Thinking of moving to Directv, but then there's the HOA. Mounting advice appreciated!

[MrMet]

Hi everyone,

I am thinking of switching to Directv from Cablevision (better price, channels, etc. etc.). I live in a community with a HOA that has specific rules on mounting a dish. I'm being told that the dish must be mounted on the chimney and not on the roof and must be on the back of the house.

I'm fine with that, but the chimney is surrounded by vinyl siding and I don't want anyone to be drilling into the chimney. Also, a pole mount is not an option per the HOA.

Are there alternatives that don't involve drilling into the roof (which I'm being told will void the warranty for the roof). Also, what is considered a "standard installation" by Directv? Do they even perform any other types of installations?

I took a photo of the back of the house so you can see the chimney. Any advice anyone could give would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
MrMet

 

[texasbrit]

If it is a single family home that you own then in general the HOA can't stop you putting a dish wherever you want to, on the roof, on a pole mount (if it is your yard and not common area), it's an FCC regulation. Google "OTARD" if you want the details.. And usually DireCTv won't mount the dish to the chimney

 

[Broe67]

That chimney box would be made out of 2x4 framing, so if they did mount the dish to it, it would be lagged into the wood framing. The question is, can they get good line of sight at that location.

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys MrMet!

You aren't going to find anyone that will mount the dish to vinyl. You would have to have some vinyl removed and a block installed to mount the dish to. That's not a standard installation obviously.

 

[mijd]

texasbrit is correct. SFH anywhere in your yard or on your house. Just not on a common area. If it's a condo, check your CCR's but usually not on any common area.

 

[Broe67]

You aren't going to find anyone that will mount the dish to vinyl. You would have to have some vinyl removed and a block installed to mount the dish to. That's not a standard installation obviously.

The vinyl is only a covering attached to either OSB or Plywood. Usually it will be OSB attached to the 2x4 framing. It is fine to attach to the Chimney with straps, but better to attach with lags to the 2x4 framing. It is better then placing the dish on the roof, with the mount just having a couple of lags screwed through plywood, with nothing below that plywood holding those lags.

I was lucky when we did my dish, that we had doubled 2x4's on the edge of my garage, that the lag bolts went into, to hold the pole. That sucker is not going anywhere. The dish may get tossed around, but it is never coming off of my roof, even in the highest winds.

 

[raoul5788]

Even if there is plywood behind the vinyl, it will have to be removed. No installer will attach a dish to vinyl.

 

[texasbrit]

Here in Texas they do not install on chimneys. The wind load from the slimline dish is too high. And roof mounts are fine, you must NOT just screw through the plywood. The lag bolts must go through the roof rafters.

 

[Broe67]

Even if there is plywood behind the vinyl, it will have to be removed. No installer will attach a dish to vinyl.

You are not reading. Also you cannot remove the Vinyl siding, to install the dish to the structure. If you do, then you are doing it wrong. If you are doing it correct, you are going to be attaching the plate for the pipe, or offset on the side of the structure, to some kind of structural member, such as a 2x6 or 2x4 behind that plywood or OSB.

I would like to see some installer cut off the vinyl siding, then tell the company they did it, because they could not attach the dish to the structure, because the vinyl siding was in the way. The best ones I have seen, are satellite dishes attached to a Power Company pole, then a couple of weeks later after the PoCo has come around, the dish is gone.

 

[Hutch1814]

Here in Texas they do not install on chimneys. The wind load from the slimline dish is too high. And roof mounts are fine, you must NOT just screw through the plywood. The lag bolts must go through the roof rafters.

Bingo! The sheeting isn't enough for anything let alone a slimline dish. It's one of the largest dishes you can have on a home. Chimney mounts are a no go coast to coast now with Directv. You can possibly get a tech to do one but don't expect it. I finally ran out of the anchors and won't buy more. They're solid but won't pass a QC so there's no longer a reason to install it

 

[Hutch1814]

You are not reading. Also you cannot remove the Vinyl siding, to install the dish to the structure. If you do, then you are doing it wrong. If you are doing it correct, you are going to be attaching the plate for the pipe, or offset on the side of the structure, to some kind of structural member, such as a 2x6 or 2x4 behind that plywood or OSB. I would like to see some installer cut off the vinyl siding, then tell the company they did it, because they could not attach the dish to the structure, because the vinyl siding was in the way. The best ones I have seen, are satellite dishes attached to a Power Company pole, then a couple of weeks later after the PoCo has come around, the dish is gone.

What? That's the number 1 no no in the book! In no way is a dish to be mounted to vinyl siding. That is a huge damage to the siding. The amount of pressure the lag bolts have when they grab into a stud snaps vinyl like a rag doll

 

[raoul5788]

You are not reading. Also you cannot remove the Vinyl siding, to install the dish to the structure. If you do, then you are doing it wrong. If you are doing it correct, you are going to be attaching the plate for the pipe, or offset on the side of the structure, to some kind of structural member, such as a 2x6 or 2x4 behind that plywood or OSB.

I would like to see some installer cut off the vinyl siding, then tell the company they did it, because they could not attach the dish to the structure, because the vinyl siding was in the way. The best ones I have seen, are satellite dishes attached to a Power Company pole, then a couple of weeks later after the PoCo has come around, the dish is gone.

I read just fine, thank you. You are the one not reading. I didn't say to not lag to the studs. I didn't say the installer should remove the vinyl. I said the installer won't attach a dish to the vinyl.

 

[MrMet]

Thanks for the input, everyone. Just to clarify, I'm renting and while my landlord has expressed support in getting it installed, the HOA is being restrictive. I understand this may be contradictory to some of the laws out there, but I also do not want to put them in the middle.

I've read that the chimney mounts especially with vinyl siding involved, are no-no's even though the HOA said it was an option.

Back when I had an apartment, I was able to get a dish installed on my balcony. The installer put up a stud along the edge of the balcony with some lag bolts and that did the trick. Who knew a house would be more problematic.

Again, appreciate the input!

 

[Broe67]

Homes are not more problematic MrMet. It becomes a problem, when you hire someone to install something, and they either do not follow proper procedures, by making sure that they have a water tight seal, when penetrating the skin of the envelope of a structure, especially when they place the dish mounts on roofs. Chimneys are used all of the time for Antenna's, due to most nowdays that have vinyl covering, are built as a part of the house structure.

When the Chimney is made out of brick, then you can run into problems, that you do not know when the last inspection of it was, how sound it may be at the footing, etc. A lot of brick chimneys have been blown over during high winds, due to undermined at the footings, or allowed to pull away from the structure.

As for the whole argument of not wanting to place the mount against the vinyl. Yes, it can push the vinyl siding against the OSB sheathing, but just like when you place anything mounted on the outside of the structure, you just deal with it. Even if standoffs are used, you never cut into the vinyl siding to attach them, you just lag the against the house, towards the top of the vinyl edge, not towards the bottom, due to there is more surface against the sheathing at that point, so you are not causing the vinyl to be pressed against the house. As a homeowner, I personally supervised my dish installation, and showed the installer where to mount it, so that it would have grabbed into the two 2x4's on that edge of the roof line.

I as a homeowner though, hate having to climb over six feet on a ladder to do anything, and have had to go as high as twenty feet on my home to do maintenance, along when we took down the old antenna mounted on the house. The standoffs are still on the house, so if I ever did want to mount another antenna on the outside I could, but personally I am not climbing on my roof to do any work on it, due to it is way too steep.

 

[zim2dive]

Thanks for the input, everyone. Just to clarify, I'm renting and while my landlord has expressed support in getting it installed, the HOA is being restrictive. I understand this may be contradictory to some of the laws out there, but I also do not want to put them in the middle.

In short, there is only one thing the HOA can do.. that is if there are multiple adequate spots for installation, they can choose among them (so long as it doesn't impact installation cost).. but beyond that the HOA's are powerless.. they like to pretend they are not ... and they still put the restrictions in the HOA rules to intimidate ppl, but in reality they can't do squat.... our HOA even admitted as much when I called.. why they leave the lingo in the HOA rules... I figure the cable companies bribe 'em to keep ppl from switching (1/2 kidding)

 

[texasbrit]

Broe67 - you are clearly not a DirecTV installer, or if you are you are one that ignores the rules. And as Chip says, you just don't read anyone's posts. And you refuse to accept when you are wrong.

And you have managed to change the subject of this thread to something which is completely different from its original intent.

 

[MrMet]

Homes are not more problematic MrMet. It becomes a problem, when you hire someone to install something, and they either do not follow proper procedures, by making sure that they have a water tight seal, when penetrating the skin of the envelope of a structure, especially when they place the dish mounts on roofs. Chimneys are used all of the time for Antenna's, due to most nowdays that have vinyl covering, are built as a part of the house structure.

When the Chimney is made out of brick, then you can run into problems, that you do not know when the last inspection of it was, how sound it may be at the footing, etc. A lot of brick chimneys have been blown over during high winds, due to undermined at the footings, or allowed to pull away from the structure.

As for the whole argument of not wanting to place the mount against the vinyl. Yes, it can push the vinyl siding against the OSB sheathing, but just like when you place anything mounted on the outside of the structure, you just deal with it. Even if standoffs are used, you never cut into the vinyl siding to attach them, you just lag the against the house, towards the top of the vinyl edge, not towards the bottom, due to there is more surface against the sheathing at that point, so you are not causing the vinyl to be pressed against the house. As a homeowner, I personally supervised my dish installation, and showed the installer where to mount it, so that it would have grabbed into the two 2x4's on that edge of the roof line.

I as a homeowner though, hate having to climb over six feet on a ladder to do anything, and have had to go as high as twenty feet on my home to do maintenance, along when we took down the old antenna mounted on the house. The standoffs are still on the house, so if I ever did want to mount another antenna on the outside I could, but personally I am not climbing on my roof to do any work on it, due to it is way too steep.

Thanks for this info. I'm going to sound like an idiot here, but what is the risk of mounting against a 2x4? Is this pretty commonplace for chimney mounts? What can I do to ensure that even if I get my landlord to agree, that the installer completes this properly? What would be the risk of having the dish mounted to a chimney even if it were done properly? Also, here's what the rep from the board gave our landlord:

***From his email:
Yes you need to submit this hold harmless agreement and an insurance certificate from Directv naming :

HOA name and address

Also the dish must be installed on the chimney, not on the roof. The roof warranty will be void if dish penetrates it. Dish has to be installed in the back of the house not the front. ****

Is this also commonplace with HOA's? It's perplexing because there are a lot of dishes throughout our development and from what I've seen, they are all roof mounts.

Thanks again!

 

[Hutch1814]

The only way it's getting mounted to the chimney is by an installer that is a fly by night contractor that don't care. Directv rolls out on a service call, it's getting removed and if you don't have another location it can be installed its sad but you'd be stuck in your contract.


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[texasbrit]

This thread has been going on for ever.

If an approved DirecTv installer comes to do this, the dish will go either on the roof or on a pole mount. Period. No vinyl, no chimney.
If the owner (landlord) owns the yard, then he can use a pole mount and the HOA can't object. If the owner owns the roof, he can use a roof mount.
As has been posted, many HOAs have regulations in their covenants which contradict the FCC regulations. But often it's impossible to get them changed, because you need a certain percentage of the members of the HOA to approve the change, and that's almost impossible to get because people don't care. None the less, a copy of the OTARD rules sent to the HOA can have interesting resulkts.

 

[Jimbo]

In short, there is only one thing the HOA can do.. that is if there are multiple adequate spots for installation, they can choose among them (so long as it doesn't impact installation cost).. but beyond that the HOA's are powerless.. they like to pretend they are not ... and they still put the restrictions in the HOA rules to intimidate ppl, but in reality they can't do squat.... our HOA even admitted as much when I called.. why they leave the lingo in the HOA rules... I figure the cable companies bribe 'em to keep ppl from switching (1/2 kidding)

Actually, thats not kidding at all, it has a lot to do with the local Cable company not wanting you to know you have options.