Lightning And Metal Roofs

It is a false belief that metal roofs can increase the risk of a lightning strike.

Lightning and metal roofs.

While a building s structural steel will conduct lightning it is the bonding interconnection and grounding provided by a lightning protection system lps that will dissipate lightning s harmful electricity safely to the ground. Metal roofs are no more attractive to lightning than any other type of roofing material. Lightning is attracted to. Metal is inflammable by nature so in the event that your home is struck by lightning it should be safer than other roofing materials.

In other words metal roofing does not affect the chances of lightning discharging from the sky and striking structures. Should your metal roof be struck by lightning the electricity will be spread out across a larger area which diminishes the immediate impact. The metal construction association notes that metal roofs do not attract lightning. In fact the most destructive part of a lightning strike to a building is the fire it produces.

Metal roofing materials are non combustible so if a metal roof does get struck by lightning it is less likely to result in a fire than some other types of roofing materials such as cedar shakes. The exact location where lightning will strike depends on the geography topography and the storm s movement. In this regard metal building materials far exceed traditional wood framed buildings due to metal s non combustible nature. A metal building may survive a lightning strike with less damage than a similarly sized and located building made of higher resistance materials.

Regardless if a suburban area has metal roofs or not lightning will strike whenever it is ready. Then the metal s fire resistant properties will protect your building even further. Even so metal roofs do not attract lightning and are not struck any more frequently than other roofing materials. Metal clearly is far more resistant to fire than asphalt shingles wood shingles or other shingle materials.

Fire is the most destructive element of a lightning strike because most roofs will immediately combust. A metal building system with a conductive metal roof and a conductive metal structural frame gives lightning a low resistance path to the earth. Extensive research on lightning protection reveals that metal roofing is no more likely to attract a lightning strike than any other type of conventional roofing material.