Advice Please - Trying to mount Davis Wx Station To Vinyl Siding

[Rob Lightbown]

Good morning,
We are in the process of moving into a new home and I am looking to install my Davis Vantage Pro wireless ISS and the anemometer to the side of the house using a mounting pole. A problem has come up....the house has vinyl siding and I am trying to figure out how to install the mounting pole with brackets...etc...to the house without ruining the siding of the house. I plan on having the ISS on the bottom end of the pole near the ground and the anemometer/wind vane near the top above the roof peak....all on the same pole. As I mentioned, the big problem is the vinyl siding. If anyone has run into this and have come up with a solution....please share.

Thanks,

Rob Lightbown
http://www.crownweather.com

 

[David Wolfson]

To get to a secure surface I think there's no choice but to fasten through the siding to the underlayment. Drill holes in the vinyl can be patched later with caulk or exterior spackle and dabbed with matching paint for near-invisibility. I gather you're planning on attaching to a side of the house that doesn't have an eaves overhang. I'd mount backer boards to the siding with stainless fasteners (to avoid rust streaks down the siding) and the pole straps to the boards to spread the load; and root the bottom of the pole in the ground or attach to a masonry foundation to bear most of the load.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Can you mount the pole with brackets on a drain pipe instead of the vinyl?

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

Since it is wireless, you are not bound to location - but distance.
If you understandably don't want to drill or otherwise mutilate the siding, use an alternative.
I would dig a 3' hole and put a few sacks of concrete and put a pole in - next/close to the building. The building shape itself will affect some of the data it is receiving if it is too close anyway.
Building/structure aerodynamics = skewed data.