TL, DR: If you are installing a Ring Video Doorbell on brick, the 15/16″ bit that comes with the Ring kit can be useless if your brick is hard to drill through. Get a Bosch 7/32″ masonry hammer drill bit and use a hammer drill to get the job done.
When you buy something online, you expect the manufacturer to send you everything you need for installation. That’s especially the case if the installation needs special parts that you may not usually have at home.
I recently bought the Ring – Video Doorbell Pro and Chime Pro Bundle. What should have been a simple 30- to 45-minute installation took me a day or so to install. I was trying to install the Ring doorbell on brick. Ring sent a 15/64″ bit that they claimed will drill through the brick but I had no luck. After a frustrating 30 minutes of drilling, I had barely made a dent on the brick. It was clear that this drill bit will not get the job done.
Then I got a hammer driller and tried to drill a hole with the bit that Ring had sent. That got me nowhere either. Then I had to get a Bosch 7/32″ masonry hammer drill bit. With a hammer drill, this bit got the job done in a few minutes. Note that the bit is 6 inches long. The reason I had to get the 7/32″ bit is that 15/64″ bit can be hard to come by even at big home improvement stores but the 7/32″ is very close in size and will work just fine.
When it comes to masonry bits, Bosch hammer drill bits are the best. When you are drilling through brick or masonry, the bits can get very hot. I have found that other drill bits are not as good as Bosch for these kinds of jobs.
The Bosch drill bit is quite cheap. I am not sure why Ring doesn’t send a quality drill bit with the kit. Certainly, some bricks can be difficult to drill. It will avoid a lot of frustration for homeowners trying to install this themselves.
This was the only challenge I had installing the Ring doorbell. Everything else went smoothly. Instructions were clear. The kit even had extra parts such as screws in case they get lost.
We were one of the last families in our neighborhood to get Ring. But we are happy that we got it. The Ring app is very easy to use and allows you to check on the front door for strangers and packages without having to walk to the door. Lately, our neighborhood has been dealing with porch pirates who come by and pick up the packages when no one is home. Ring sends us alerts on the phone every time motion is detected near the front door.