this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
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I’ve recently become the owner of a home that was constructed in the mid 1950s (in the US). As such, not all the outlets are grounded, three-prong receptacles, since that wasn’t code-required at the time. It looks like a few have been added or upgraded over the years, but there are still many that are ungrounded. What is the best way to go about converting those receptacles to be grounded? Will that require a professional? It seems like probably the kind of electrical work that I am capable of doing myself, but I am also very much not an electrician.

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[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

GFCI doesn’t change the fact that there is potentially no ground wire.

[–] keckbug@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

Well no, but short of a rewire, a gfci with sticker is the code-compliant way to plug in three pin plugs to an ungrounded receptacle.

A rewire is the right solution but utterly impractical for many. Just silently swapping in new receptacles and leaving the ground unconnected is easy but not compliant. This is the middle ground.