Further in a dry environment it might be necessary to water the grounding stakes to assure good contact with the surrounding soil.
Should a metal roof be grounded.
Do you need to ground metal roofs.
By bonding the steel rebar you simply eliminate the difference in potential between the metal objects above the steel rebar and the steel rebar you are not forcing current to travel through it to find a path to ground.
In general there s no need to unless it s mandated by your local building codes.
It does not attract any extra attention from lightning and just like buildings constructed with traditional building materials any electricity from a lightning strike will will be safely transferred to the ground below so occupants will be unaffected.
Metal roofing is perfectly safe.
Hazardous currents have a path to ground the massive buried copper network and grounding electrodes.
The short answer is no you don t have to ground a metal roof and you will incur no additional risk if you don t ground it in most circumstances.
Some actual disadvantages to metal roofs.
You have numerous options when it comes to re roofing your home including asphalt shingles concrete tiles and metal roof panels.
A metal roof in no way makes your home more vulnerable or susceptible to lightning strikes.
Likewise the electrical system needs to have a good active ground.
Your metal roof is not grounded and thus lighting has no reason to strike it.
You might choose to install a metal roof because they do not rot crack peel burn or blow off.
Do you need to have your metal roof grounded.
Wouldn t a grounded metal roof protect your home.
Metal roofing is safe and you won t incur additional risks if you don t ground it in most circumstances.
We elaborate further in this post.
What if lightning struck your roof.
Dry soil is an insulator.
Metal conducts electricity but when you are dealing with a full roof a lightning strike would ground out through the rest of the structure without causing damage or harm to the interior.
It is important to have every vertical metal support beam grounded required in the building code with a metal building.