It;s a beautiful view from the roof but.
I have a 3-story home with a satellite dish on the roof; occasionally I have to climb up to do maintenance.
The roof pitch is very steep and I access it by means of a 30’ ladder from the second floor balcony.
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In my efforts to keep from breaking my neck…. or worse – I have a 5/8’ rope that I run across the roof tying it off on the front porch over the roof to the back porch; I have a safety belt that latches onto it so I always have something to hold on to.
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My dilemma is this: In order to get the rope from one side of the house to the other I climb up that 30’ ladder, using a bow and arrow with a spool of twine attached to the arrow, I shoot it over the roof, go to the other side, tie the 5/8†rope to it, pull it across, and then tie it off; I can usually make it over in one or two shots but….I’d like to find a less labor-intensive method.
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I’ve considered fastening one of those stainless steel ‘D’ rings at the roofs peak and leaving a line attached year round, but I’m a little leery about driving screws into my roof.
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I’m looking for suggestions in fastening the ‘D’ ring bracket, or even other ideas.
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Thanks
Shawn
Replies
You might make a few bucks by filming this "procedure" and selling it to cable tv.:-)
Shaun, here's another idea. Roof Hatch or operable skylight near that dish.
Or, mount to the sidewall, up high enough to work.
Cable.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
Leaving a permanent line gets dangerous as the sun deteriorates the rope. Calvin's right about re-locating the dish to a more convenient location. Unlike an old fashioned TV antenna, higher isn't necessarily better for a dish. All it needs is a clear line of sight to the bird.
-- J.S.
There should be no problem in driving a few lag screws into the roof if you do it correctly.
1. Drive into solid framing; not just the sheathing. But you knew that.
2. Pitch both under and over the escutcheon plate the D-ring is bound into. In other words, bed the plate in some roofing pitch, run in your lag screws, and cover the plate and lags with more pitch.
Don't get the safety line near the roofing pitch until it's had a chance to cure a bit; you don't want to have to handle a line full of that stuff, and depending on what kind of line you use, the petro-chemicals in the pitch won't necessarily do the rope fibres any good....
Since you postulate leaving the line up on the roof year round, when you purchase the rope make sure it is dark-coloured and specified as UV resistant. Even so, you will want to change out the line every couple of years.
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
The 'D' ring arrived a couple weeks ago and I'm ready to get this done; any suggestions for locating the roof joist.
The attic has rough drywall with a few openings, or I could make an opening:), my thought was to find a joist nearest the center, drill through nearest the joist leaving the twist bit poking through and locating it from the other side.
Just measuring from the roof edge seems to leave a lot of room for error when trying to locate the center of a 1-1/2'' joist.
Thanks
Shawn
Yes, running a drill or a nail through next to a rafter from the inside is a good way to spot it on the outside.
When you screw in those lag screws, you'll know pretty quick if you hit the framing or not. If you've missed the rafter, the lag screw will turn pretty easily after the first several turns. If you're in the rafter, it will turn harder and harder the further you go in.
Recommendation: use a rachet handle on a socket wrench to screw these lags in. If you use a power tool like an impact gun or a drill, you won't be able to feel as well if your lag is into solid wood.
Final note: if your rafters are offset at the ridge (ie: they don't 'meet' facing each other), you won't be able to place both escutcheon plates over a rafter at the same time. If the offset is just the thickness of the 2x, bolt up a piece of scrap 2x to the side of one of the rafters so it faces the opposite rafter.
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Use a stainless cable or light chain instead of the rope. If you get a galvanized chain with a working strength of 300# or so it should do ok.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Hey, that would make a nifty lightning rod too!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Don't you have young kids? They're fearless on a roof and bounce pretty good if they do slip.
Hold my beer, and watch this!
http://www.hay98.com/
Edited 8/22/2005 8:21 pm ET by Gunner
just move the dish to the balcony
Golf shoes! Oh not for the roof just get out of the house and away from the T.V.
How about just getting Cable TV ?
> How about just getting Cable TV ?
Absolutely no way. We changed from cable to satellite, and would never go back. We get better signal quality, less downtime (like twice in six years), more channels, and for less money.
-- J.S.
you know the dish will work just fine at ground level in the yard or even shed bldg.
I'm seeing a chance for the big prize on "america's funniest videos"
How do you know there isn't someone on the other side of the house when you're shooting the arrow there william tell?
Perhaps, the suggestion of relocating the dish to a more "easier to get to" spot has some merit.
I thought some would find this humorous.
The roof is the best location for reasons other than the reception issue.
I live in a community that frowns on homeowners bolting a satellite dish to the front of their house…looks almost as nice as utility cables stapled to the wall. Personally I think I can keep my older home technologically up to speed and still have it aesthetically pleasing.
I cannot: Build a ladder up the outside…balcony is on the wrong side… this is easier than going through the skylight… there’s never anyone on the other side, my neighbors either run or get out their movie camera when I’m working outside… golf is probably more frustrating than this…. not an avid TV watcher but when I do I want the best!
The satellite is the solution to my love/hate relationship with the cable company for various reasons.
I like the SS cable idea because I am concerned with the environmental deterioration of a rope.
This is a picture of the ‘D’ ring I’m probably going to use
http://www.ussafetyequipment.com/HTML/subTemperAnchor.html
Thanks for all the input!
on another note ...
what kinda maintenence are ya doing?
I've had a sat dish an an extremely accessable roof for over 8 years ... and have never had to "maintain" it at all?
and if it did need anything ... I'm thinking I'd call the dish people and crack a beer as I tell them No, U can't use my ladder ...
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Just a thought---don't know if it'd work....but if your inguenius enough it could.
Years ago, we had one of those huge 6 foot dishes...And as I'd sit there watching old batman episodes (the old BANG POW) ones--Sometimes the reception was bad so my dad would move the dish remotely from the control box that we had.
Why couldn't you get an old dish with motor and control (people are getting paid to hall those old things off.) and somehow retrofit it to control your dish. It'd be a heck of a lot easier that getting out the old bow and arrow and ladder----LOL I'm getting flashbacks from the movie Envy!
Just a thought......If that wouldn't work, shoot i'd shure try to build a remote system of adjusting it with motor/sirvos
Jeff, I think this is only the third time I’ve had to go up; this time I’m pretty sure it was a lightning strike…it’d take to long to tell but when I pulled the wall recip. out the ‘F’ pin was totally fried; the time before that was another storm that blew the dish out of alignment.
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The first time was for the installation. I bought the dish from Ultimate Electronics with the ‘free installation’, when the installer came out he looked up and said’ that sure is a long way up…we ain’t gotta ladder that tall…I’ll get back with you’. Yeah right!
After a few days of ‘me’ trying to get an answer out of them they finally fessed up and said we’re not doing it. To their credit they refunded me a portion of the price and I did it myself.
<!---->The beer comes at the end of the day…Miller Time I think it’s called!
probably Murphy's Law ...
I can easily access mine ... that's why-for I never have to!
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
mount it on the front of your house at night and paint it the color of your siding. Hang a cheesy flag or wind chimes to it. No one will be the wiser!
my next door neighbor has his dish on ground level in the front yard. He has one of those fake rocks to cover it.
Have you seen the ones in JLC? I think they're digussed as a roof vent. Next time I go poop I'll look it up.
Hold my beer, and watch this!
http://www.hay98.com/
Custombuilt I like your idea, something I’d thought of but was never sure how to go about it; I may look into that.
Why not use a little of your old approach along with he new anchor point.
Install your anchor, run a small stainless cable or other weather restraint line to the eave in a loop, use it to string your safety line when you need it and tie it off to a second smaller anchor at the eave when your not on the roof?.!
good luck Garett
That roof anchor is ideal for your situation, even though it's designed for temporary installation by roofers while they are working on the roof.
View ImageJust bed the plate into a bed of roofing pitch and screw it in place. (do make sure you are mounting it over a set of rafters or a truss). Then cover the whole plate with more pitch as neatly as you can (for looks). One modification I would make is to re-drill the screw holes to accept ¼" lag screws instead of those little #10's shown in the photo.
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
Do you have access to the under side of the framing member (rafter or truss)? Super anchor makes permanent anchors that include flashing kits. Here is a link to one that is for 2 x 8's rafters. If the ceiling is vaulted you would need to cut a hole in the sheetrock.
http://www.superanchor.com/2x8.htm
Wood is Good
Adam Greisz
How would it get a signal being covered up?
If it were easy....a caveman could do it.