Required outdoor mounting surface for electrical equipment??

[MichaelP1517]

Unsure of code requirement for mounting electrical equipment to a dwelling, more specifically PV equipment Disconnects, meters and load centers, does the code require plywood or cam I just mount right to vinyl siding?

 

[petersonra]

exactly how would one mount such equipment to vinyl siding?

 

[Little Bill]

Easy, lag bolt right through the vinyl into the wood siding or framing.
Not addressed in the code with few exceptions such as wet inside areas like a wash down room.

 

[petersonra]

Easy, lag bolt right through the vinyl into the wood siding or framing.

That seems reasonable. But that would not be what he asked if he could do.

cam I just mount right to vinyl siding?

 

[Little Bill]

That seems reasonable. But that would not be what he asked if he could do.

cam I just mount right to vinyl siding?

:roll:

 

[goldstar]

A lot of the sheathing I've seen over the years behind the vinyl siding is 1/2" particle board. That barely holds the nailed on vinyl siding. If you don't hit a stud I would toggle bolt it. IMHO.

 

[petersonra]

A lot of the sheathing I've seen over the years behind the vinyl siding is 1/2" particle board. That barely holds the nailed on vinyl siding. If you don't hit a stud I would toggle bolt it. IMHO.

then you would have an unsealed hole in the sheathing where air could infiltrate.

 

[goldstar]

then you would have an unsealed hole in the sheathing where air could infiltrate.

I recently had to rebuild a residential 200A service on hardi-plank with tongue and groove sheathing underneath (old house). The builder insisted that I coat every screw with a silicone sealer for just that reason. Do you have a better suggestion for mounting to particle board ?

 

[petersonra]

I recently had to rebuild a residential 200A service on hardi-plank with tongue and groove sheathing underneath (old house). The builder insisted that I coat every screw with a silicone sealer for just that reason. Do you have a better suggestion for mounting to particle board ?

If you use toggle bolts, you need a 1/2" hole in both the vinyl and the particle board that have to be sealed up somehow.

To keep the equipment from moving around you would have to cinch it pretty tight against the vinyl which might make it crack due to expansion and contraction as the temperature changes.

It can't be the first time someone had to do this. There must be a good answer.

 

[Jraef]

I just looked into buying a house that had vinyl siding. The first thing I thought when I saw it was "What are they hiding?" I know it's not really fair to assume the worst, but vinyl siding is unusual here in sunny California, so it caught my eye.

 

[petersonra]

I just looked into buying a house that had vinyl siding. The first thing I thought when I saw it was "What are they hiding?" I know it's not really fair to assume the worst, but vinyl siding is unusual here in sunny California, so it caught my eye.

The vinyl siding on my house covers stucco and pressboard siding which had started to fall apart. It was cheaper to just cover it up then to try and fix it.