val949•1mo ago

Finally fixed a tricky ground fault at an old house in Oak Park

I was troubleshooting a GFCI that kept tripping on a 1950s house. Turned out the homeowner had buried a junction box under some new insulation in the attic. Found it after checking every outlet on the circuit for over an hour. One of the wire nuts had a little corrosion from roof leaks over the years. Has anyone else run into hidden junction boxes in older homes?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan3691mo ago

Oh man, that's a classic old house move right there. I had almost the same thing happen in a place from the 40s, found a junction box completely hidden behind a wall that had been patched over. Took me forever to track it down too.

alice891mo ago

Wait, they just patched drywall right over a live junction box? That's terrifying honestly, someone could've gotten seriously hurt if that thing ever shorted out.

stellachen19d agoMost Upvoted

Read that buried junction boxes cause like 12% of house fires, @alice89.