I’ve recently become the owner of a home that was constructed in the mid 1950s (in the US). As such, not all the outlets are grounded, three-prong receptacles, since that wasn’t code-required at the time. It looks like a few have been added or upgraded over the years, but there are still many that are ungrounded. What is the best way to go about converting those receptacles to be grounded? Will that require a professional? It seems like probably the kind of electrical work that I am capable of doing myself, but I am also very much not an electrician.
Gfci or rewire.
If you put in a gfci I’d connec the ground to the metal box - wood is not a great ground but with the gfci doing safety purposes wood is enough for some things that want ground (that is a shield). If you can get a ground wire to enough places connected to enough different points it will fool most ground testers - remember that this is only useful if a gfci is providing safety and your goal is to fool the other reasons you want a ground.