Where to put security cameras on a new build
On most new homes, camera locations get decided by whoever is on site during pre-wire, and the usual answer is the highest convenient point under the eave. It looks tidy. It also produces footage of the tops of people's heads.
A better plan starts from a different question: how does someone actually get to your doors?
Map the approach paths first
Walk the lot, or trace the site plan, and mark every way a person or vehicle can reach the house:
- The driveway and the street frontage
- The front door and any secondary entries
- Side gates and the paths along each side of the house
- Back doors, patio doors and the pool area
- Garage doors, including side doors into the garage
Each of those paths should be visible to at least one camera, and the doors themselves deserve a closer look than the yard.
Use two kinds of cameras
Most well-planned systems pair two jobs:
- Overview cameras mounted higher, often at the roofline, show the whole yard or driveway and what's happening.
- Identification cameras mounted closer to head height near doors and gates capture faces and details clearly.
A camera mounted twenty feet up can tell you someone walked to your front door. A camera at the door can tell you who it was. A video doorbell at each main entry is often the simplest identification camera.
Check the sun. Cameras aimed due east or west will stare into sunrise or sunset for part of the year, washing out the picture exactly when shadows are long. Where you can, angle cameras across a path rather than straight into the light, and check how porch and landscape lighting will look at night.
What to wire during pre-wire
- A network cable from every camera location back to your equipment rack. Wired cameras get power and data over one cable and don't depend on Wi-Fi.
- A few spare locations at the corners of the house. Spares cost little now and make future additions painless.
- A video doorbell location at each main entry, with wiring the doorbell you choose actually needs.
- Solid mounting surfaces. Decide whether each camera goes on the soffit, the wall or a post, and make sure there's something to fasten to behind stone, brick or stucco.
Privacy and placement
Aim cameras at your own property. Avoid pointing them into neighbors' windows or yards, and keep interior cameras out of private areas unless everyone in the home agrees. Recording rules vary by state and city, so if you plan to record audio or cover shared areas, check what applies where you live.
The short version
Start from approach paths, pair overview cameras with identification cameras at doors, mind the sun, and run cable to every location before drywall. Moving a camera later means a new hole through finished exterior walls, and that patch rarely disappears.
Want camera locations drawn on your own site plan? That's part of every Plan Review.