Roof mounting [RE-wrenches]

mrousso at urbanrefuge.com mrousso at urbanrefuge.com
Thu Dec 20 21:56:14 PST 2001


Hi,

Haven't used the DP&W for roofs (only poles) and have
done installs with both the TileTrac and UniRac Solar
Mounts.  Both of them have their pros and cons.

Our last 4 or 5 installs have all been UniRac.  Their
standard "L" bracket feet are useless and you will
need to budget for the optional stand-offs.  Unless
you are doing composite, the 3" S.O.s are useless and
you will need the 6".

The biggest labor component is that the SOs are 1-1/4"
in diameter and any tile will need to be sawed to make
room for them.  We typically stay away from the Oateys
(recommended by UniRac) and use the all metal solar
jacks.  We use both a primary and a secondary flashing
with a 3-course seal on the primary flashing for each
SO.  3-course is mastic on the top edges, covered with
fiberglass web, covered with mastic.  We use Henry's
mastic.

Basically, the tile is pulled, a flashing is set over
the SO and 3 coursed.  The downslope tile (sawn as
appropriate is replaced.  The secondary flashing is
then placed over the primary flashing and the tile
with mastic and the upslope tile is placed over that
lot (sawn as appropriate).  We then seal the top of
the flashing and paint all exposed parts to match the
tile.

This system was developed by one of my lead wrenches,
who is a 4th generation roofing contractor.  It is a
bit expensive, but results in a "20 year" roof seal.

Sometimes, when an attic is readily accessible, we
will place and use blocking between the rafters
instead of trying to hit the rafters.  This gives us
more precise control over SO spacing.  I have run
across 18 to 27 in on center spacing on 24 in on
center rafters more times than I can count.  Also, how
many straight rafters have you guys found?  Between
green lumber and hurried construction they are quite
rare.

On the other hand, we are currently finishing up a
4.5KW roof install where the client elected to pull
all of the s-tile off of his roof and replace it with
a 20-yr composite roof underneath our arrays.  In this
case we only use a primary flashing -- installed by
the roofing contractor while laying shingle.

I always explain the options to my prospects using
project photos to illustrate the various techniques so
that they can make an informed decision. 

If anyone is interested in the photos for our tile
technique, please let me know.  The files are quite
large and I only have dial-up.  However, I'd be happy
to burn a CD if you send me a blank one with an SASE.

In all cases, we all think there has to be a better
way than putting all of those holes in somebody's
roof.  We have some product development ideas we will
explore in the next couple of months based on our wish
list.

Anyone have good success with sub-frames??  How about
shimming for wavey roofs?  Time to go wash the mastic
off of my hands.

Happy Holidays!!


=====
Thanks!
Mo

Mo Rousso
President
Urban Refuge, Inc.
www.urbanrefuge.com

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