Motorized Kit: Wall mount vs. roof mount?

[boroda1]

Hello, group!
Summary of my newbie questions:
1). WILL MY STUCCO WALL HOLD THE WEIGHT OF MOTORIZED "MKIT 1"?
2). IF NOT, WHAT SCREWS SHOULD I USE FOR ROOF MOUNT?
3). WHICH OF TWO MOUNT OPTIONS IS BETTER OVERALL?

I had no luck finding an installer for my "MKIT 1" with Satcontrol SM3D12 motor and 80cm Fortec Dish.
The one, I agreed with, did not show up, and he told me, he did not do motors before.
So, I decided to spend the money I would pay him, for buying a ladder, and other tools,
needed for DYI installation.
The big questuion is, where should I mount it. My house has a slant roof, and stucco walls.
I live in South San Jose, and one of the house side walls looks about 152° W (almost my true south direction).
So I am thinking to put dish either on the roof, or on that wall up high.
I think, my "MKIT 1" came with hardware for the wall mount, like plastic anchors,
but will my stucco wall hold the weight? Which mount is better? And if roof mount is better,
what size of lag screws should I use? Also, I'm afraid of making damage to my roof.
THanks,
Any help would be appreciated !

[briand]

Hmm..

Well, the real question is, "What's behind the stucco on your house?"

If you decide to wall-mount, pop on down to your local Home Depot or Lowes (or equivalent Home Improvement type store) and ask one or two of the folks that work there what you should use to anchor the mount to your wall.

FWIW: I installed my 80cm dish/HH motor system on my roof (because the front facade is mostly taken up with picture window and front door!). You can see a picture of the installation in my avatar.

I used the six lag screws that came with the mount (without the molleys). I drilled a small pilot hole for each lag screw, and filled the holes with clear silicon caulk (you can buy a tube nearly anywhere, including the above-mentioned Home Improvement store). Then, before racheting in each lag screw, I coated the threads with some more clear silicon caulk. There will be no water leaking through those holes, I assure you.

[rainman]

if you don't want to damage your roof see the non pentrating roof mounts at http://www.sadoun.com

[briand]

...well, keep in mind that a non-penetrating roof mount is meant to be installed on a flat roof, not on a typical (sloped) residential roof.

[boroda1]

Thanks, briand!
I think, I am just going to follow your steps, when I get my ladder, satfinder and angle meter. It would be much easier to point a dish sitting on a roof and will probably, look less ugly than wall mount.
And I agree, the non - penetrating thing with all heavy blocks and a dish will just slide off right into my, or, possibly, neighbor's, yard, unless I design some kind of system to hold it there, like putting a strap between my vent pipes or chimney.

[briand]

It'd take more than that, I'm afraid -- the mast on a non-pen mount is perpendicular to the frame, which would make the mast plumb on a flat roof, but nowhere else.

If you installed one of those on a pitched roof, the mast would not be plumb, it'd be off the 90-degree mark by an angle that is equivalent to the pitch of your roof.

So, aside from trying to keep the thing from sliding off the roof (or, for that matter, moving at all), you'd have to do some re-engineering to re-plumb the mast before you could install your dish on it.

[boroda1]

Originally Posted by briand

... I drilled a small pilot hole for each lag screw, and filled the holes with clear silicon caulk ... Then, before racheting in each lag screw, I coated the threads with some more clear silicon caulk. There will be no water leaking through those holes, I assure you.

Oops! I forgot that they should be small holes, and drilled first with a small bit, but later made them bigger with 3/16" bit (screws are 1/4" x 2")!
I covered screws with a kitchen/bathroom caulk, and also, after putting the screws half way down, tried to spread GE Roof Cement
[http://www.geadvancedmaterials.com/g...oofcement.html]
around them.
Do I have a chance to have leaks now, because the pilot holes were too big?
The other two things, I screwed up:
I've been in attic and measured a distance between PVC vent pipe and the closest rafter, but, when drilling the holes, I missed that rafter,
drill just touched an edge of it! I was thinking to drill another holes, but later decided not to: I would have to worry about empty ones.
But I still drilled two unnecessary ones, which was my second wrong thing done: base of a mast has 6 holes, and I made 6 holes in my roof,
but there are only 6 screws, and 2 of them are reserved for support arms!
So, I filled these holes with GE Roof Cement, but I don't know, is it good or not, maybe I should get 2 extra screws and put them in there?
I am still worried about my roof...
Any suggestions?

[briand]

well, my take is this:

If it holds really well with only 4 screws, then 6 ought to hold it even better! I'd install all six, and go down to your local home improvement store to buy two more for the support arms.

Hmm... I bolded the word small and you still missed it?? ...no worries, if the mount is solid, there'll be no problem. I'd venture that, between the caulk and the roof cement, you'll not have a leak. If you're really paranoid about it, take a trip up into your attic after the next HEAVY rainfall... and you'll know whether anything is seeping through.

[boroda1]

THanks again! Support arms are already in place, but the mount foot is attached with 4 screws like in a "T" pattern, two on top, two in the middle. I may install two missing screws into bottom holes, or leave holes filled with a roof cement as of now. Good thing, the rain will not come here till winter, so I still have some time to watch TV!
Sad thing, I missed a rafter. Here is, on my mind, a good article, how to install dish properly, worth reading:
http://www.dbsinstall.com/Whatis/Whatisgood-3.htm
But idea with the silicon caulk is also very good.
Well, now I will go on with alignment and cable run. I spent an hour and half on the roof leveling the mast, and finally found that angle locator was incorrect! Ended up with bubble level, and angle locator showing 2 degrees (positive) from both east and west of a mast.
But it's for different thread, I want to post a little review of tools, I ordered .

[Reinhold]

The roofing cement will hold the rain out just fine.Have been using it for many years.If you penetrated the sheathing without hitting a rafter,maybe you should consider nuts and bolts.
Reinhold.

[boroda1]

Thanks! I think, I will not use nuts and washers, will inspect instead from time to time.