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What is the nicest wood that you have used for making one out in the weather.

Me I have almost used pine from the store but have also used red ceder

(12-26-2017, 03:30 PM)Arlin Eastman Wrote: [ -> ]What is the nicest wood that you have used for making one out in the weather.

Me I have almost used pine from the store but have also used red ceder

Locally we have a sign company that gives away its cutoffs to whomever is willing to haul.  Therefore, I use red cedar.  Prior this is source, I used scrap pine.

Cedar is my choice of wood for my bird houses and feeders and have used Pine but pine doesn't hold up to the elements.  I got my hands on 2 bundles of Cypress cut-offs for cheap last month and plan on making a few Bluebird boxes and one Screech Owl box out of the bundles.

Whatever you use should be raw unfinished wood.
Check http://www.audubon.org/sites/default/fil...hart_0.pdf for the proper sizes for various species.

I use cedar also.

They usually get bullet ridden before they rot.  

Ed

I've always used cedar with great results. I'm looking at one now that I made close to 8 years ago that is holding up good. Its never spent a day inside since being made.

I use packing crate lumber, whatever it happens to be. A bird house doesn't need to look pretty, and if it only lasts a half dozen years, that's OK. My only expense is a few nails and some time, of which I have plenty.

(12-27-2017, 10:59 AM)Foggy Wrote: [ -> ]I use packing crate lumber, whatever it happens to be. A bird house doesn't need to look pretty, and if it only lasts a half dozen years, that's OK. My only expense is a few nails and some time, of which I have plenty.

Composite wood.  Last a long, long time....

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Every year our local newspaper prints plans for bat houses.  It is a big deal lately as they control the mosquito population.  So while you are at it making a bird house, perhaps a bat house or two would make sense too.


https://www.nwf.org/en/Garden-for-Wildli...-Bat-House

http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-...bat-houses

(12-27-2017, 03:49 PM)Cooler Wrote: [ -> ]Every year our local newspaper prints plans for bat houses.  It is a big deal lately as they control the mosquito population.  So while you are at it making a bird house, perhaps a bat house or two would make sense too.


https://www.nwf.org/en/Garden-for-Wildli...-Bat-House

http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-...bat-houses

An even bigger deal because of the fungus that's killing the little brown bat.  Congregant damp hibernation or overnighting helps spread the infection, so a warm, dry place away from the crowd may save them to make guano out of mosquitoes.  https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/