Mounting

Mounting a doorbell camera without drilling

Every one of these approaches trades something. Knowing which trade you are making is the difference between a camera that survives a winter and one that ends up face down on the step.

Last updated 2026-08-28

Four ways to do it, and what each costs you

There is no option here that is strictly best. Pick by the surface you have and by whether the camera needs to come off again.

Adhesive plate. A backing plate held on with heavy-duty mounting tape, camera screwed to the plate. Cleanest look, holds well on smooth surfaces, and removal takes patience and sometimes heat.
Door-frame or trim bracket. Hooks over the frame or clamps to trim, no adhesive at all. Fully reversible and the safest choice in a strict lease, but it puts the camera where the frame is instead of where you would choose.
Peephole mount. Replaces the existing peephole. Leaves no new hole because it uses one that exists, and it is the standard answer in apartment corridors.
Siding or seam clip. Clips into the seam between siding panels. Covered on its own page below, because uneven surfaces behave differently.

Battery models make all of this easier, because no wiring has to reach the mount. If you are renting and undecided, that alone is a strong argument for one.

The two surfaces that defeat adhesive

Adhesive needs a smooth, clean, non-porous surface and a temperature range. Two very common surfaces fail it.

Brick and rough stucco give the tape almost no contact area, so what looks like a firm bond is a few high points doing all the work. Anything powdery or flaking, including old paint, hands you a bond to a layer that is itself coming away from the wall.

Cold matters too. Most mounting tapes state a minimum application temperature, and a bond made below it may hold for weeks and then let go on the first hard frost.

Making an adhesive mount last

Clean with alcohol, not household cleaner

Surface cleaners leave a residue designed to repel water, which is the opposite of what you want. Isopropyl alcohol leaves nothing behind. Let it dry fully.

Apply in the warm part of the day

Check the tape's stated minimum temperature and respect it. If it is cold, warm the surface first and give the bond longer before hanging any weight.

Press hard, then leave it alone

Firm pressure for a full minute across the whole plate, then leave it for the dwell time on the packaging, commonly a day, before mounting the camera. This is the step people skip and it is the one that decides whether it holds.

Add a tether if the camera is worth stealing

An adhesive plate resists a steady pull far better than a sharp twist. A short security tether turns a walk-away theft into a job needing tools.

Vinyl siding and other uneven surfaces — when there is no flat spot
What renters are actually allowed to install — the lease side of it