Can't do that with a slab foundation.

Clarification: Why does the OP choose to see ungrounded outlets as a 
*problem?*