The house currently has wood but after woodpecker and other damage we decided to replace it with vinyl due to cost and ease of maintenance. I'm thinking now is the time to run wiring for a future POE camera setup. Has anyone done this before. Can the Ethernet cable be run behind the siding?

quote:

Can the Ethernet cable be run behind the siding?

YES

I would also look into insulated vinyl siding if you don’t mind spending a few dollars more.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
I would also look into insulated vinyl siding if you don’t mind spending a few dollars more.

Wish I had thought of that but it's already ordered. The house is pretty well insulated though.

As most cameras are up in the eves, it would be fairly easy to run the Cat 5 cables up into the attic. This could be before or after the siding is on.

Okay sounds good. I'll have to run some up the side of the house while the old siding is off and before the new siding goes on.

Why behind the siding as opposed to through the attic?

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
Okay sounds good. I'll have to run some up the side of the house while the old siding is off and before the new siding goes on.

You can't run them up (or down) under the siding. The flanges of siding are nailed pretty firmly to whatever it is to which they're attached. You can do horizontal runs.

Ah okay.

I was going to have the NVR in the basement. And I don't have any easy way to get the wiring up through the walls which is why I was figuring on going behind the siding.

That's why I ran mine up into the attic and hanged the cameras of the soffit.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
You can't run them up (or down) under the siding. The flanges of siding are nailed pretty firmly to whatever it is to which they're attached. You can do horizontal runs.

You can drill up at an angle to reach an attic. Also can drill straight into the wall slightly, then drill straight down from the attic if there is room. Then drop a thin line and weight to use as a tag line.

I would run everything in the attic, then bring all the runs down to the NVR at one point. Also best to have two NVRs, one as a working decoy and the main NVR in a hidden location.

What I want is cameras on the three entry doors, and maybe a couple other spots. One entry door is a walkout basement, the other two are on the first floor. Maybe one or two on the overhang for the front door to watch the driveway.

House is a 2 1/2 story "colonial". It's really just a big box.

just be sure to not mount the cams too high off the ground. you don't want your security footage to look like the final scene of Taxi Driver.

in other words, you don't just want to see the top of someone's head.

Woodpeckers attack my vinyl siding.

Could you run wire horizontal from camera to corner, then under corner bead upwards or downwards?

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Could you run wire horizontal from camera to corner, then under corner bead upwards or downwards?

I suspect that's possible, but I've never tried it, so I'd hate to recommend it.

Problem is: You'd have to do it as the siding's being installed. Contractors tend not to have a lot of patience with on-the-fly homeowner enhancements. (Ask me how I know .)

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
Ah okay.

I was going to have the NVR in the basement. And I don't have any easy way to get the wiring up through the walls which is why I was figuring on going behind the siding.

Give a bit more thought to that for the heck of it. I was able to file one interior wall where I could drill a hole in the basement and then up in the attic space. I made the two holes big enough for multiple (10) cat-5 cables. Then I snaked it up. I even left some paracord in place for future runs if needed. From the attic, the cables all run easily to the eves and positions where the cameras are.

Not saying you can do this at your house, but think about the interior walls.

The only one I can think of would require peeling back the trim and somehow drilling through the bottom plate.