Accidently cut house ground wire

QuestionEdit

While trimming shrubbery away from the gas and electric meters, I accidently cut what I think is the ground wire for the house. It was a copper wire with a white plastic coating that came out from under the house and goes into the ground. I thought it must be the ground wire for the house that runs from the electrical panel under the house and is buried in the ground. I called the electrical company and they said they didn't have any exposed wires, so it wasn't theirs. I then had an electrician take a look at it. The house is 50 years old and he may not have been born when they grounded houses this way, but he said it was not part of the electrical system for the house. He did say that a 3-prong outlet to the cooktop showed that no active ground was present. I'm wondering what to do. I can't seem to fish the other end of the wire out from under the house to reconnect it without using the crawl space to reach it. Is it important enough to have an electrician repair it? If I repair it myself, do I have to turn off the electricity to the house in order to do so? Is there a chance it isn't the ground wire for the house?

AnswerEdit

It may not be the ground wire, since ground wires are usually not insulated. Also, the older houses usually had only the copper water pipe as the ground. Also, the main ground wire should be too thick to cut accidently.

If you are showing outlets without a ground, that should be fixed.

If the wire is a ground wire, you can just put a jumper over it. However, any other type of wire can not be spliced without a junction box.

So, the best thing is to have an electrician check the grounding rather than checking that wire. It may not be part of the electrical system. But if an electrician checks the ground, it would be best.

It would be best to turn the power off if you work on the ground wire, just for safety.