Residential articles
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Antenna Lightning Protection: How to Ground a TV Antenna, Dish or Starlink Mast
Outdoor antennas and dishes are often the highest metal on a house, with a cable straight to the TV. Here's what NEC Article 810 requires, how to ground a mast and dish, and how antennas tie into a lightning protection system.
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CSST Bonding and Lightning: What the Code Requires and What It Leaves Out
Yellow CSST gas tubing has to be bonded with a 6 AWG copper jumper, but fire officials say bonding alone hasn't stopped lightning fires. Here are the code rules, yellow vs black CSST, and where a lightning protection system fits.
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Ufer Ground and Lightning Protection: What a Footing Can Do
A Ufer ground is a grounding electrode cast into a footing. Here is when it counts as a lightning protection electrode, what UL and NFPA 780 require, and what to settle with your builder before the pour.
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Lightning Rod Balls: What the Glass Globes Mean and Whether Old Rods Still Protect
Glass lightning rod balls were sold farm to farm from the 1870s to the Depression. They're collectible today, but the system under them may not protect anything. Here's how to tell, and what to keep.
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Do Solar Panels Attract Lightning? Protecting Rooftop and Ground-Mount Arrays
Solar panels don't draw lightning to a roof, but a strike on or near an array can still damage it and the building. Here's what NFPA 780 covers for solar arrays and what to do when panels go on a roof that already has a lightning protection system.
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Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Lightning Strikes? What's Covered and How to Document a Claim
Standard homeowners policies generally cover lightning damage, including fire. Here's the 2025 claim data, the gray areas around power surges, and a step-by-step documentation checklist.
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Lightning Rod Installation Cost for Homes: 2026 Price Ranges and What Drives Them
National survey ranges for home lightning rod installation, what actually moves the price, how many air terminals a real house needs, and what to ask before you sign a quote.
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Tree Lightning Protection: How It Works and When It's Worth It
A tree lightning protection system is a copper cable run from the crown to a ground rod. Here's how it works, which trees are worth protecting, and why a big tree beside your house changes the plan for the house itself.
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Home Lightning Protection in Colorado: What Front Range Homeowners Should Know
Colorado gets about 500,000 cloud-to-ground lightning flashes a year and ranks third in the nation for lightning deaths. Here's what that means for homes on the Front Range and in the foothills, and how a residential system fits a Colorado house.
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Do Metal Roofs Attract Lightning? What Really Happens in a Strike
A metal roof doesn't make a strike more likely. It also doesn't make a building protected. What the NWS, MCA and NFPA 780 say, and what metal-roofed homes, shops and pole barns still need.
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Grounding a House for Lightning: Ground Rods, Soil and Spacing
A house lightning protection system needs a grounding electrode at every down conductor, sized and placed for the soil, and bonded to the electrical service ground. Here's what the standards call for and why one DIY rod falls short.
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Signs Your House Was Struck by Lightning, and What to Check Next
A diagnostic checklist after a close strike: the sound, the smell, the attic, the panel, the gas line and the electronics. Plus who to call, in what order.