How expensive is it to ground wiring in a house?

Question

I have a contract on a house I am wanting to buy. When I had the house inspected, I was told that some of the wiring is not grounded. I want to ask the seller to fix this and I am just wondering how expensive it is to ground wiring?

Answer 1

there is 2 ways to ground the outlets run a single ground wire from the plug to a water pipe or run a new wire back to the panel
both ways will be close in price as they both require getting to the plugs any where from 80 to 150 per oulet but another cheaper faster prob. even safer code approved way is to install GFCI outlets in place of the plugs and for lights that are not grounded you could install GFCI breakers on those circuits. GFCI outlets installed about 60 to 80 per outlet

Answer 2

Each circuit not 'grounded' will need to be re-run (wiring) from the panel to the fixture/recepticle/switch in question.
It can be costly depending on the rates in your town for an electrician, the level of difficulty in accessing the inside of the wall to run it and the number of these that need to be run. I would suggest you call an electrician for a formal quote prior to buying the house and subtract the amount from your offer. If the vendor is not in agreement, either have them do the repair (with a permit) or walk away from the house... there's probably more amiss if they won't fix this issue.

Answer 3

If your house is so old that some of the wiring is not grounded then you probably don't have enough receptacles either. If you have the money and time, I'd consider tearing out the drywall and doing a total rewire anyway.