Hole in my siding/ Install

[robvmi]

The guy that did my install last night was very nice and helpful but i have a couple questions/issues. Is hiding the wires on the outside of the house supposed to cost extra? It got dark and he didn't finish the install, but here's what he has done and told me so far:

He installed the dish, set up 1 Tivo and 1 standard box using one line each that were already there. He is coming back to run the second line to the Tivo and finish the exterior wiring. He told me that he is just going to run the wires straight down the side of my house and tack it to the side (on top of the siding). He already drilled the hole to the Tivo through the wall, which I expected, BUT HE DRILLED THROUGHT THE SIDING. I now have a hole in my house with no weather protection. Is he supposed to do this or is he supposed to run the wire under the siding and drill under the siding?
thanks,
Rob

 

[riggscm]

well it seems that you have a lazy installer. granted we don't know everything that was going on, but thats okay.

The installer should never have left a hole open to the world in your home. If the installer will be coming out in the next day or so then make sure he closes it up with some good silicone. If he wont be out for a few days then take a trip to a local hardware store, pick up a tube of silicone sealant and fill in the hole yourself, then call and complain to the install company and the company that you bought the Direct equipment from.

 

[obeythelaw]

Well, I don't know if the guy was lazy or not, but when I had DirecTV installed I had two really good, knowledgable guys. They brought the wires down the side of the house near the water spout thing and then drilled a hole into the siding of the house. HOwever, they used a sealant and put a nice black plastic piece over it which makes it seem like no hole was ever drilled. Very professional drilling.
So, I don't think its a problem to drill a hole in the siding but it should be patched after the wires a put through.

 

[deezoneezo]

As an installer I have NEVER left a home without first completing the install. If I don't think I can get done I won't start. It sounds like all he had to do was run the line so I don't think this is really a safety issue. If he activated you without running the line you probably won't ever see him again especially if you signed all the paperwork. Also I have no idea why he would drill a hole and not pull a cable in. Drilling the hole takes no time at all so why drill and not finish? As for the basic install yeah on the outside through the siding is basic. You want custom it will generally cost extra. Lets say he tries to pull some siding off to drill behind it and run cable and it cracks in half.... That said it sounds like your installer was incompetent.

 

[Stargazer]

When I do an installation I will stay even if it is dark and complete the install.

 

[Mike500]

I do very few fulfillment installs. The premium installs that I do will never be tacked on top of the siding.

If my customer has vinyl siding, he is really lucky. Vertical runs can be hidden in corner "J" channels. For horizontal runs over vinyl siding, I can release the siding with a tool called a Malco Side Swiper ($6 at Home Depot or Lowes in the vinyl siding tools department). Then, I drill a hole into the interior wall with a 12" long installer bit. I'd cover the inside entrance with a wall plate. Then, using the Side Swiper tool, I replace the siding. You'll never see it on the siding and no entrance holes.

 

[deezoneezo]

By premium install you mean that it is custom right i.e. the customer pays extra for install.?.

 

[Rancid1]

The difference between the average (Or below average) installer and the "Competent, good installer" is tremendous, and the posts on here will reflect that constantly. Simply put anyone who would be willing to take their time to look on a forum like this, isn't just some incompetent installer/tech who does the quickest/laziest job to get paid. Each and every one of you i'm sure will stick it out until it's done. If you wouldn't then you wouldn't be posting here (And likely they dont even have, or know how to use a computer). Unfortunately all I ever hear about are the BAD installs since all installer issues go straight to tech support. It's nice to hear of the guys out there that are providing a quality service to the customers. (Sorry this is basicaly off topic and doesn't provide any usefull info, but i'm tired LOL)

 

[Mike500]

By premium install you mean that it is custom right i.e. the customer pays extra for install.?.

If it is a short horizontal run under the siding, I'd include it at no cost.

It all depends on how much work is involved. It is well worth an extra $20-25 for most customers not to have an ugly black cable running 20-30 ft tacked over the top of the siding and a hole through it, too.

I've been installing wires into pre built walls for over 40 years, both 120/220vac and low voltage. You just have to know how houses are costructed. I've always had the gift of visualizing the framing in my minds eye as superman might see with his "x-ray" vision. A lot of dealers and installation companies subcontract their toughest and most demanding jobs to me.

 

[robert luzzi]

there are two ways of looking at this issue

1 the subscriber is trying to get something for nothing
2 the tech wasnt proud of his work

1 the subscriber should have been there and the tech should have have asserted control, ie, the dish can go here or there ill route the coax this way or that. then agreeon a placement and a coax run. on behalf of the tech the subscriber wouldnt dare tell the gas , electric or phone co WHERE to mount thier lines or he WILL PAY EXTRA. with us im putting the dish here ( you cant see 90% of mine from the front of the house ) , ive got to guarantee this dish for 6 months and i make damn sure its working in the spring. or they sign a release.

2 the tech is a lazy ass and does the least work possible to get paid, and there is a lot of them out there

you will like directv , theres NOTHING like it

 

[Claude Greiner]

I have been in the business since 1997, and if your gonna start an install you might as well finish it the same day. I never figured what it was with some installers who had to come back again another day to finish. It makes no sense because you got to drive out to the customers home again which is atleast another 2 hours in time, where you could be relaxing at the office or installing another customer.

Im all my years I have only had to come back to a customers home once on an un-completed install, and that was only after the police told me I better finish the next day after they saw me going in my truck and taking out tools at 11pm at night and thought I was stealing.

Other than that, its perfectly accecptable to drill through siding and run the cable staright down the side of the house, its part of a basic installation.

If you don't want the cable run that way down the siding, you can pay custom labor and have the cable fished through an interior wall, or routed another way where the cable is less visable.

Now granted there is some common sense that goes into this also, where you don't run a cable down the siding on the front side of a customers house, or if its not too much more work you hide the wiring. However a typical install is mostly running cables on the exterior of the home.

 

[robert luzzi]

you would pay extra for any deviation from a basic install

 

[robvmi]

Install complete and I am satisfied. I different guy came to finish the install. He was more mature than the first installer and was not sure why the first installer had not finished or why he was running the wires down the side of the house when they could easily be "tucked". He finished the install quickly leaving as little of the wires as possible exposed. Same company/different installer - what a big difference in quality of service. I am happy and boy do I love my D*. Especially the Tivo. I almost never watch live TV anymore.