Should Metal Roofs Be Grounded

From professor gene wengert forum technical advisor.

Should metal roofs be grounded.

Some actual disadvantages to metal roofs. With a serious house fire firemen may need to cut through. Protect your building from lightning strikes with a metal roof. If you plan on using metal roofing one thing you may consider is whether you need to ground that roofing as you do in other electrical or metal applications in construction.

Though metal roofs are good at guarding against a fire that approaches from outside a house such as from flying sparks and embers they are not ideal for fires that start inside a house. Your metal roof is not grounded and thus lighting has no reason to strike it. Because metal roofs are by definition made out of metal you might be concerned about lightning and wonder whether you need to attach a lightning rod to your metal roof. The concern about metal roofs attracting lightning strikes is most likely associated with the fact that metal can be an electrical conductor.

The truth is metal roofs don t attract lightning. Since a metal roof provides the same path as a standard roof on the same structure it won t pose a. A grounded building will apparently form a faraday shield and that will keep the lightning on the outside rather than letting it go on the inside. Metal roofs are resistant to wind and hail weigh less than asphalt shingles require little maintenance and are energy efficient.

A metal roof in no way makes your home more vulnerable or susceptible to lightning strikes. When it comes to grounding a metal roof this particular question is usually the instigator. Metal roofing is extremely popular in all areas of construction from entire housing implementation to self built sheds in the backyard. The grounding of a metal building is for keeping it at the same potential as ground in case of electrical problems or failures.

Fear of lightning strikes may be an imaginary problem but there are a few genuine disadvantages to metal roofs. In the unlikely event that your metal roof is struck by lightning the structure will direct the electric current to the ground provided that your home is up to code. Just the same metal roofs can be easily grounded by a lightning protection company.