I had an electrician over and asked about grounding an outlet (early '60s house with grounded wire only to baths and kitchen).
This was an outside wall with a water pipe faucet near. He said he could just poke a hole through the wall and run the ground wire to the pipe and attach it there. So he does this and I end up with a green ground wire coming out of the wall about a foot up. He then said he could just have it go straight down to the ground and then over to the pipe, which is about 6 feet away. I was surprised when he offered to just make a very shallow impression in the dirt and then just cover directly with dirt. So basically it is just put on the ground with a little dirt thrown on it. I did ask if this was code and he said "sure" (just so you know, he is licensed and has been around for years).
Well now I don't feel so comfortable with this. Is it ok to have a wire like that in/on dirt with no hard weatherproof casing? Is this considered normal practice for a ground wire?
Interested in opinions on this and what problem(s), if any, would you be concerned about. Note: to be clear, this is not bare copper, it does have the green sleeve.
-- John