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Dallas Real Estate: Will This Outlet Pass Inspection?

Posted on November 19th, 2009 2:00pm by Candy Evans
Filed under Changing market trends in Real Estate, Real Estate, architecture

outlet photo It’s not a GFI, mighty close to that sink, and the tub is conveniently just around the corner. ZZZZZZZZZZ!

Otherwise, cute house. Imagine finding real marble in a home built in the 1950’s.

7 Comments to “Dallas Real Estate: Will This Outlet Pass Inspection?”

Drew @ November 19th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Recipe for disaster.

When I lived in London, I always wondered why there were NO electrical outlets in any bathrooms. Seems it’s against building code there to have them (except for those waterproof electric shaver outlets). I guess the Brits are smarter than us at ensuring there are no bathtub hair dryer “accidents”.
Eccentric & Electric @ November 19th, 2009 at 7:21 pm

That outlet would not pass inspection. Not only is it not a GFCI outlet (the ones with the reset button), it has no ground at all. It is one of those oooooooooooold outlets with two simple prongs. Benjamin Franklin’s house was better protected against electrical hazards than this house! Hire a handyman and have these outlets switched out; the labor and material would be minimal when compared to what a red flag raised by an inspector might do to a buyer you’re under contract with.
Heh? @ November 19th, 2009 at 7:37 pm

@ Drew – We Texans may not be as smart as them there Brits, but GFCI outlets were not invented when this house was constructed. For all we know, this is an estate sale and the original owner has owned this house for decades and never updated this home. The Underwriters Laboratories, which is the company with the “UL” brand found on electrical equipment, has brought the level of safety standards up from when said outlets were invented. With that said, we now have GFCI outlets to help us during those “bathtub hair dryer accidents” you referred to. Long! Live!! Texas!!!
Drew @ November 20th, 2009 at 8:26 am

Speaking of GFCI outlets, when I built my townhome in Houston (unfortunately by Perry Homes – I won’t get started on that), they put the kitchen GFCI inside the cabinets on the center island by just “bolting” the electrical box to the cabinet floor. Added insult to injury, the put it directly under the trap to the sink.

When I asked them to move it and do it correctly, they refused and said it met city code.

I love me some Texas, especially after living away for a few years, but it seems at least the folks at Perry Homes aren’t that bright.
Interested @ November 20th, 2009 at 3:45 pm

If this is for sale, can you say where? That is beautiful marble,and am wondering about the possibly exceptional details the house might have. Thanks
Amy Patrick @ December 18th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

The International Residential Code, Section 3801.6, calls for the following:
“Provide at least one receptacle outlet on the wall within 36 inches of the outside edge of each lavatory basin in bathrooms. All receptacles located in bathrooms shall be GFCI protected.”

Proximity to the sink doesn’t matter (actually, it says that it needs to be *near* the sink!), but as others have alluded to, all outlets in the kitchen and bathroom must be GFCI… and the fact that the outlets aren’t grounded would make me worry about the overall quality and age of the electrical system.
Cole Simerson @ January 8th, 2010 at 2:38 am

Heya.. thanks for the tips. I was researching the same exact info this afternoon and discovered your site from Bing. Very cool to see how I was looking for something and it just materialized.=P