How Can You Detect Faulty Electrical Wiring in A Rental Property?
The electrical wiring in your rental property is usually not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of doing maintenance in your rental property. Even when you know there is a maze of wires running through the walls to the home's outlets and switches; you typically don’t expect anything to go wrong with them.
Yet electrical malfunctions are the culprit in more than one-third of the house fires in Canada every year. These fires begin as faults in the home’s wiring, outlets, or switches, which were either overlooked or misinterpreted. The fires could have been prevented with a little more care on the part of the owners and occupants of these homes.
As an investment property owner, the last thing you want is a problem that will endanger the tenants in your rental home or the property. Faulty electrical wiring is all it takes for all the work you have poured into that rental property to come to nothing. With electrical problems, it takes just one misstep for everything to go horribly wrong.
That’s why it is vital that you know how to detect faults in the electrical system of your rental property before those issues become a big problem. Thorough and regular inspections of the electrical systems are a must. It is also important to educate tenants on how to detect electrical faults since they are closest to the home’s electrical wiring.
Signs Of Faulty Electrical wiring In A Rental Property
What telltale signs of trouble in the home’s electrical wiring should you and your tenants look out for?
1. Warm or vibrating power outlets
If a wall outlet gets warm when used, that is a sign of problems in the wiring. Another sign of a problem with the electrical wiring is if the wall outlet vibrates when you plug a device into it. If you notice these with any outlets in the rental, please call an electrician immediately.
2. Circuit-breaker trips frequently
You should expect the circuit breaker to trip once in a while. The normal function of the circuit breaker is to shut off the power whenever there is an overload. But this should not happen often. If the circuit breaker in your rental starts to trip off regularly, it is because of a problem in the home’s wiring. Don’t ignore the problem; call an electrician.
3. Flickering light bulbs
Lights bulbs will flicker for one of three reasons. If a lamp holder is faulty, the light will flicker. Lights will also flicker if there is a problem with the light switch. An issue with the home’s electrical wiring may also cause lights to flicker. If the lights are flickering in every room of the house or when you switch on an appliance, the issue is from the wiring. Light bulbs may also blow out or die if there is a problem with the wiring.
4. Strange noises
Electricity should flow through the wires inside your walls without making any noise. If you hear strange noises from the house's walls, especially when using an appliance, you need to have an electrician check the wiring. Sounds you may hear when the wiring is faulty are buzzing, clicking, and crackling.
5. A smell of burning plastic or heated metal
If wires overheat, the plastic coating will melt and catch fire. When this happens, you will notice the pungent odor of burning plastic emanating from the walls of your rental property. In addition to the smell of burning plastic or apart from it, you may also have the odor of heated metal from the walls.
6. Frayed or chewed wires
This problem is caused by rodents that have taken up residence inside the home. In general, rats, mice, and rodents will strip away the plastic coating on wires to use them as nesting material. They may also chew on wires to file their teeth. Contact your electrician and an exterminator if you see frayed wires in the home.
7. Scorched and discolored outlets
Wall outlets that are scorched or show yellow and brown markings signify that the electrical wires behind the rental walls are burning. It is not enough to replace the damaged power outlets; you need to trace the problem to its root.
8. Old electrical systems
If the home’s electrical wiring was installed in the 90s or earlier, it is time to replace it. Electrical wires and cables have their recommended lifespans; they are more likely to have problems near this expiration date. Moreover, old wiring systems often have outdated features that may impede their efficiency. The cost of replacing that old wiring is nothing compared to the problems it can cause.