Installing E* Dish on Aluminum Siding

[Packer Bill]

Has anyone installed an E* dish on the side of a house that has aluminum siding?

I live in Milwaukee, WI (Zip Code 53226) and have been an E* subscriber for 8 years - currently have a Dish 500 w/Legacy Twin LNB.
Now that I have a new Sony HDTV (KDS-R50XBR1), I am considering upgrading to a VIP 622 receiver.

Here is my dilemma. My existing Dish 500 is mounted on the wooden fascia on the west side of my patio. I get a GOOD signal from 110 and 119 satellites - signal JUST clears the roof of my neighbors house. If I get a Dish 1000, I'm certain there is NO WAY it will see the 129 satellite. Consequently, I'd like to have a second dish (500 or 300) installed and aimed at the 61.5 satellite. In order to see the 61.5 sat., this second dish would have to be mounted on the gable side of my ALUMINUM SIDING house! I know you CANNOT mount the dish mast/foot directly on top of aluminum siding - would crush the siding!

Have any of you "experts" tried this? How about using four 5/16" dia. hanger bolts as shown below?

Using the dish mounting foot as a template (making sure it was level) - the four hanger bolts would be screwed through the aluminum siding and into the top fascia at the gable end of the house. Four sets of 5/16" nuts, washers and lockwashers would then be put on the threaded portion of the hanger bolts, followed by the dish mounting foot and then four more sets of 5/16" nuts, washers and lockwashers. All eight nuts would then be adjusted as necessary and then tightened securely.

Any opinions, suggestions, comments - or other mounting options would be appreciated.

 

[Mike500]

I've done it in one high end custom install.

I constructed a contoured wood backing that matched the profile of the siding. The mounting foot was fastened to the mounting with 1/4 inch countersunk carriage bolts with the heads on the siding side. It span across two studs underneath. The wooden backing was screwed to the studs with two #14 x 3-1/2 inch long countersunk screws into the 2x4 studs through the siding on each end.

The 1/4 inch carriage bolts in the 5/16 inch holes of the mounting foot allows enough wiggle room to plumb the pole.

 

[Hall]

I was thinking of a "plate" similar to Mike500 suggested.... A Google search for "siding mount" shows this:

http://www.winnfreenet.com/shop/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=101

 

[Mike500]

It all depends on what type of sheathing you have under the aluminum siding.

Unless you live in the northern climes, very few builders have installed aluminum is the last 15 years or so. Most homes built during the era of the widespread use of aluminum siding used a type of sheathing fiber insulated board called Homasote. Plywood was only used on the corner of the structure for shear panels to keep the house from racking. Homasote is a very weak material like cork and was often used as bulletin board cores under a thin layer of cork, before the days of polystyrene foam.

If you do not have structual sheathing like plywood, osb or previously applied pine or other wood siding underneath, your mount would have to span two vertical studs for adequate structual strength.

If it has structual sheathing, the foam plastic mount that Hall mentioned can be used. At least two 3 inch long lag or other high strength screws need to driven through the two vertical center holes in the mounting foot into the vertical stud underneath. Then, four shorter screws must be applted to the four outside corners of the mounting foot into the sheathing.

Anyway, that's the proper way to do it.