Skagit County Home Inspector (King of the House): Unsafe Outside Electric Outlets

A home inspector sees many outdoor outlets. Probably the most dangerous outlet I have seen was in Skagit County, at a house between Mount Vernon and Burlington. It was a serious shock hazard. Some of the time outlets work great and are well maintained but others have problems. What kind of problems? Well, in modern building and even to make an older home safer, exterior outlets should be GFCI protected. You cannot always tell if an outlet is GFCI by looking at it. Often an outlet will be GFCI protected even if it looks like an ordinary outlet - no small test switch or reset on the front. That is possible because an ordinary looking outlet can be a slave of another outlet elsewhere in the home - usually a garage, kitchen or bathroom outlet. Upgrading to GFCI outlets, if a home does not already have them, is usually not costly. And GFCI outlets will provide protection against shocks even if the system has no equipment ground. In fact, if people cannot afford to upgrade an older system to circuits with the equipment ground, that is one way to make outlets safer in water areas: Add the GFCI and it will function even without the equipment ground. Many people do not realize that. Another common problem with outside outlets is broken waterproof covers, or people who permanently have covers pulled back and plugs in exterior outlets -- rain or shine. If an outside outlet has a pond or another device plugged into it, then it should have a proper "in service" cover that shields the outlet. Water and electricity do not mix well!

Thanks for stopping by.

Steven L. Smith

www.kingofthehouse.com