Is it difficult to drill a hole in brick on outside or house

marcia_

 I found it impossible to drill into brick even with a masonry bit. My uncle did it for me and said my drill wasn't powerful enough 

bjorn_toby_wilde

marcia_ said:

 I found it impossible to drill into brick even with a masonry bit. My uncle did it for me and said my drill wasn't powerful enough 

It’s true that it very much depends on the brick, the drill and the bit. The soft common bricks you often find in Victorian houses are easy to drill. Some modern bricks and engineering bricks not so much. A decent SDS drill with a new bit will power through most things.

casper_gutman

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

marcia_ said:

 I found it impossible to drill into brick even with a masonry bit. My uncle did it for me and said my drill wasn't powerful enough 

It’s true that it very much depends on the brick, the drill and the bit. The soft common bricks you often find in Victorian houses are easy to drill. Some modern bricks and engineering bricks not so much. A decent SDS drill with a new bit will power through most things.

True that bricks vary, but that applies to Victorian houses as much as anywhere else so I wouldn't say soft brick was necessarily a particular Victorian feature. All houses I've owned have been late Victorian/Edwardian and all have been built using what we're essentially engineering brick, readily available in those parts of the country - Lancashire and the South Wales Valleys. The Accrington brick was particularly difficult to drill, and on more than one occasion a tradesman had to leave mid-job because he needed a more powerful drill or he'd knackered his last bit.

bjorn_toby_wilde

Perhaps I didn’t make that particularly clear. I said “the soft common bricks you often find in Victorian houses”.  I wasn’t implying that all Victorian bricks were soft.

Common bricks are generally less dense than facing bricks or engineering bricks.

WIAWSNB

marcia_ said:

 I found it impossible to drill into brick even with a masonry bit. My uncle did it for me and said my drill wasn't powerful enough 

A normal hammer drill can/will struggle with hard bricks, and this can make the drill tip wander - very annoying. 
As btw says, an SDS drill overcomes this by impacting the contact point forcefully, and gets 'stuck in'.
They are miles apart in performance.
It took me my current house before I discovered SDS drills. The internal walls are block with sizeable pebbles. My hammer drill couldn't cope, and wandered sideways even after starting the hole. Got a cheapo SDS from SF, and was chuckling to myself about the difference, when I heard a lump of plaster fall off the other side of the wall

WIAWSNB

Another Q, are you here?
It would help to know the model of video bell, and whether it's cordless.
If corded, then you are going to have to run a cable. In which case, have you worked out if it'll be surface, or through the wall?
If 'through', then I'd suggest to a complete novice to drill the cable hole through the mortar line, and aim it slightly upwards from the outside to counter any slight risk of water ingress. Tbh, and espec if under an overhang, it's not necessary.
Then I'd personally suggest you adhere the device to the wall. Slightly roughen the back surface, and use something like StixAll. It may need some support whilst it sets if it's heavy, in which case a strip of duct tape across it should do. 
It won't fall off. And no-one will pinch it, 'cos they aren't to know it isn't screwed. All anyone can do, if they feel inclined, is smash it, and the securing method is immaterial to that.
If you remove it in future, all you'll have to do is scrape off the StixAll (use clear), and fill a small mortar hole.

anotherquestion

Thanks for all replies, its this bell,

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Thinking of maybe putting one hole in mortar between bricks and let that be at the top of plastic backplate. 

I will try not to drill any holes in brick (being the Frank Spencer I am-remember him ) and since its a plastic backplate as far as I know, I could simply put another hole through it and not use the the default one, so that both holes are in mortar, or as you say, use a bit of glue at other side, I do have a tube of UHU here.

WIAWSNB

Thanks .
Any chance of a pic of where it will go?

anotherquestion

Thanks, Its just on side wall of main door, TBH Rather than mess up I'm probably thinking of paying some guy who is used to drilling to do this for me, I need someone in to do a few new manhole covers, I know the guy who has worked for me before, and this will be an easy job for him to do I think.

The doorbell arrived today and is bigger and heavier (contains battery) than I expected it to be, so will definitely need two screws, and the holes will not fit into mortar between bricks only.

I actually set it up with the app and its seems fine, I actually might add another camera to the back of the house like this one, same brand so hopefully will work with same app if anyone knows.?  Thanks again for all the advice and help.

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WIAWSNB

I understand the one App can handle a number of cameras.