how to install a cpe on roof

Author	All Replies
namespace join:2002-12-22 31337	how to install a cpe on roof Hi BBR'ers, How do you go about installing a CPE on someone's roof? I've been pondering over this -- basically here is what I was thinking: Secure the cpe to the roof deck via screws. Caulk over all the screws and do whatever else you need to ensure the roof doesn't leak. Then I'm lost as to how you'd get the CAT5 into the house. I guess you could drill a hole in the side of their house and run the cat5 that way. Or, drill a hole in their roof, then run the cable down through a wall. I guess you could also run the cat5 to their nid, disconnect a phone line and pull the line through with the cat5 attached to one end, and pull it right into the phone jack. How do you folks do it? TIA!
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 03:44:28 ·
rfnut Premium join:2002-04-27 Fisher, IL ·Mediacom	Super glue and shingle hooks (them little plastic Christmas light clips) And in thru a window, is the simple way. »Wireless ISP FAQ »what not to do on a WISP install »Re: Warning -- Don't drive that Screw »Cool pictures of an install etc. Search can be your friend
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 05:33:35 ·
superdog I Need A Drink Premium,MVM join:2001-07-13 Lebanon, PA	Well, after re-reading all of those old posts, It gave me some ideas as to what You could do to mount stuff with a minimal amount of holes. Keep in mind that Robbin and I (both long term members of his forum) have both been doing roofing for a long time and we do have some varying opinions about making holes. Robbin will tell You that making any kind of hole is a bad thing, and there is some truth to that. I on the other hand, will make holes, because if I didn't, 50% of my customers would not be online. I don't have a lot of time right now, but I will ponder this whole "roof thing" and post in depth later.:) -- »www.wavecrazy.net Join WISPA today! »www.wispa.org/
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 08:46:46 ·
wispman join:2004-12-21 USA	reply to namespace Here's a thought is you need to make a hole make it on the gabel end so if it drips, it drips into the soffit (overhang). Always mount at the top of the roof, the least ammount of water flows over the top.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 10:45:59 ·
cmaenginsb Premium,MVM join:2001-03-19 Palmdale, CA	reply to namespace Most of the roofs in our area are tile so drilling is out for us. I also would be a bit scared about drilling any holes in a roof. What we do instead is either mount the radio to one end of the house or the other using a mount similiar to a DSS dish mount or a standoff mount. With the standoff mount you can get 10' or more above the roof. These are mounted to the trim rather than the roof itself. The other option we use a lot is a chimney. From here we'll use unistrut and go 10-15' above the roof. In terms of cabling most houses have attic vents so it's a cinch to run the cat-5 inside that way and then run it to the room they want the jack in. In some cases it makes more sense to run down the outside wall and pop a hole in the room. You can seal it with silicone so that moisture and bugs don't get int. I wouldn't make a hole in the roof for cat-5 unless it's an absolute neccessity. When we do this we use one of the utility style entry caps and seal the point of entry with Henry's. (Usually we only do this in an industrial building. Most roofs will have their warranty voided by drilling any holes and even if they don't by making a hole you're on the hook if the thing ever leaks. I understand Tim's reasoning but we don't think it's worth the potential liability.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 11:05:29 ·
namespace join:2002-12-22 31337	reply to superdog said by superdog : I on the other hand, will make holes, Making holes is perfectly okay on a shingle roof. You have your capping shingles at the peak of your roof, they run from one side to the other and the very last shingle has two exposed nails with caulk over them. To put holes in a roof properly, you would need some type of L brace, where the bottom of the L goes under the shingle and screwed down, and the 90 degree angle comes up to bolt your equipment. If you can't do something like the L brace idea, put a piece of flashing above each screw mount to deflect the rain. That's all overkill as caulk will do the job just fine -- as long as you don't use the cheap stuff that will decay in two years. Use the good stuff with a lifetime guarantee.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 15:26:46 ·
namespace join:2002-12-22 31337	reply to cmaenginsb said by cmaenginsb : In some cases it makes more sense to run down the outside wall and pop a hole in the room. You can seal it with silicone so that moisture and bugs don't get int. Only on non-brick infrastructures, right? Or would you drill a whole through brick to run cat5? said by cmaenginsb : Most roofs will have their warranty voided by drilling any holes Not true on shingled roofs with a manufacturers warranty -- and other roofs depending. If you drill a hole in a roof, you may void the warranty for that shingle, but not the entire roof. If the manufacturer is called, they will look at all the shingles for warps, asphalt falling off the shingle, cracking, etc. If it's not a problem with the manufacturer, then there is no manufacturers warranty regardless if the roof has holes or not. You may void the workmanship warranty, but these only last a couple years. Furthermore, any roofing professional will be able to come out and look at the roof and tell if the screws are a point of failure. As long as you caulk them real good with a good caulk, they won't be. I wouldn't put holes on a flat roof, especially a flat rubber roof. You need to make custom flashing for all your holes. The right thing to do is probably hire a roofing company to do all the roof mounts and have them guarantee it for x amount of years.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 15:42:24 ·
cmaenginsb Premium,MVM join:2001-03-19 Palmdale, CA	reply to namespace We haven't run into a brick building, they're not that common in my area. You are correct on shingled roofs, you generally will void the workmanship warranty and possibly lose the support of the roofing company in getting support from the manufacturer, additionally should the hole cause a leak you open yourself up to liability for damage caused by the leak. AS to flat roofs, especially rubber you're right on, and at least in this state any holes will void the warranty of the roof. In the case of these buildings we will either mount to the parapet or use a non-penetrating roof mount. As for the cat-5 bathroom rents make for a good point of entry just round the edges.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 15:59:16 ·
superdog I Need A Drink Premium,MVM join:2001-07-13 Lebanon, PA	said by cmaenginsb : You are correct on shingled roofs, you generally will void the workmanship warranty and possibly lose the support of the roofing company in getting support from the manufacturer, additionally should the hole cause a leak you open yourself up to liability for damage caused by the leak. As much as I hate to say this, You will NOT void the warranty on the entire roof, just the shingles affected by Your mount. Think about this, You get a bad storm and a roof that is 60 feet long has a leak on the opposite end from where Your mount is(AKA,60 feet away-other end of the roof) because the shingles came off in the wind. How in the world are they going to be able to blame Your antenna mount for shingles that can not handle the rated wind shear load. Its just ludicrous to think they can. Now, if leaks on the same side as Your mount and the shingles haven't blown off, then the fun starts.:D -- »www.wavecrazy.net Join WISPA today! »www.wispa.org/
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 16:37:35 ·
namespace join:2002-12-22 31337	reply to namespace Has anyone tried pulling cat5 in through the NID/DEMARC? What happens if you run into a brick house, with no crawl space access or attic? What do you do? What if you run into a house with plaster walls and ceiling -- do you drill through it?
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 21:02:53 ·
wispman join:2004-12-21 USA	reply to superdog I for one feel way safer mounting on a roof than on the siding. A tripod with pitch pads and caulk (OSI roofing) will beat the seal on a siding mount anyday. Plus, as long as you mount at the peak, then the least amount of water flows there. I've worked in construction. I've done roofing (steel and shingled) and repaired roofs, siding, windows.... Commercial and residential. I've seen all kinds of leaks, hack jobs, good jobs, and really weird stuff. I see Dish installers mount on the fascia and I wonder how can that seal on the aluminum? That being said, my first choice is chimney mount and my first choice for mounting with holes is on the roof. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. On the other hand, if you mount in a valley at the bottom of the roof, well, your just dumb... Oh and one more thing, water is weird, it does not pay any attention to gravity. It flows all directions, up, down, sideways....So pay attention, seal it up, and it's good to go.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 21:06:00 ·
cmaenginsb Premium,MVM join:2001-03-19 Palmdale, CA	reply to namespace Most residential NID/Demarcs are sealed so you can't pull additional wire through them. Most phone infrastructure on older homes is daisy chained so it can be a pain in the butt to use it for network connections. We won't mount anything to the side of the house and where we're at the fascia is wood and sticks out from the side of the house so you'd be pretty dumb to drill into a roof when you could simply fasten to a wood stringer. Of course not everyone has that option so YMMV.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-26 21:39:33 ·
moffl join:2005-02-28 Prince Albert, SK	reply to namespace Okay guys: I have been wondering about this. If you are using metal posts as a mount on someones roof are you grounding that or not if you are could you please shed some light on it for me thanks moffl
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-28 13:42:55 ·
robbin Premium,MVM join:2000-09-21 Leander, TX	I ground all of my installs to the main electrical service ground. This is a separate wire from the wire which goes to the same ground from the lightning protection device.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-28 16:33:10 ·
wispman join:2004-12-21 USA	reply to namespace Wow, if hard for me to justify the added cost of that.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-28 16:35:13 ·
oneguy join:2004-09-10 00000	reply to namespace We always use a universal mount type of mount on the roof. Where we are brick buildings are way too common, we honestly run out of long enough drill bits... UNiversal Mount Type (we don't buy ours from pacwireless, but you'll see what it is) http://www.pacwireless.com/products/UM.shtml Also we use a really cheap wall mount and mount it on the end of the roof or on a wall.... http://www.pacwireless.com/products/WMB.shtml We usually run the cat5 down behing a downspout, or in through a attic vent.... We always have the homeowner tell us where they would like the cable run placed... If we have to, we use some lil cable plugs that are inexpensive.... Chimney mounts are best if you want non-penetrating... Also, for commercial jobs, we wanted NO LIABILITY drilling on a rubber roof... what we do is take a 3 ft tripod and cut 2 3 foot 4x4's and lag em into the bottom... (instant non penetrating mount..) If it's a really high roof we use a sandbag or block to keep it from blowing over.. We havn't had any trouble with ours yet, and we have about 40 of em installed. >:) Hope I could help.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-04-30 13:19:56 ·
superdog I Need A Drink Premium,MVM join:2001-07-13 Lebanon, PA	said by oneguy : Also, for commercial jobs, we wanted NO LIABILITY drilling on a rubber roof... what we do is take a 3 ft tripod and cut 2 3 foot 4x4's and lag em into the bottom... (instant non penetrating mount..) Good point!. Don't ever, and I mean EVER make a hole in a rubber roof for any reason. There are no reasons to, nor are there any excuses for doing so. When You set something on rubber, You have to careful also. While I like the 4x4's, as they are easy, I do not like that fact that wood is touching the roof. If that mount is ever moved by the wind, someone bumping it?, whatever?, the wood has edges that could poke a hole, rip or tear it etc.. The way I go about it is to always use metal plates with a mount on them and then roll up the 4 corners and file down the edges so that nothing could ever cut, poke or tear if moved. We also have a roll of rubber roofing back at the shop, and I ALWAYS cut off a small piece that is slightly larger then the base I am working with, and I lay that down before I set the non-penetrating mount on the roof. This is just a little "insurance" so I don't have to worry about friction or very small movements of the base wearing any holes either. If any of You ever wondered why a rubber roof has a very soft "feel" under it, it is because there is fiberboard(some places used foam board?) that is about 5/8 of an inch thick directly under the rubber. This is to insulate, and give some cushion if something is dropped on it or whatever to lessen the chance of something poking a hole in it. This is why You will never get anything tight if it is screwed fast. The fiber board will just compress, making a low spot right where Your holes are, causing water to pool there. Since the rubber moves very slightly, it will eventually leak even if You have silicone on the screws. You will be replacing a roof very soon. -- »www.wavecrazy.net Join WISPA today! »www.wispa.org/
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-05-01 11:40:41 ·
cmaenginsb Premium,MVM join:2001-03-19 Palmdale, CA	reply to namespace Rather than using a tripod and 2x4s you can get a non-penetrating roof mount which is designed for the job, that and a few cinderblocks and you're done. As a bonus you don't have to worry about the wood rotting out and having the thing keel over sideways. They also make mats that are designed to fit under the non-pen to prevent what Tim is talking about.
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-05-01 11:58:08 ·
totalaccess Premium join:2002-10-04 Elgin, TX	reply to namespace Its just a bad idea to make any type of holes in any type of roof. Use a non penetrating mount or use a telescoping mast. In our part of the world people insist on you placing mounts where ever they think its easiest and allot of times this is not only the worse place, (like drilling holes in some ones rooftop) but then they come after you , later on if the unit leaks for damages. I know of several installs for businesses where the business had to be shown that there was no holes drilled into any part of his/her tar or rubber based roof. Also do not foget to all a drip loop to both the cat5 or LMR 400 cable. This will defer water from following the cable into the house or office. Last but not least , check to make sure the CAT5 cable does not have any nics in it. I have seen water come in thru a nick in the CAT5 and burn up the POE and power adapters. Hope this helps..... -- Deploying Global Solutions: »www.wirelessworlds.com
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-05-01 13:21:08 ·
moffl join:2005-02-28 Prince Albert, SK	reply to namespace Hello: I know this is a stupid question but i am not sure of the answer so. When in stalling a non penetrating roof mount do you have ground the metal mast and if so how would you go about that Thanks
	to forum · permalink · · 2005-05-02 15:41:02 ·


Thursday, 26-Nov 15:18:51	Terms of Use \| Privacy Policy \| Hosting by www.nac.net - DSL,Hosting & Co-lo \| feedback \| contact over 10 years online! © 1999-2009 dslreports.com. page compression OFF