"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
I tried this in misc.rural, and got a recommendation to try it
here.
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Been quite awhile since I started wondering what it was with the
"Building Wiring Fault" lights on my UPS'.

In doing some homework prior to getting a generator transfer
switch installed, it became apparent that houses need tb
"Grounded" - and the typical ground is one or more copper rods
pounded into the ground and then attached to a (neutral?) wire in
the breaker panel.

This house is a split-level, crawl space but no basement, built
in the fifties and I am unable to find anything that even looks
like a ground.

One reason for no ground might be what the house is built on: a
shale ridge. The builder scooped a notch out of a hillside,
sold the topsoil, and built this house on the notch. Go down
about 4", and you hit shale that is so solid that you need an air
hammer or a breaker bar and lots of time to get through - as in 3
days with a breaker bar and a tin cup to make 2 4" wide 28" deep
holes for a boat rack I put in last year.

Realistically, we've been in this house for 30+ years and never
lost an appliance to electrical surge... but still... there's got
tb good reasons for grounding.

That being said, I'm exploring after-the-fact methods.

The obvious is the copper pipe that water comes in on: buried
several feet deep and running a good 30' to the main under the
street. Seems like this was SOP until some time in recent
history when it was deemed inadequate.

The second thing that comes up is a "Ufer" ground wherein the
ground wire is tied to rebar in the house's foundation. I can
find a lot of articles on the techniques of doing this in new
construction, but nothing about retrofits.

The third approach seems tb lateral: long trenches in the yard
with the grounding medium layed in the trench. Seems
impractical to me bc the standard calls for 30" deep...

Personally, I'd have a conversation with your local electrical inspector - the
guy who has to approve the instalation for your permit. He knows best what he
will approve. I've found they are glad to be consulted on such matters.