They don't pick up alien signals.

April 20, 2016 12:14 PM

When we purchased our house it had two Dish satellite dishes attached to the side of the house; the first on the roof and the second attached to the brick. Three years later they're still there and we still have no plans to use them. How do we get rid of them?
posted by peasandcarrots to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Any handyman should be able to remove them and patch any holes in the roof left by the removal. They're typically just mounted with regular screws or masonry anchors, nothing special.
posted by contraption at 12:21 PM on April 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

Dish won't come and remove them. There's really nothing of value in the remaining equipment outside. You'll also want to remove the cables and plug the hole where the cable was entering the house.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:23 PM on April 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

thirding that these are really easy to remove. i took one down - was just a couple of bolts.
posted by andrewcooke at 12:28 PM on April 20, 2016

I would recommend leaving the cables in place, actually, if they're not a visual nuisance. They can be used by you or a future homeowner for any sort of satellite or terrestrial antenna, for services currently available or not yet introduced. Removing the cable is just extra work and risk with no significant benefit.
posted by contraption at 12:28 PM on April 20, 2016 [6 favorites]

I just pulled mine off and took the hardware to the scrap metal recycling heap at the local waste transfer. Shouldn't require anything more specialized than a ladder and either a socket wrench set or a screwdriver. Leave the cables unless there's a reason not to.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:48 PM on April 20, 2016

We removed the dish from the mounting bracket and threw it away. Then we attached a terrestrial antenna to the bracket and used the existing cable. Voila! Now relatives can watch sportball at Thanksgiving even though the only thing we ever watch is Netflix.
posted by thejanna at 1:00 PM on April 20, 2016 [4 favorites]

Older dishes with a working LNB likely have no value to the carrier, since the technology has moved on. But they still have value to some folks. I, for instance, use an older 18" round dish on a portable tripod for my RV and am always on the lookout for a spare.

List them on Craigslist or Freecycle and you may find someone who wants them enough to save you the labor of taking them down.
posted by peakcomm at 4:44 PM on April 20, 2016

I put calking in the holes, add a metal backed rubber washer to the screw before putting it back in the hole. Its probably overkill but I hate water leaks.
posted by ridgerunner at 5:18 PM on April 20, 2016

> List them on Craigslist or Freecycle and you may find someone who wants them enough to save you the labor of taking them down.

I'm sorry to threadsit but yikes! "Hey uninsured rando of unknown competence and degree of sanity, why don't you bring your rickety ladder and use it to clamber up onto the roof of my house, where you can bang away with whatever tools you think are appropriate and hopefully not leave behind any little improperly sealed mounting holes that only become noticeable as leaks after a few years of rot! Certainly there are no risks here that outweigh the cost of hiring a professional for an hour!"
posted by contraption at 11:07 PM on April 20, 2016 [1 favorite]