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Re: [TowerTalk] Mounting roof-top tower on tile/shake roof

To: "Michael Fox (K5MEF)" <k5mef@mefox.org>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Mounting roof-top tower on tile/shake roof
From: David Gilbert <xdavid@cis-broadband.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:15:23 -0700
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
In general, tiles and shakes are not intended to provide the primary 
rainproofing for a modern roof.  A heavy underlayment typically provides 
the rainproofing, and the tiles/shakes provide mechanical and sunlight 
protection for the underlayment.  The tiles/shakes are also intended to 
provide a much better looking appearance, of course.  If you put bolt 
holes in your roof and only try to seal the shakes, you are asking for 
trouble since the hole though the underlayment would not be sealed.  It 
would be much better to remove the shakes in that area, install some 
decent brackets to your roof (with appropriate structural reinforcement 
underneath in your attic), seal under and around the brackets, and then 
reinstall the shakes.

If you try to mount the tower using mounting points through the shakes, 
you would be concentrating all the forces from the tower and antennas 
onto those relatively small points that now act as levers depending upon 
how high they stick up.  They would be more likely to grind away at the 
roof and create leaks than if you used brackets that distributed the 
load over a larger surface.  The brackets don't need to be that large 
where they come through the shakes.  The key point is ... if it isn't 
mechanically sound, it will eventually cause a leak.

Good luck es 73,
Dave   AB7E



Michael Fox (K5MEF) wrote:
> I would like to mount a Glen Martin roof-top tower 
> http://www.glenmartin.com/catalog/page14.html
> on a Hardishake roof.  
>
> (Hardishake is no longer made but it is a lightweight flat shake that sort
> of resembles slate but is made of some composition of materials.)
>
> Anyway, the point is, I can't simply sit the tower legs on it and bolt it
> down like with composition shingles because it will crack the tiles/shakes.
>
> So, I need to install some sort of mounting points that allow the tower to
> sit on the mounting points and not put pressure on the tiles.  I'm not a
> roofer, but I presume I'd need some sort of commercial product that
> incorporates flashing to direct water around the mount point.
>
> Has anyone done this?  And, if so, what commercial product did you use?
>
> I've seen some commercial products for mounting satellite dishes, such as
> CommDeck http://www.rstcenterprises.com/our_products/commdeck.phtml but I
> don't know if that will fit the bill or not.
>
> Any other ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> Michael K5MEF
>
>
>
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