Leak in roof caused by installation of satellite dishes

[dishroofleak]

I signed up for Dish Network almost 3 years ago. The technician installed 2 satellite dishes on my roof at the time. I canceled service over a year ago but was told to leave the dishes on the roof after mailing back the box and remotes. This week, I noticed the ceiling in my living room beneath both dishes had started to sag over a 5' x 5' area. I suspected water damage since we have received a significant amount of rain lately and had a repairman look at the roof yesterday. He discovered that the sealant around the screws in both dishes had fallen apart, leading to a leak in the roof. It is raining hard right now and there is a heavy leak falling from a small hole in the ceiling.

Any suggestions?

 

[barfo]

Repair man should have done something while he was there. He could have put roofing cement over the bolts until he got a chance to do a proper repair job. I'm sure others are better at repairs than I, but I would look at the problem as a series of priorities. First, minimize the damage that is currently occurring. Perhaps get in the attic and catch the water with something, perhaps make the small hole in the ceiling bigger so all the water drains out instead of going all over, perhaps get up on the roof and put roofing cement or whatever over the bolts. Be careful, if you're not capable of doing any of this yourself safely hire someone to do it. After the immediate crisis is over you can then deal with more permanent repairs. My guess is that you are SOL re getting the installer or dishnetwork to make good on their botched installation, but you can ask. Oh yes, maybe your insurance company can help, but they often exclude satellite dishes. I have had two dishes on my roof for ten years and no leaks.

 

[Andrewwski]

Take pictures.

 

[HookedOnSatWork]

This is why if I can't put it up on the facia or an eave, it doesn't go on the roof.

 

[DishSubLA]

Have had two Dish 500's and now I've got my 1000.2 on eave, with the rods for support. Completely agree with HookedOnSatWork. However, there may be some inexperienced installers who want to put in on the roof for their own ease, but the good installers can almost any eave install happen.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Are you sure the Dish is the cause of the leak?

I have seen thousands of installations and as long as the mount is mounted on the roof, with or without sealent I have yet to see a leak.

The only time I have seen issues is when the mount is removed from the roof and holes are not properly sealed.

 

[delta_charlie]

Hi, what type of roof do you have? Where is the dish mounted?

A heavy leak is almost always caused by a bad valley because the rain funnels into the valley and can really poor in.

A shingle roof is quite easy to repair. Other types of roof not so much.

Later, DC

 

[dishroofleak]

Thanks for the replies. The repairman took down both dishes today which were located on one side of the house about 10 feet from the gutter. Perhaps the leak was not due to the dishes although it's occurring right below where they were installed. The rain leaked through yesterday morning although the repairman resealed it on Friday night. I guess I'll know if the dishes weren't the cause if I still notice a leak.

The shingle-covered roof is over a bi-level.

 

[dishcomm]

I signed up for Dish Network almost 3 years ago. The technician installed 2 satellite dishes on my roof at the time. I canceled service over a year ago but was told to leave the dishes on the roof after mailing back the box and remotes. This week, I noticed the ceiling in my living room beneath both dishes had started to sag over a 5' x 5' area. I suspected water damage since we have received a significant amount of rain lately and had a repairman look at the roof yesterday. He discovered that the sealant around the screws in both dishes had fallen apart, leading to a leak in the roof. It is raining hard right now and there is a heavy leak falling from a small hole in the ceiling.

Any suggestions?

Roofer should have removed the dishes and repaired the roof.....
You have no claim vs the installer. You'd have a heckofa time tracking him down anyway.
When I was a tech I had been asked to "guarantee" the customer's roof would never leak. I refused to do so out of common sense and to not come across like I was BS ing the customer.
There's no way a dish install can be guranteed forever. I used 50 year silicone as a sealant then switched over to Bishop Tape.
I have to question the condition of the roof sheathing since it is "sagging".
And without photos of the exposed sheathing it is difficult to know the actual condition of the roof.

 

[dishcomm]

Repair man should have done something while he was there. He could have put roofing cement over the bolts until he got a chance to do a proper repair job. I'm sure others are better at repairs than I, but I would look at the problem as a series of priorities. First, minimize the damage that is currently occurring. Perhaps get in the attic and catch the water with something, perhaps make the small hole in the ceiling bigger so all the water drains out instead of going all over, perhaps get up on the roof and put roofing cement or whatever over the bolts. Be careful, if you're not capable of doing any of this yourself safely hire someone to do it. After the immediate crisis is over you can then deal with more permanent repairs. My guess is that you are SOL re getting the installer or dishnetwork to make good on their botched installation, but you can ask. Oh yes, maybe your insurance company can help, but they often exclude satellite dishes. I have had two dishes on my roof for ten years and no leaks.

same here. 10 years+ on my roof...No leaks..One dish tho.

 

[dishcomm]

This is why if I can't put it up on the facia or an eave, it doesn't go on the roof.

So if you cannot install on a facia and have no LOS for a ground mount, you blow off the work?

 

[dishcomm]

Have had two Dish 500's and now I've got my 1000.2 on eave, with the rods for support. Completely agree with HookedOnSatWork. However, there may be some inexperienced installers who want to put in on the roof for their own ease, but the good installers can almost any eave install happen.

Not here. 90% truss system roofs. Metal facias. 2X6 wood. Mastfoot cannot be mounted with all 4 corners against the wood.
Customers here freak if we tell them we need run lags into that metal facia.
I have done thousands of successful leak free roof mounts.
Where's the problem?

 

[iliketj]

exactly, i do a lot of roof installs too, i always use pitch patch cement and silicone, no roofs leaking to date. sometimes roof installs are the best options. i've been to trouble calls where the wood is too rotten on the eves and someone put a heavy ass 500 + dish, bye bye signal

 

[singkwan2004]

Have had two Dish 500's and now I've got my 1000.2 on eave, with the rods for support. Completely agree with HookedOnSatWork. However, there may be some inexperienced installers who want to put in on the roof for their own ease, but the good installers can almost any eave install happen.

Having dish 1000.2 on eave, even with the rods, I still thinking you are asking for future trouble.

 

[Pepper]

I don't trust any roof mount but that's just me, I prefer poles myself. I like having everything where I can make the occasional adjustment without having to get a ladder.

singkwan2004, that picture looks familiar.