Nest Cam Outdoor - on brick installation

[Razzi29]

Hello, I bought a new Nest Cam Outdoor; I want to install the camera on brick wall, has anyone used concrete screws instead of using the included wall screws and anchors? Any tips, experience, strategy that can be share for an alternate method of install on brick? Thanks

[Anonymous]

Not sure how savvy you are with tools and equipment etc so ill try explain best i can for someone with little to no knowledge of tools or handyman or building work etc etc. Please keep in mind i have a disability and explaining things isnt my forte. 

Some pics attached below. The finished product. The ply board used. The anchor/plug and drill used....

To save the mess and multiple holes in the bricks i used a piece of ply board approximately 115mm X 115mm and 12mm thick to mount the camera to the bricks. You could probably use marine ply if water or rain etc is an issue. I just used normal ply board and oiled it. Mine are undercover though.  You could paint the ply board or oil it etc for weather protection if needed if using normal ply board and its exposed to water etc. 

I drilled a hole directly in the centre of the ply board. Then drilled a hole in the motar area of the brickwork to the correct dimensions of the wall anchor/plug i used. I used a single wall anchor/plug that used a 6 millimeter drill bit. 

 

The plug i used is rated to 25kgs from memory so heaps strong enough and i used a quality screw to the correct depth and dimension of the anchor/plug and ply board depth combined etc. Then just screwed the ply board to the brick wall via the anchor/plug already inserted in the brick mortar.

Before mounting the ply board i mounted the google camera mount supplied in the camera box to the ply board. My only issue was the screws for the google camera mount that came in the camera box were too long for the ply board and protruded out the rear of the ply board a few millimeters. So i had to grind the screws off flush with the ply board at the rear otherwise the ply board would not sit flat against the brick wall. This in no way weakens anything as 12mm in depth for the screws supplied is totally acceptable.

Mortar is easily patched if i ever wanted to remove the cameras compared to patching a brick with holes or multiple holes. So i chose to drill into the mortar which is completely acceptable for this purpose. Be careful to use the correct dimension drill for the anchor/plug and try not to move the drill around too much when drilling you want the anchor/plug a tight fit in the mortar so it wont pull out. 

Heres a picture of the camera mounted. And a picture of the anchor/plug used for the brick mortar. The cameras have sustained gale force winds and have been fine. 

Sorry if I've missed something i

 

 

 

[Razzi29]

Thank you @Anonymous this was super helpful and well explained, much appreciated. One last thought here, instead of anchors, what do you think of tapcons concrete screws ?

[Anonymous]

Ha thanks i thought it was a bit confusing and was just about to delete the reply and start again haha...

Ill check the "tapcons" out now and have a look and give you my view on them.

It was recommended to me by a builder to use a super strong adhesive instead of a screw if i didn't want to put holes in anything but i didn't want my $320 camera at the mercy of an adhesive so went with a screw. "SOUDAL T-REX FAST GRAB" was the best adhesive i could find but decided against using it.

From what I've seen and since used the t-rex fast grab on other projects it would work fine but longevity is another thing. I trust a wall plug and screw over adhesive for the long haul.

[Anonymous]

I just checked out the tapcon screws you mentioned and cant really see an issue with them if you can get the hole drilled correctly etc. Keep in mind things like that have a habit of breaking off in my experience if you try to screw them too hard and you could end up with a mess of holes with broken off screws if you cant get it right.

However in saying that i have used all sorts of metal anchors directly into concrete brick and masonry etc over the years with success. Maybe keep in mind where you're drilling and screwing as some bricks have holes in them and arent solid etc. Another reason why i chose the mortar option on my job instead of the bricks is my bricks have holes in them and screws and anchors etc dont work well in voids.

[Razzi29]

Thanks again @Anonymous 👍🏻 I am also reviewing an alternative option of a gutter bracket install, but that is not my number one preference. I read great reviews on that option as well.

[Anonymous]

I hope i really did help you hey. I thought long and hard about how to mount them on my brickwork without damaging the substrate and came up with the single screw into mortar solution for strength and longevity.

As i said a builder recommended adhesive if i didnt want to use anchors and i thought nah not good enough. But hey the builder could've been right and i might have wasted my time and effort.. I just like screws and anchors for longevity 

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen the gutter brackets im reluctant to expose my cameras to the elements. I live in Australia and where i live winters can get down to -10 celcius and summers up to +45 celcius. Ive seen too many complaints online about these cameras with water ingress and overheating etc etc so mine are all under the eaves of the house or undercover to an extent somehow. I have 8 cameras...

In saying that my cameras have always been a pain in the butt and ive always had ongoing issues with the software and the google home app. At the moment its been about 5 weeks since ive been able to use my cameras properly through the home app. If  had my time again id buy another brand...

[Razzi29]

@Anonymous sorry your cameras not working as expected with the Home app.. Recently Google revamped the whole app, and so far is working fine with my cameras.. I have a few indoor cams and an outdoor for now. As for weather, I understand, I live in Canada and we get minus 20 celsius here. 

[Anonymous]

Spent time in BC. Whistler/Blackcomb was my favorite. Still think about Canada every day. Its my heart home i absolutely loved it over there. 

[Lance_L]

Hi everyone,

I'm glad that you're able to work this out. As we've got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this one as resolved and will be closing this thread after 24 hours. Please feel free to open a new thread if you have other questions or concerns.

Best,

Lance