Installing over stucco with tyvek homewrap

[ArmoredDragon]

Thus far I've avoided installing anything over my stucco exterior, but in order to avoid having one of my cameras above 9ft it's going to be necessary in this case. That said, this is a brand new house and I like all of its energy efficiency, so I'm wanting to avoid damaging either the homewrap or the stucco as much as possible. What precautions should I take while mounting a bullet camera to these exterior walls? Or am I being too gentle and shouldn't worry about it?

 

[JNDATHP]

Drill a pilot hole, fill with silicone and then screw the camera mount to the wall.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

Oooh, good tip. How important is it that I land on a stud?

I wish I was in a position to mount the camera directly over its wire, sadly it's either all 9ft or nothing if I do that.

Though I kind of wonder if that even matters in this case since this camera will be looking over a fence anyways.

 

[mat200]

Oooh, good tip. How important is it that I land on a stud?

I wish I was in a position to mount the camera directly over its wire, sadly it's either all 9ft or nothing if I do that.

Though I kind of wonder if that even matters in this case since this camera will be looking over a fence anyways.

Hi @ArmoredDragon

Another option is to drop a short section of conduit down to a junction box.

note: for those following this - try to work with the builder before the house gets wrapped up, and do take pictures of the framing / construction during the build out.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

How would I do that? The conduit would have to be external to the wall, unless I'm missing something?

Also, the house was already built when I first saw it. It had like every major feature added and the buyers backed out, so I snapped it up at a $23k discount Edit: Oh yeah I talked them down another $10k below that as well. Pretty good deal, but it was in its complete state so I had no say in what wiring was added.

 

[mat200]

How would I do that? The conduit would have to be external to the wall, unless I'm missing something?

Also, the house was already built when I first saw it. It had like every major feature added and the buyers backed out, so I snapped it up at a $23k discount Edit: Oh yeah I talked them down another $10k below that as well. Pretty good deal, but it was in its complete state so I had no say in what wiring was added.

Re: How would I do that? The conduit would have to be external to the wall, unless I'm missing something?
Yes, it would be surface mounted if you want minimal work.

( remember you can paint the conduit and junction box to match the stucco )

 

[ArmoredDragon]

Re: How would I do that? The conduit would have to be external to the wall, unless I'm missing something?
Yes, it would be surface mounted if you want minimal work.

Couldn't I forgo the conduit if its outdoor wiring and painted with outdoor paint? The conduit would make the cabling more visible, which the HOA stipulates should be as blended in as possible. Not sure whether I'd be able to get away with a junction box either.

 

[windguy]

@ArmoredDragon - Congrats on your new house!
Making a few holes in stucco isn't going to greatly affect energy efficiency, but could lead to water intrusion issues unless you properly seal your holes.
Please share an outside and inside pic of where you want to mount this camera.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

I've attached a picture of the outside, the camera will go to the left side and just above that window. The inside is in the attic and I'll have to crawl up there to take a picture, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to drill a hole down into the wall, as it's at the edge of the A frame. I just don't think I'll be able to get a drill bit over there, unless there's some technique to it that I've never heard of.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

The thought has crossed my mind to use an angle drill adapter, but finding the cable in the wall would be a nightmare. It's one thing to do it on the inside where you cut a single gang sized hole and find your fish rod through the insulation mess, (did that for Ethernet in one of the bedrooms) but the stucco has that chicken wire, and you don't exactly want to cut a gang hole for a camera when 3/4ths of an inch will do.

Though if anybody has already done this and has a method to share, I'd like to hear it.

 

[mat200]

Couldn't I forgo the conduit if its outdoor wiring and painted with outdoor paint? The conduit would make the cabling more visible, which the HOA stipulates should be as blended in as possible. Not sure whether I'd be able to get away with a junction box either.

Hi @ArmoredDragon

Yes you can leave the cable exposed outdoors, though you'd want to install a drip loop.

The issue with exposed cables is the easy for an intruder to cut it. ( we've had someone share a case here when a thief did that to their "alley" camera which was mounted on their house's wall which was separated by the alley way with a fence. ( thief used a trashcan to climb up on and cut the cables to steal the camera )

Thus, I am a big fan now of conduit instead of exposed cable.
..and you don't exactly want to cut a gang hole for a camera when 3/4ths of an inch will do.

Though if anybody has already done this and has a method to share, I'd like to hear it.
[/QUOTE]

You have various options to run cable.

1st - I would use bulk cable and terminate it myself so that you can minimize the hole.

2nd - I'd use a junction box mounted on the stucco surface to put the cable into.

Running the bulk cable.
a) you can id the studs from the inside of the wall using a stud finder, and cut a section of dry wall off between 2 studs ( should be about 16" between the studs in most cases ) by the top of the wall. Once you've opened up the wall you can drill up or down into the attic space. Professional installers can be more surgical in this, however for many of us DIYers we can take more time to patch the drywall ( fairly easy if smooth finish - textured is a pita and I like to avoid cutting any textured drywall ).

b) run the cable from the attic to outside by the overhang - then down the wall to the camera.
Again I prefer conduit to a junction box, but you can just bring the cable down and surface mount.

Probably a few other options, those are the 2 I would consider in this case.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

I do my own bulk cable with termination, but what about the pigtail that comes out of the camera? Is it ideal to snip it and re-terminate? I'm concerned about that voiding the warranty.

EDIT: Oh and the wall is textured, but I have no idea how to re-texture it.

 

[mat200]

I do my own bulk cable with termination, but what about the pigtail that comes out of the camera? Is it ideal to snip it and re-terminate? I'm concerned about that voiding the warranty.

Hi @ArmoredDragon

Don't snip the cables off the camera, just use silicone stretch / coax seal on them before stuffing it all into the junction box.

Remember a bit of di-electric gel into the RJ45 boot before wrapping it up, and place the connection in the top of the junction box.

Also, I like to run N+1 cables to a location, so I would run 2 cables into the junction box. This way if you want you can add a 2nd camera or other device later to the 2nd cable.

issue: "EDIT: Oh and the wall is textured, but I have no idea how to re-texture it."

Ack.. ok, in that case I'd go with the conduit down to a junction box.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

@mat200 Is texturing it pretty hard? I watched some youtube videos and there doesn't seem to be much to it, but I've never tried it. My walls don't look like typical knockdown texture (which I think is what this is called)

 

[mat200]

@mat200 Is texturing it pretty hard? I watched some youtube videos and there doesn't seem to be much to it, but I've never tried it. My walls don't look like typical knockdown texture (which I think is what this is called)

View attachment 59185

Hi

Texturing is not hard.. the challenge is spot repair to get the new texture to blend in.

The person who did the original texture can more easily match it as they know the tools and techniques they used to create it.

For us it will take some practice time to figure it out. If you're OK with taking the time you certainly can do it. ( I've done it, but man it can be a bit of an art form and takes some practice ).

For the above one which you have, basically they somehow flick the plaster on the wall - wait a bit for it to dry - then use a tool to flatten it out.

also note:
We don't know what sort of insulation is in the walls - perhaps just a fiberglass "batt" - some are now using spray foam, and others using ( or also using ) a rigid insulation on the outer wall.

In wall insulation fiber glass batt can be a pain as sometimes it will wrap around any drill bit you use... and if spray foam you don't want to end up messing it all up poking and drilling inside the wall cavity.

 

[windguy]

@ArmoredDragon - Thanks for the outside picture. Good start to figuring out what you're trying to do. No problem on the inside picture. It was just an optional view if available.

If this was my house, I would not be cutting into drywall unless necessary with no other options. Just a lot more work involved. I will do almost all home remodeling tasks but not texturing drywall. I leave that to a skilled person. Same for stucco work. I've done it and it just doesn't look the same. The most I'll take on is a small patch. The pros know how to make it look good and it's money well spent to have them do the work.

Do you already have other cameras and this is an add-on or part of a new system?
Did you already buy the camera(s)?
Have you tested this location with a camera or is this just an estimate of a mounting location?
Any chance you can take a pic showing a wider view of this location and show what area you want to capture with the camera? Maybe this isn't the optimal spot to mount a camera.
Also show where you have security lighting since that can affect your camera view. I don't see any on the pic you provided.
It's good you're taking the time to think about this before jumping in and you're asking good questions.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

It's actually some kind of newer stuff, I don't even know what it's called really. It actually looks a lot like actual moon dust, may be some kind of cotton and fiberglass blend. My understanding is that they put it in place by first adding some kind of skirting to the wall, then blow it all inside of the "sandwitched" area, use some kind of liquid to make it settle, then repeat multiple times. Sorry picture is blurry as this is a still from a video I took of another house under construction

 

[ArmoredDragon]

@ArmoredDragon - Thanks for the outside picture. Good start to figuring out what you're trying to do. No problem on the inside picture. It was just an optional view if available.

If this was my house, I would not be cutting into drywall unless necessary with no other options. Just a lot more work involved. I will do almost all home remodeling tasks but not texturing drywall. I leave that to a skilled person. Same for stucco work. I've done it and it just doesn't look the same. The most I'll take on is a small patch. The pros know how to make it look good and it's money well spent to have them do the work.

Do you already have other cameras and this is an add-on or part of a new system?
Did you already buy the camera(s)?
Have you tested this location with a camera or is this just an estimate of a mounting location?
Any chance you can take a pic showing a wider view of this location and show what area you want to capture with the camera? Maybe this isn't the optimal spot to mount a camera.
Also show where you have security lighting since that can affect your camera view. I don't see any on the pic you provided.
It's good you're taking the time to think about this before jumping in and you're asking good questions.

I did buy the cameras already, from Costco so no big deal to return, which I most likely will as I discovered shortly after ordering it that the angle is too wide for most of the areas these will be placed. I'll try to mount the camera and take a shot of what the view looks like. Meanwhile, the model of the cameras is E891AB. No matter what I get, I want the security lighting to be on the camera itself, I really don't feel like doing additional work to add lighting in addition to the cameras. I'm also wanting two-way voice for at least half of these cameras.

 

[ArmoredDragon]

Here's the view of the spot I'm wanting to place that camera from a much older IP camera that I have, which I'm not wanting to use because it doesn't seem to capture details very well. I'm still configuring one of the new cameras for a bench test without the NVR. Note the gate and fence there are the side gate of my house, everything there and back is all just my back yard. I plan on putting another camera under the front patio area that will be lower to the ground; this camera is more meant to see if anybody tries to tamper with that camera, but also to see if anybody tries to enter the back yard by possibly hopping the fence (I plan to have a padlock on that gate, I don't currently have it locked though.)

 

[ArmoredDragon]

Oh and if anybody is wondering, I'm using some enterprise grade equipment to drive these cameras:

Switch: Cisco WS-3750G-24PS running IOS 15
UPS: Minuteman Enterprise Plus E1500RM2U
3 node VMware cluster, each running 32GB of ram and Xeon E3 1245V3 CPUs

Really wanting to run a software NVR on a virtual machine. Call me picky, but I don't like running standalone windows computers 24/7. Especially non-server versions of windows, which force you to constantly deal with updates. Not sure if Blue Iris would be a good solution for me because I haven't been able to determine how suited it is for virtual environments. Besides, I'm a big IT nerd and a single physical computer just isn't HA enough