Installer wants 80 dollars for new 5 LNB dish mount!!

[blitzpb]

I live in a townhouse so I have to be careful about what I put up and where it goes. We currently have a 3 lnb (i think) HD dish mounted to the wood overhang of our roof. This is the same installation that everyone else is using for their dishes. With this type of install 2 of the 4 bolts are hanging in the air.

When the DirecTV installers came on Friday they said that they could not install the new dish the same way. I had two options. One was to mount the dish to the roof (free) and one was to use a different bracket that looked like a J tube with a plate welded to the side of it. This would be to hoof under the roof and mount to the roof beams (sorry, dont know the tech terms). For this they want 80 dollars! Ive seen entire Dishes for close to this price! Now, the concern with the roof mount is the association rules. I have a letter in to my assoc to see if they mind if I mount directly to the roof. I have no idea if they are going to have an issue but Ill be damned if I have to pay 80 bucks for another piece of equip! Im thinking of making my own extension for the roof that would allow the dish to be mounted in the original position but still utilize the 4 bolts.

Any advice on how to proceed from here?

Thanks

 

[iceturkee]

i'm not sure if we're describing the same setup but here it goes. last february when my slimline was installed, the tech mounted it to a solid wood trip below the roof. there's a specific name for that but i don't know it.

anyhow, he could only secure the two upper bolts so he attached an extension arm which he could easily secure to the same wood trim. there was no charge at all.

not sure why your guy wants 80 bucks. i had one tech who wanted to charge me to run 2 cables through my attic into my bedroom. i said, no thanks. another guy did it for free.

 

[iwc5893]

The J-Pole/Under Eave mount is NOT standard equipment and is not part of the standard installation. The installation companies have to purchase this equipment on their own, and they are going to pass the cost onto you in the form of custom equipment/labor charges. The price you were quoted was very similar to what the company I used to work for charged for that type of mount.

The 5 LNB dish can not be mounted to the fascia as you described your current dish being mounted. As a matter of fact, your current dish shouldn't even be mounted this way. It should have been mounted where at least 4 lag bolts were solidly anchored.

 

[iceturkee]

The J-Pole/Under Eave mount is NOT standard equipment and is not part of the standard installation. The installation companies have to purchase this equipment on their own, and they are going to pass the cost onto you in the form of custom equipment/labor charges. The price you were quoted was very similar to what the company I used to work for charged for that type of mount.

The 5 LNB dish can not be mounted to the fascia as you described your current dish being mounted. As a matter of fact, your current dish shouldn't even be mounted this way. It should have been mounted where at least 4 lag bolts were solidly anchored.

i hope the second paragraph was not in reference to my installation as my dish is fine and actually secured with 6 bolts. i live in florida and its survived some nasty rain storms without needing a tweak.

 

[iwc5893]

i hope the second paragraph was not in reference to my installation as my dish is fine and actually secured with 6 bolts. i live in florida and its survived some nasty rain storms without needing a tweak.

If the fascia will support it by allowing all 6 lag bolts of the footplate to get a good anchor, then that's one thing (although still not the preferred method). However, if the OP's current dish is only secured by two lag bolts, then there is no way that the 5 LNB dish will be properly supported. My guess would be that the first strong wind that comes along would rip down the 5 LNB dish, and a good chunk of the fascia as well.

 

[raoul5788]

If the fascia will support it by allowing all 6 lag bolts of the footplate to get a good anchor, then that's one thing (although still not the preferred method). However, if the OP's current dish is only secured by two lag bolts, then there is no way that the 5 LNB dish will be properly supported. My guess would be that the first strong wind that comes along would rip down the 5 LNB dish, and a good chunk of the fascia as well.

A fascia is not strong enough to support a dish of any size. A rake board is another matter. You can lag through a rake board into a roof rafter. The best you can do with a fascia is hit the end of a lookout with two bolts.

 

[randyk47]

I'd disagree that the fascia is not strong enough but that has to do with exactly what kind of fascia board you're dealing with and how you "prep" the install. In my case my fascia is 2" x 8". That's not big enough for the footing of a Slimline so I sistered a 2" x 10", spanning 3 rafter ends, over the existing fascia. When we installed the Slimline I first screwed the existing fascia to the rafter ends, then screwed the 2" x 10" to the fascia, and then lag bolted the Slimline footing to the 2" x 10" making sure we hit one of the rafter ends with at least 2 of the lags. Add the monopoles and my Slimline is not going any place any time soon. It's been "tested" a number of times by high winds and so far so good. Anything is possible but I'm convinced that I'll have a lot more to deal with than my Slimline being torn down if we get conditions severe enough to take it down.

 

[raoul5788]

I'd disagree that the fascia is not strong enough but that has to do with exactly what kind of fascia board you're dealing with and how you "prep" the install. In my case my fascia is 2" x 8". That's not big enough for the footing of a Slimline so I sistered a 2" x 10", spanning 3 rafter ends, over the existing fascia. When we installed the Slimline I first screwed the existing fascia to the rafter ends, then screwed the 2" x 10" to the fascia, and then lag bolted the Slimline footing to the 2" x 10" making sure we hit one of the rafter ends with at least 2 of the lags. Add the monopoles and my Slimline is not going any place any time soon. It's been "tested" a number of times by high winds and so far so good. Anything is possible but I'm convinced that I'll have a lot more to deal with than my Slimline being torn down if we get conditions severe enough to take it down.

That sounds like a pretty solid install. I am referring to mounting the dish on a standard fascia. They are usually 1x6's nailed to lookouts or rafter tails. That's no where near strong enough for a regular dish much less a Slimline.

 

[Jimbo]

I'd disagree that the fascia is not strong enough but that has to do with exactly what kind of fascia board you're dealing with and how you "prep" the install. In my case my fascia is 2" x 8". That's not big enough for the footing of a Slimline so I sistered a 2" x 10", spanning 3 rafter ends, over the existing fascia. When we installed the Slimline I first screwed the existing fascia to the rafter ends, then screwed the 2" x 10" to the fascia, and then lag bolted the Slimline footing to the 2" x 10" making sure we hit one of the rafter ends with at least 2 of the lags. Add the monopoles and my Slimline is not going any place any time soon. It's been "tested" a number of times by high winds and so far so good. Anything is possible but I'm convinced that I'll have a lot more to deal with than my Slimline being torn down if we get conditions severe enough to take it down.

That sounds like a pretty solid install. I am referring to mounting the dish on a standard fascia. They are usually 1x6's nailed to lookouts or rafter tails. That's no where near strong enough for a regular dish much less a Slimline.

Randy,
The normal installation will not include re working the fascia, like raoul said, standard fascia is only 1" thick, rake board on the other hand could be used if the footprint is large enough.

Jimbo

 

[randyk47]

Agree fully. In fact, my installation was not done by DirecTV. While I had "engineered" the 2" x 10" myself, well before the DirecTV installer showed up, he refused to install the dish as it was too high and too steep of a roof (had to stand on roof to reach fascia location) for him and his supervisor agreed. I found a private installer and we installed the Slimline a few weeks later. My comment was more about fascia boards not being strong enough. The other point I'd like to make is that my home fix cost me all of $10. All I needed was the board already had the primer, the paint, and the deck screws.

 

[Jimbo]

Agree fully. In fact, my installation was not done by DirecTV. While I had "engineered" the 2" x 10" myself, well before the DirecTV installer showed up, he refused to install the dish as it was too high and too steep of a roof (had to stand on roof to reach fascia location) for him and his supervisor agreed. I found a private installer and we installed the Slimline a few weeks later. My comment was more about fascia boards not being strong enough. The other point I'd like to make is that my home fix cost me all of $10. All I needed was the board already had the primer, the paint, and the deck screws.

Can you reach the dish easily ?
I would not have done your this way, if possible.
I don't know where you live, but how do you cleans snow and ice from your dish when nessasary ?

edit: Never mind, I looked after I posted and see your in Texas, so you better not have the issues we have up here

Jimbo

 

[randyk47]

Jimbo - Indeed snow and ice are not problems here in San Antonio. In the 5 winters we've lived here we have had one ice storm but compared to what we experienced in Northern Virginia it was nothing. Didn't have the Slimline that winter but it wasn't heavy enough to impact the 3 LNB we were using. You do bring up a good subject though and that's the access to the dish. Quite frankly it's not ideal in terms of me being able to readily get to it for fine tuning if it happens to get knocked out of alignment. Locating it where we did was driven by LOS, access to the attic where the house cables all come together, and even higher location options. Pole mounting is not an option here as I live pretty much on solid limestone. Point in case was my neighbor who bought trees for $80 a piece but paid $250 a piece to have the holes jack hammered out. Not to mention the pole would have to be more or less in the middle of my front yard. My own preferences, my wife's input and the HOA kind of make that a non-starter.