Whether youre looking for a great project to complete with the kids, or youre just trying to give your feathered friends a place to hang out, building a birdhouse is a great addition to your yard. Today, were going to cover the basic ins and outs to show you how to build a birdhouse.
Supplies Youll Need
You can make a birdhouse with just a few supplies. A simple birdhouse can be built with just one piece of wood. Or, you could build an extravagant mansion for your bird friends, which will require more materials and tools.
A word on materials: Feel free to make the birdhouse out of whatever you had on hand. If youre going to pick up wood specifically for the project, we recommend cedar or redwood, as theyre both weather resistant. Any wood will do, provided the wood is untreated.
Heres what youll need:
- We love wood of any kind (18 or 112 cedar boards)
- wooden dowel
- Carpenters pencil
- Scrap cardboard for pattern
- Ruler or square
- Protractor
- Nail gun or hammer
- Drill
- 1 Forstner Bit
- 3/81 cm drill bit
- 5 cm finishing nails
- Exterior paint or stain
Step I: Planning Your Birdhouse
A solid plan is the most important part of a high-quality birdhouse. Feel free to use your imagination and create scratch blueprints for an extravagant birdhouse if you like. For our purposes today, were going to construct a basic birdhouse from simple plans.
Using some cardboard, a protractor, and a ruler or square create a pattern for your birdhouse starting with the front and back. Keep the dimensions of the board youre working with in mind when youre creating your pattern to ensure you dont create a pattern thats too large for your board.
For our birdhouse, were going for a classic shape with a narrow base that gets wider as it grows upwards. The dimensions of our birdhouse will be approximately 13 cm at its narrowest point, 20 cm at its widest and 25 cm high.
Once youve created your pattern, trace each piece onto the board, youre working with.
Step II: Cut The Pieces
Now, were ready to cut out the pieces for our birdhouse. A miter saw is the best tool for this job. If youre working with a partner, have them hold the board in place while you make the cuts. To ensure that your hands are not in direct contact with the saw blade, clamp the board to a table before you start cutting.
Make sure you have safety gear on and start cutting until you’ve made each piece of the birdhouse. Take special care when making any mitered cuts you need to make for the roof or sides of the house to ensure that they fit together perfectly when its time to build the house.
Step III: Creating The Entrance And Perch
Once youve cut out your pieces, its time to add the entrance and perch to the front of the house.
First, identify the middle point of your house and mark it with a dot. This is where you’ll drill your hole. Next, attach a 1 Forstner bit to your drill, and drill out the hole on your mark.
Now youll need to find the center of where you want your perch to be. Measure across the front of the birdhouse at the height youd like the perch to be and mark it. Drill through the wood using a drill bit.
Cut your dowel to the desired length. Make sure you account for the 3cm that will be sticking in the hole. Next, use a mallet to carefully hammer the dowel into the hole.
Step IV: Attaching The Pieces Of The House
Now, its time to put the house together. Start by attaching the front and back to the base, using wood glue. Clamp the pieces and allow them to dry. After they are dry, drill pilot holes with a 3/81 cm bit in several places along each joint. Then, shoot finish nails into each hole.
Do the same with the sides. Attach the sides to the house, then clamp them and let dry. Drill your pilot holes, then drive the final nails.
Repeat this process one final time to attach the roof to the house.
Step V: Paint The House Or Stain It
Here’s the fun part! You can give your birdhouse personality by painting or staining it. You can also leave your house unpainted, although it may not age as well as a finished house. Either way, its entirely up to you, just be sure to use exterior paint or stain.
Step VI: Mounting Your House
Mounting the birdhouse is the final step before they can enjoy their new digs. First, youll need to decide where youd like your birdhouse to be located, and if you plan on hanging it, or mounting it to a fixture.
For a hanging birdhouse, add two eye hooks along the peak of the roof, and attach a loop of string or wire so you can hang it anywhere in your yard. You can also attach the birdhouse to an existing fixture, like a fence post or a tree by attaching a birdhouse hanging bracket to the back wall of your birdhouse.
The Final Word
Learning how to build a birdhouse is a fun project to tackle with kids, or by yourself. These plans will help you build a beautiful birdhouse. Keep in mind that were just trying to provide you with the basic framework, use your imagination and get as creative as you like when building your birdhouse.
Once your dream birdhouse is complete, tackle some of our other awesome DIY projects, like these pallet shelves or these bird feeders.
