How to wire a switch + GFCI Outlet together?

Question

My sister bought a house and is working on it to make it pass inspection. One of the requirements for the city inspection is GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlets in any area around water (bathroom & kitchen). It was an easy job until I came across one in the kitchen that had a switch and an outlet together.

It has one set of wires coming out of the bottom of the box, and 2 sets of wires coming out of the top (a set being a black wire and a white wire) at opposite sides of the box. When I pulled out the old outlet, there was a wire going to the switch and from the switch to the outlet. On the other hot terminal on the outlet was a black wire from the top left. On the nuetral terminals there was the nuetral from the bottom, and the nuetral from the same set as the other black wire (the top left). But the neutral wire from the top right set was connected to the ground terminal and the black wire was just hanging in there.

Answer 1

i think the one your talking about is the one under the sink.........  the one that is to the switch is for the garbage disposal ...... the other one is for the dishwasher  which needs to be hot all the time ........   also if you have multiple  plugs above the sink ........ see if you can find the FIRST plug in chain  you can put a GFCI there which will make the other plugs work off the same GFCI  [ read the directions ]which is legal.........

Answer 2

I think what you have is a half switched outlet. If you look at the contacts, on the side of the outlet, you'll see a link that connects the upper and lower outlet. If it is a half switched outlet that link will have been removed on the positive side so that one half of the outlet is hot all the time and the other half operates off the switch. You're not going to be able to do that with a GFCI. I have never seen one with removable links like a standard outlet has. You can eliminate the switch wiring by capping it off with wire nuts and taping them so they are secure then just hook the other wires to the GFCI. If you don't have a meter or test light, to confirm what the wiring is, I'd highly recommend you obtain one.