Question: How to Run Security Camera Wires Through Soffit?
Security cameras are no longer luxury items. The reason is that there is more crime today than we’ve ever had and there’s a higher demand for security systems. As such, businesses and homeowners invest a lot in having the best security cameras in place.
The challenge with having these cameras is their connection. Leaving their wires exposed will make your connection look messy. Beyond this, it puts your whole system at risk of getting destroyed by burglars.
Soffit is a great way to protect your security camera wires. But this leaves us with the small issue of how to run security camera wires through Soffit. We understand this challenge and have put this post together to help you solve this problem.
Why Should You Run Security Camera Wires Through Soffit
Leaving your security cameras exposed is a lot easier than running them through soffit. The second option consumes both time and effort.
That’s asides from the resources that you will need to handle the process. If you are not so great with DIY, you may even need to hire external help to handle the process.
Why go through all of this just to run security camera wires through soffit? Is it truly worth the stress? Well, when you look at it critically, it is worth every bit of time and effort put in. Here are a few reasons why you should learn how to run security camera wires through soffit:
- Protects your cables from potential thieves and burglars as well as kids. Leaving your wires exposed puts them at risk of getting cut by potential thieves and burglars. If anything tampers with your security camera wires, they stop transmitting data to the recorder. This leaves you without footage, the main reason for the cameras in the first place.
- Keeps your facility neat. When you have cables all over the place, the whole facility looks shabby and uncomely. Hiding them in soffit helps you to improve the look of your facility. Now, you don’t have cables flying all over attracting unwanted attention.
- Ensures continuous footage transmission. Asides from thieves, burglars, and kids, anything can go wrong with exposed cables. This will affect the transmission of footage and power (in the case of Ethernet cables). Running your security camera wires through soffit protects them and ensures that you gather footage continuously.
With this out of the way, let’s look at what you need to run security camera wires through soffit.
Tools You Need to Run Security Camera Wires Through Soffit
Before you begin the process, you need to gather the tools that you need. To be honest, there is no hard and fast rule regarding the tools for running wires through soffit.
Different people have their preferences. The tools you will need will also depend on the location of your cameras and the kind of cameras you have.
While there is no specific rule guiding the choice of tools, there are tools that are most commonly used for the process. Check the list below to find the tools you may need for the process:
- PVC conduits.
- Electric plastic tape.
- Fish rod.
- Electric drill
- Power cabling and camera wires.
- Helmet with a flashlight.
- Bits and screws.
Once you gather your tools, we can move on to how to run security camera wires through soffit. Check the next section.
How to Run Security Camera Wires Through Soffit
Before you run your security camera wires through soffit, you should first ensure that they are working well. After doing this, disconnect the wires, decide on where you want to set the security system up and follow these steps.
Step 1: Choose your locations
The location where you install your security cameras is very important. If you mount your cameras too high, all you will see in your footage are heads or empty views.
Don’t select a random spot, instead choose locations that will give the best views. The locations you pick should also make your work of running the wires very easy.
Step 2: Drill through the soffit
Is it possible to drill through soffit? Sure thing, that’s the only way to run your wires through soffit. We have listed the materials that you need for this process above.
The list includes an electric drill that helps you to make the holes that you need to run your wires. Here’s how you drill through soffit:
- Take out the vinyl from the location where you will be mounting the camera. Cut a piece of wood that is the same size as its width. This piece of wood helps you to mount through the soffit.
- Drill a hole into the piece of wood. You will be fitting the camera’s wires through this hole.
- Bore smaller holes for your camera’s mounting screws. You can make use of the template sticker in the camera for maximum accuracy.
- Tape an end of your wire to the fishing rod then push it through the hole that you created in the attic space. Pull the rod at the other end that is accessible in the house.
- Connect the cable to the right port on the recording machine.
You can repeat the processes above for all the security cameras that you have. What if you don’t want to drill? You can still run your camera wires without boring holes in the wall or ceiling. In this case, you need these tools:
- Electric plastic tape.
- Fiberglass fish tape.
- Camera wires.
Take the following steps to run security camera wires through soffit without drilling:
Step 1: Take out any vinyl close to the gable vent where you need to place your cameras.
Next: If the soffit connects to the attic directly, simply punch a hole for your wire using the screwdriver.
Step 3: Tape an end of the wire to the fishing rod and use it as we explained above.
Carry out the same process for all your cameras and you would have run the wires through soffit with ease.
How to Run Security Camera Wires Through Soffit-Conclusion
The process of running camera wires through soffit is very easy. We have shown you how to carry out this process in two ways in this post.
If you have any concerns about how to run security camera wires through soffit, drop them in the comments section below.
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