Thank you for taking the time to post. All of your information and responses are very helpful, to residents, not just the pics. Recommending a business that is BBB rated, long standing in many communities, and very helpful with questions.

The damage is what we have witnessed on most homes that usually are only reported with their FB site. We had homes in 5 different villages for the past 15+ years. Pics of homes struck by Lightning, but thankfully Damage that was quickly repaired.

Too bad there was a suppressor, to help with all the appliances.

Again thank you for valuable info.

Good question. When installing a Lightning Protection System here in the state of Florida and it may be the same in other states, there are:

No state or local certification of LPS installers
No state or local licensing
No building permits with follow up inspections

So, without a Lightning Protection Institute and or UL Certification there is no way to know for sure if the systems are being installed properly. That's not to say that any of these companies are installing improperly, just there is no way know. After having a system installed you can pay for and get UL to come out and certify your installation where they give you a certificate for 5 years but very few do this and it's not necessary if the installers are LPI and or UL certified. Many companies have consumer protection awards, etc, like from the Better Business Bureau but none from technical agencies.

All this said, It would be great to have more qualified LPS installation companies working here in the Villages since the two certified ones are always booked for unreasonably long periods of time every year. Also, additional companies may bring prices for these systems down a little. But the problem with a Lightning Protection System is after it's installed the homeowner has no way of knowing if it was actually installed properly and is going to work. So for example, does each air terminal (lightning rod) have two paths to ground? Does each ground rod have less than 25 ohms of resistance to ground? Is the company using all the necessary UL certified cables and connectors? Are the rods placed on the roof correctly to give the proper coverage? NFPA 780 which is the standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems lists all the necessary requirements. I'm not an inspector but these are some of the things that are listed in NFPA 780 to insure that the system will work.

Has the Group conducted inspections of any installations that were in violation of the established standards?

As stated, we are not certified to conduct inspections of a lightning protection systems. There are UL and LPI certified inspectors that do this work one of which lives here in the Villages and advises our group. But, we have seen installations installed by some "unknown" companies that clearly violate some of the NFPA 780 installation standards which is why we make people aware of LPI and or UL certified installers.

Duck Soup brings up an excellent point.

Honest question if one isn’t an inspector, as posted.

Why would you request to look at a system installed by a company that your club hasn’t recognized? Does The Lightning Club routinely go to every install, or just to random checks to ensure quality is up to the clubs standards. After all not all businesses can be perfect every time, sometimes there can be a misstep

We would like to look at the lightning damage in more detail.

But you posted “they look like a Legit” company. The VLSG would like to Go See One Of These Installations.

The lightning damage was on a home that didn’t have an install. So why does the group want to inspect an installation with no one certified as an Inspector?

Wouldn’t it be beneficial to use a certified inspector if the group has questions about certain companies?

After all the cost of inspection would be appropriate with any company after a $2-4,000 price tag

It probably would be beneficial to use a certified inspector and does one suggest the group has a bake sale to pay for that extra cost?

You are misinterpreting my comments.

What we do is take a look at the damage to the home and surrounding homes if it applys. Since this was a house in Middleton, many are multi story. It would be interesting to see what the LPS company did to mitagate the problem on that type of structure and what else they did such as installing surge protection, etc..

If the homeowner has a concern then they can have an independent inspector come out for an additionaly cost.

I'm curious to know how many more homes have been hit by lightening in the southern part of the Villages as opposed to the North. The North has taller Oak trees which can attract more lightening before it hits a home. The southern homes do not have as many mature trees.

Do you think this makes a difference?

I doubt the trees make much of a difference but if you gather information about both trees and homes then maybe something would stand out.

Odd things about weather:
- In the Finger Lakes region of NY State, storms seem to often stay on one side or the other of I90. In particular, lake-effect snow seems to stay north of I90. Just the way the weather works there.

- In the mid-atlantic states, weather seems to stay east or west of I95. Again, just the way it seems to work there.

- In Central Florida it often seems like lighting and rain approaches the Villages but then breaks up as it gets to this area. I don't know how many times I've seen the heavy area of precipitation break up as it approaches the Villages and go around.

All this might just be my imagination weighted by confirmation bias but on the other hand, if there is something true about those points above, then it could also be true that the heaviest lightning stays south of 44. This area has always had lightning but before there were homes south of 44 the lightning hit trees or swamp. Now there are homes and lightning strikes. The number of lightning strikes may not have changed, but the likelihood that there would be a house underneath one has increased a lot.

You are exactly right. This is why we are seeing a lot more strikes hitting homes in the South of the Villages and more strikes overall.

BTW, tall trees don't make a difference as you know by the pictures I've posted. Lightning "connects" to the point on the earth that has the highest positive potential during a storm and that might not be the towering tree over your home.

I am perplexed by the repeated warnings regarding inadequate installers from individuals who appear to lack the certifications/ expertise to discern improper installations.

Instead, they have solely recommended the same two local companies.

A Google search will reveal other options in Tampa and Orlando.

Did the “Certified” inspector note the installers clearly violated standards? If so wouldn’t the inspector advised homeowners, there was clearly install violation? And what action should follow?

The homeowner after spending a few thousand would definitely have company name, so “unknown” should not be a factor.

Or has the group just noticed homes, looking at installs, without owner knowledge,

” noticed standard install violations”, and the “Unknown” is no communication with homeowner for installers company name?

My hope is if the club notices installer violation standards, the homeowners would be thankful for the information. Or at least warning that an installation violation has clearly been noted by the Club. Your next action should be_________________.

Just trying to understand how the club finds the NFPA 780 violations, as posted.

The club would be doing a great community service to give notice of violations to homeowners