Simple beginner bird house - PEP BB dimensional.sand.birdhouse

Gunnar Gebhard wrote:I put on a birdhouse building activity for our home school group (any tips on how to work that into a community BB?).  

PEP - Community - Sand - Teach 1 hr workshop to 8 people
https://permies.com/wiki/101825/pep-community/Teach-workshop-PEP-BB-community

PEP - Community - Straw - Teach a 1.5hr workshop to 6 people
https://permies.com/wiki/151496/pep-community/Teach-Hour-Workshop-PEP-BB

PEP - Community - Straw - Teach a 6hr workshop to 5 people
https://permies.com/wiki/151495/pep-community/Teach-Hour-Workshop-PEP-BB

PEP - Community - Straw - Set up for a 6hr workshop
https://permies.com/wiki/124914/pep-bb-community-straw-set-workshop

This is a long and meandering post, with a short video! Bottom line, I built this birdhouse... then rehabbed it, then hung it. Verification is below...

Back in 2010, while living in Alexandria, VA, I took a fancy to building birdhouses. A lot of birdhouses. Luckily, I wrote a blog about it back then, and still have several of them which I am placing around my property for the birds coming this spring:

https://jimgarlits.wordpress.com/2010/07/03/for-the-birds/

Here's a YouTube video of a couple of the birdhouses sitting on my fence in the middle of a rain storm in 2012:



And finally, here is a less than 2-minute video of me fixing the roof on one birdhouse that I personally made in 2010, rehabbed and hung on a tree in my permaculture playground in 2024. I hope this suffices because I put a lot of effort into building and repairing it!  



Thanks...

j

Second try on basic birdhouse, with faux-snarky beginning because the first was rejected:



j

Decided to use some of the wood that's been laying around in the barn since who knows when. I used the "5 minute" video for reference, but I also did some research on what the local birds will actually use. If I did well, this house should attract a House Wren: 4x4 floor, 1" entrance hole near the top. No perch, since they can be used by predators. I also put a small hole in the bottom for drainage.
Since it's mystery wood, I gave it a coat of linseed oil. The plank I used definitely felt hard to cut, so I think it's hardwood, but I figured better safe than sorry! I hung it up at the edge of the woods with some rawhide.

Built this bird house today which started as working on this dimensional lumber bit when realized I could do one better and really get into making it for a specific bird and put some more thought into it so I'm hopeful it can also count for animal care, where I have submitted it as well. It meets the requirements of both.

I used cedar planks I had leftover from the playhouse I built earlier this summer. Planks were 5.5" wide so it fits the minimum dimension requirement and is made of naturally weather-resistant wood. I did not seal or oil it at all. Nailed together which was a fun change of pace for me - I generally exclusively work with screws. Nails were a nice change especially for something like this.

I followed the posted video and used an untreated cedar fence panel, 5 1/2in wide, and SS screws.  I treated it with linseed oil, installed a SS eyebolt, and mounted it to a tree outside my daughter's window. I'm realizing now that I overdid it -- I didn't need to oil it since I used cedar.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
 - build a simple beginner bird house
 - a bird might want to live in it (maybe a really ugly and desperate bird)
 - It won't kill the bird
 - Made from wood, nails and/or screws - no glue
 - 5" wide or greater
 - Weather resistant design - for the bird and for the longevity of the house

To document your completion of the BB, provide photographic or video (<2 minutes long) of the following:
- Wood you're starting with
- Bird house under construction
- Bird house installed in its final location

Clarifications:
- A bit tung oil or linseed oil on the exterior is acceptable.  Using rot resistant woods that don't need protection is about ten times better than using lesser wood treated with oil.

Much like the textiles weekend I had with my mom earlier this year when I made my dishcloth and patchwork pillow, I took the holiday visit at my parents' this week as an opportunity to do a woodworking project with my dad - my first birdhouse! At least, my first that I can remember.

I copied an Audubon design from other birdhouses my dad had already made up. I used a cedar fence board that was on hand, and I worked with some inherited hand saws and the Balinese scoop knife I'd gifted him.

The bottom has some air holes for circulation in warm weather, and in addition to making the side rotate for easy cleaning, I also put a little "peg" nail to help keep it shut when the birdies are at home. The hole is sized for a wren. We'll see if some show up!

i built a simple beginner bird house for under $5 in under 5 minutes days!

supplies (found lying around):
-1"x5.5"x6' scrap cedar board
-random screws & nails
-bit of wire
-pencil
-ruler
-circular saw
-hammer
-power drill
-Build a Bird House for Under $5 in Under 5 Minutes
-courage in the face of the unknown (carpentry)

day 1: 1 july 2025
i rummaged about in outbuildings for suitable wood and came up with a lead-painted monstrosity that helpfully educated me on why trying to strip lead paint is simply not worth the bother. i then dove back in for a second go-round in different outbuildings and emerged with a promising untreated piece of wood. i hauled it back to the house to my grandmother for identification (cedar), marked my cuts, and went on the hunt for a saw. all three manual saws were rusted beyond use, so i opted for the least-intimidating power tool, the jigsaw. the jigsaw did not appreciate being used on cedar. sweaty and defeated after multiple hours of scavenging, i collected a circular saw for future research and slunk back to the house with my tail between my legs and my cedar plank in two crooked pieces.

day 2: 2 july 2025
a day spent mostly stewing in resentment of my own ignorance.

day 3: 3 july 2025
grandma felt up to teaching me how to use the circular saw - hoorah! i sliced everything up, checked out the viability of the build with my less-than-expert cuts, made a couple trims to make sure the pieces fit together with minimal gaps/awkwardness, and scrounged up some spare screws and nails. for the entrance hole on the front board, i actually drilled a bunch of holes with the biggest drill bit we have (not very big) and sort of immersion blended them into one big hole with the help of a carving tool to scrap down the sides. it's slightly larger than a quarter and, shall we say, charmingly irregular. after i put the whole bird house together, i cradled it to my bosom briefly but lovingly. i left it on my work table to watch over me as i slept, finally at peace with the knowledge that i no longer need to fear circular saws beyond a certain healthy respect.

day 4: 4 july 2025
my first dimensional woodworking project has declared its independence from the climate-controlled house. it's hanging/wedged about 7 feet off the ground, facing south in the lower branches of the black gum tree to the northeast of the big house.

concluding remarks...
remedial shop class rocks. i look forward to revisiting and improving this bird house in the future after observing how it integrates (or doesn't...) into the landscape.