Maybe you bought a house with 1 (or 2) Satellite dishes attached to the roof, or perhaps you had a dish installed but no longer use it.
There’s no denying that having a Satellite dish that you don’t use attached to your house is less than ideal. Satellite dishes can be an absolute eyesore.
In this blog post, your Satellite dish removal questions:
Who is Responsible For Removing Satellite Dishes?
Unfortunately, getting rid of it isn’t as simple as it may seem. No Satellite dish company, DirectTV, Dish, or whichever company installed the dish is responsible for removing it from your home.
The dish is considered the homeowner’s property, just like any other appliance in your home. It is up to you, the homeowner, to remove the unneeded Satellite dish. But fear not, fellow homeowner! You have options.
Can You Remove a Satellite Dish Yourself?
You could try your hand at DIY Satellite dish removal. This might sound daunting, but with some good old-fashioned elbow grease, a ladder, and a few household tools, nothing stops you from taking matters into your own hands.
However, you must be cautious when working on precarious surfaces like rooftops and steeply sloped lawns. Depending upon the dish’s location, removing it can risk damaging your property or injuring yourself.
In the next section, we give step-by-step instructions on how you can remove a Satellite dish yourself.
How Do You Remove a Satellite Dish from Your Home?
Before you start, ensure you have all the tools you may need: a ladder, wrenches, pliers, wire cutters, Phillips and regular screwdrivers, an angle grinder, a crowbar, tar, or professional quality filler.
A Satellite dish comprises 3 parts: 1) the dish, 2) the footplate and mounting bracket, and 3) the cables connecting your dish to the inside of your home.
Below is a summary of the steps needed to remove the dish.
- Securely plant a ladder to reach the Satellite dish on your home’s roof or wherever it is mounted.
- Using the tools listed above, detach the cables from the dish.
- Detach the dish from the mounting bracket. That is, unscrew the bolts that are holding it in place. Be careful when doing this, as you don’t want to drop the dish and damage your roof or other parts of your house. Once the bolts are removed, carefully lower the dish down from the roof or wherever it is located.
- Remove the mounting bracket, including the footplate. The footplate is the part that is bolted to the roof. To remove it, unscrew the bolts attaching the plate to the roof.
- Using a crowbar, lift the plate up and away from the roof as gently as possible. This will require some strength. This prying maneuver can also be difficult to control and should be done cautiously.
- To prevent leaks, fill in the bolt holes with tar or filler and repair any damage that may have occurred to the roof during the footplate removal process.
- Remove all the Satellite dish wires from the exterior of your home. Sometimes there are quite a few of those wires. Removing these will make your home look better and can make exterior home maintenance tasks more straightforward.
- A BETTER ALTERNATIVE to STEPS 4-6 (above): Instead of removing the footplate, cut off the mounting bracket right above the footplate. This leaves the footplate, and a bit of the bracket, as the only reminder that there was once a Satellite dish attached to your roof. This technique eliminates the risk of damaging the roof from prying the footplate to detach it from the roof. It also eliminates the risk of a leak via the bolt holes left by removing the footplate. This alternative is the method that Wire Free Sky employs. It is a technique that has resulted in zero roof damage and zero leaks for our clients.
Removing a Satellite dish from your home can be daunting, but with a bit of effort and caution, you can do it.
Risk of Roof Leaking?
As mentioned above, there is a risk of leaks if the dish’s footplate is removed. However, the risk can be significantly reduced or eliminated by appropriately filling the remaining bolt holes and repairing any roof damage caused by the Satellite dish removal.
If the alternative technique of cutting off the mounting post at the footplate is employed, the risk of a leak via the bolt holes is eliminated. Of course, this assumes that whoever removes the Satellite dish does not inadvertently damage the roof by dropping the dish on it or causing other roof-damaging accidents.
How Do You Dispose of an Old Satellite Dish?
Recycling or creatively reusing your old Satellite dish are two options for disposing of it. Heck, maybe your Satellite dish could be the centerpiece of the next yard art installation or another artistic endeavor.
Of course, you could throw it away. However, we encourage you to recycle or upcycle your old dish. Reducing the amount of stuff dumped in landfills is integral to Wire Free Sky’s mission. Wire Free Sky recycles all the dishes and cables we remove from homes.
Keep in mind, whether you recycle or throw away your dish, you should remove its circuit board first. The circuit board contains toxic element and should be disposed of appropriately.
To learn more about that and about recycling or repurposing a Satellite dish, check out this post.
Why Remove an Unneeded Dish?
You can discover the benefits of removing a Satellite dish in a different post.
Professionals To The Rescue!
If DIY isn’t appealing to you, we recommend contacting a professional for help. They will have the proper equipment and experience to do the job quickly and safely.
If you live in the Seattle area, consider engaging our company, Wire Free Sky, to remove your unneeded Satellite dish or dishes. We can also remove any unnecessary telecommunications wires (e.g., phone or Internet) and TV antennae.
Make a service appointment by clicking here.
Learn about Wire Free Sky's Satellite dish removal service .
Conclusion
Remember, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to remove the dish and dispose of it properly. Exercise caution if you attempt to do it yourself, and employ a professional if you’re unsure.
Ultimately, whichever avenue you choose, we hope this post gives you the confidence to eliminate your unneeded Satellite dish(es).