Jim Allhiser Salem, Oregon Home Inspector

Make-up air:  The volume of air that is required to replace exhausted air from a given space.

If you have gas appliances,  a well weatherized and insulated home, and exhaust fans check out the following video for a serious consideration…

It is very common for me to inspect homes that are older than 1960′s that have three prong outlets that are not grounded.

Originally these outlets would have been a two prong, with one side acting as the “hot” and the other side acting as the “neutral.” The hot is, for the purposes of my discussion, the supply of power and the neutral is the return. When well meaning home owners try to “improve” their original two-prong outlets with three-prong outlets they very rarely think about the third prong and what its purpose might be and the fact that there is no wire for the third hole in the outlet.

Often, when I start to discribe what is going on, my client’s thoughts jump their electrical devices not functioning properly. Proper function of electrical devices is not really what we are dealing with when a ground wire is missing. The ground wire is merely a backup for the neutral/return, and its purpose is to protect the occupant (you) from shock/electrocution and has very little to do with proper function.

There is a slight caveat when referring grounds, computers and some newer televisions. Surge protectors take excess electricity and dump it into the ground leg. If no ground is present the surge protector will not function. I have also heard that some newer televisions will not function at all without a ground. This is a liability protection for the TV manufacturer that is built into some newer TVs.

To put this in a more understandable analogy I compare this sittuation to a car. Ground wires are kind of like a seat belts. They protect the person from injury and older homes (just like vehicles and seat belts) didn’t have them. Grounds/seatbelts really don’t effect the way the car drives/electrical device operates. They are merely a safety devicethat will protect you from injury. Grounds are not required on a 1950′s or older home, just like seat belts aren’t required on that age car. Vintage two prong plugs are relatively safe because it is obvious that there is not a ground and you cannot plug in a device that wants the ground prong.

Three prong adaptorsare devices that allow you to plug a three prong plug into a two prong outlet. When three prong adaptorsare used it is VERYimportant that theelectrical box is grounded. You might be wondering what in the world is a grounded box? In the early to mid 60′s the nonmetallic wiring changed from a strickly two wire (one hot, one neutral) to a three wire (one hot, one neutral and a newly added ground). The wiring changed but many of the plugs (two prong) did not change. The only way to verify if the box is grounded is with atester. Plug one side into the hot and touch the other to the screw in the center of the outet. If the outlet is grounded there will be a completed circuit and the light will glow. This type of grounded box is the ONLY time that the three prong adaptors should be used on a two prong plug!

Now lets say the home we have interest in was pre 60′s and none of the outlets are grounded, what do you do now? Always, always, always talk to a licensed professional electrician. The conditions I describe are totally gerneralities and your specific sitiuation may have specialcircuistances that make these general recommendationsless than ideal or even DANGEROUS! Now with that disclaimer out of the way……..

Grounds are especially important around water sources. Kitchens, bathrooms, garage and exterior plugs should all be grounded at the least. These areas are the places that you are most likely to become a great source for electricty to try to jump to ground through you.

• The ideal way to ensure these shock/electricution prone areas are protected are by running a new, properly wired circuit from the panel to the plug.
• Boot-legging a ground may be an option but TALK TO YOUR ELECTRICIAN FIRST!! Boot-legging a ground is where you run a single conductor (wire) from the outlet to a bond (clamp) on a cold water pipe. Boot-legging is not ideal and you may not be able to find a licnesed professional electrician that will help you out with this (that should tell you something!)
• The installation of GFCI’s on the ungrounded circuits. This is kind of like installing an airbag in a car with no seat belt. It is safer than no seat belt, no airbagbut it is not as safe as a properly installed seat beltand airbag. The installation of GFCI’s on ungrounded circuits will not provide an equipment ground and should be labeled as such. This means that surge protectors will not protect equipment from surge and your surge protectors are usefull only as paper weights.

I have used this analogy for a few years and it seems to hold up pretty well when describing this electrical theroy. If you have any questions on how the electricity working in your home please contact your local electrician or of course your favorite home inspector!

Funny thing about labels, they can tell you some useful things but there is a trick…..you need to actually read them.

There are labels for almost anything, to tell you when you should purchase something, or throw it away or even how it should be installed…..

I was in a Salem, Oregon attic the other day and I noticed some labels. These labels were on building components and the labels had instructions or indications for how the product should be installed. The first label I noticed was on the fiberglass batt insulation:

Clearly, right on the surface of the paper face were some instructions, “Apply this side toward living space.” I was in the attic space and it was definitely not set up for “living.” The reason for this label has to do with the movement of moisture vapor as it leaves the living space and enters an unheated space. With the vapor barrier/paper face installed improperly, water vapor that is traveling up through the ceiling and through the insulation hits the big temperature difference at the paper face and condenses into liquid. Here the liquid water is trapped and will cause bad things to happen to the home (mold, rot, deterioration, ect). When the paper face is installed properly the vapor will not hit the dew point till it is past the vapor barrier/paper face and if the vapor condenses into liquid in the fiberglass batting, it can breath and escape and most importantly, is not trapped!

A few feet away I saw another label. The manufactures for the gas flue for the water heater wanted to help the installers and make sure to remind them of proper installation:


Looks like this was another instance of lack of proper literacy. The purpose for the 1″ gap requirement is fire safety. The type B vent is designed to stay cooler than a straight walled pipe however it does heat up. Over the years the combustible materials that are too close to the pipe will heat up over and over again. Each time this heating occurs there are slight changes in the molecular structure and the material’s flash point, temperature that it catches fire, drops. Eventually this may become a fire hazard.

Labels are important. Read, read, read and if you don’t know why you should do something, call someone, like a wonderful home inspector, who does!