The photo below is of a grounding electrode that was never fully pounded down into the soil. We wonder why. Did they hit a rock down there, so they could not get it to go any farther, or did the installer just decide it was in deep enough? These things are 8' long and if you are that deep, and hit a rock, it is a real bummer. I know that sometimes people hide the fact they met their match with a rock below by cutting the rod. This grounding electrode was harder to deal with than most in that concrete was poured around it. Another issue was, and this is something that I find fairly often, the ground and bond wires were loose in the clamps. Basically, not even taking into account the way the electrode was installed, the integrity of the grounds was minimal. This ground rod should be farther into the ground than it is in the photo. It was about 75% installed. With electricity you do not want to mess with that extra 25%.
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Charlie,
Looks like you and I are the only ones who care about this one.