Thank you for explaining every single detail. And measurements. Now I can do my own birth house. Thanks to you. Show Us. Also. Different birdhouses. In measurements. Thank you for your time. Everyday we learn something new. From. Cleveland Texas.😊
Super instructional video! I like that no tape measure or rule is used. The width of the picket is perfect. I have tried this and I have made six of these and they took me about an hour each. Again, good stuff!
Thanks for this DFJ! I just cut out 24 of these for a summer camp project. The kids will assemble and paint them. This was a perfect way for me to contribute to the camp and the kids so THANKS AGAIN!
Wow, thank you! We have an event coming up where our gardening club is going to be building several of these. It's a great project and it's a blast to see the birds move into them. Thanks for watching and writing. Best, DFJ
DFJ, Just wanted to comment and give you a proper thank you. I purchased a picket for this very project and was drawing up a very similar design the night before and then TH-cam slid your video infront of me this morning over coffee. 🤨 To all the watchers, this birshouse took me less than 1 hour to build even with out a few of the tools that DFJ used. One word of caution is that, becasue the dimensions are so small (5-6 "), you need to pay particular attention to your measurments and account for saw blade thickness. I planned on mounting mine to a wooden post that is on my deck across from my kitchen window where I eat breakfast. I made to roof flush with the back wall of the house and made the bottom so that it would hang over about 2 inches. I may dress that area up. From the scrap pieces I put a french cleat at the top of the house to mount it to the wooden post and added a piece of scrap at the bottom so that it would not wobble when hung on the cleat. It looks great. Thanks again for the drawing and video tutorial.
If you install two floor screws, one on each side about an inch in from the back, they will act as hinge pins and you can "latch" the floor in place with a third screw from the front. Building this way allows a "one screw cleanout"...
As someone who has built over 50 + birdhouses. One big mistake bird house builders make is not making vents at the peaks of the front and rear. The reason for this is to vent the heat out from inside the birdhouse. The summer heat will kill the young birds. You can either drill holes along the peaks or make the side walls a little shorter. Thanks for the video
Great insight. We are actually having a community event tomorrow building these birdhouses, and we've designed into them the feature you've described - the sides are left a bit short to create a gap along the wall but under the edge of the roof. Thanks for watching and writing! Best, DFJ
Spring 2024.great birdhouse plan and instruction on how to make it .the only addition I did was to drill a half inch hole at the top of the peek 0n the front and back to allow for hot damp stale air to stove pipe out, good video .Our club puts many birdhouses out every year and maintain many more here in northern BC Canada . I will send a link to this video to my fellow club members- we will right your youtube name on each house we put up along with ours ,In recognition of you doing your part and that it is your design. Cheers
It would be helpful to the fledglings to have a "ladder" inside to access the hole. Some shallow cuts an eighth of an inch apart that their claws can grip.
Another tip is to add either a piece of cloth or mesh from the inside floor up to the entrance/exit hole. That will greatly help the young birds leave the house.
Very nice, elegant design. The only suggestion I have would be to cut the side walls short enough to leave a quarter inch gap along the top under the roof to allow for ventilation. I love the design that allows you to get all the pieces out of a single ticket. Nicely done.
Mark, this is a great tip and there are other people that have mentioned the same thing. We're going to make another version of the birdhouse showing all the tips that have been sent in for this. Thanks for watching and writing! Best, DFJ
GREAT Video thank you. !!!!!! JUst had one question ......since all pieces are marked in sequence ,where do you start the cut ? Inside the line - or outside the line- or right in the middle...........?? Thank you again......
Why bother to saw 45 deg. angles at the roof apex ? Jut overlap one over the other ensuring that the length of overlap is added to one piece to ensure the roof on either side appear the same.
I just made one today from old deck boards I had. It was a test run for the real thing out of cedar. Worked just fine I made my roof simple by just cutting off the length x thickness of one board then butted the pieces together. I love the simplicity of it all. Thanks. My only problem is that my bird house weighs a lot. Lolol
Your the first to add ventilation in the bottom. Shouldn't there be places for air to rise out the top of the walls so it's not hot stagnant air inside the box? Thanks for what you do.
Steve, good insight. The side walls could be cut a bit shorter than the end wall angles so that there is a very slight gap along the two walls. The birds can regulate the air flow as needed with nest material. I'll incorporate that into our next round of bird houses. Thanks for writing! Best, DFJ
Yes just a 1/4 inch gap on both sides of the wall would help them. Were you the one that cut the corners of the bottom floor? I watched a 1000 videos on bird house's and wind chimes yesterday Thanks Mac
@@stevemac8436 - yes indeed, the cut corners give a bit of ventilation, and the gaps we'll now specify at the tops of the walls will even be better. Best, DFJ
Nice project. I normally use a 1-1/8" diameter bit for the hole. This allows birds like Chickadees and Wrens to get in and keeps out invasive House Sparrows.
This might seem like a silly question but I do roofing so I noticed that alot of people don't make thier roofs water proof. In this video I noticed that water will get in where you installed your wire hook. Does the rain not bother the birds?
Unfortunately there are a couple serious problems. The biggest issue is lack of ventilation. Eggs and chicks will quickly succumb to high temperatures. It's easy to add ventilation by drilling several 1" holes on the back and sides. Another issue is there is no access door to checks on eggs and chicks and to clean out old nesting material. There should be a predator block over the access hole to prevent predators from reaching in and grabbing eggs and chicks. There sholud also be 3-4 kerf cuts made with a chop saw below the access hole and also on the inside. These allow easy access in and out of the box. Without this some chick may not be able to get out when it's time to fledge. I apologize if this seems critical but it's not how good or cute a bird box looks but rather does it includes all the elements of safety.
Rather than screw the bottom in, why not drill holes on all four sides into which slighty narrower rust proof nails could be inserted by hand. Then when the box needs to be cleaned they could easily removed with a pliers or pincers and replaced at a later date.
Do you measure out each piece and then cut or do you measure, cut, measure cut? it seems to me that measuring them all first will make each successive piece shorter by the blades width. how do you account for that? do you try and "split" the line with your blade? do you make your marks wide as the blade? i have some spruce fence boards. will those work?
merci, alors la mauvaise idée est d'avoir fait passé le fil de fer à travers le toit toute l'eau va rentrée par le trou du toit guide par le fil en amont.
Oui, vous recevrez un peu d'eau entrant le long du fil, mais très peu, et bien moins que ce que les oiseaux supporteraient avec un nid dans le creux d'un arbre. Nous n'avons eu aucun problème avec les oiseaux qui utilisent les maisons. Si le petit espace est gênant, mettez un peu de calfeutrage dans le trou. Merci d'avoir écrit ! Cordialement, DFJ
Very cool and looks very easy to build. Love the idea of painting it for the garden. Would you ever consider doing a hinge for the bottom with a latch to make it easier to clean?
You can also use 16 penny nails (spikes cut short) as pins that stick thru the sides into holes drill into the bottom. Cut them slightly over length so you can pull them easily, and set them with a light tap for the season. 3 or 4 should hold nicely!
I haven’t done so yet, but I’m thinking of experimenting with strips of velcro attached to the inside outer edges of the roof from the apex downwards. There would also be velcro strips attached to the upper edges of the front and back from the apex downwards. Then fit the roof onto the other piece. I think it works in theory.
Here's an excerpt from the video description: We found this plan on Pinterest®. We can’t locate an author’s or publisher’s name, but you can download it yourself by following this link: www.pinterest.com/pin/573927546270983968/
I like that need some more please 😊easy from you but i can only do it on hand saw ( a little pain in the ass) any tips on 45°angles on a hand saw? lol
Although more difficult, it's not impossible, although to get perfect results is difficult. You'll need to clamp the roof pieces vertically somehow and use a 45 degree square to draw a starter line that is extended down both faces. Start cutting carefully from the top and work your way down, keeping the cut on both side in line with your guide lines. Let me know how it turns out!
Nice guide on how to build that plan neatly. How ever, if you are concerned about actual functionality and the well being of the birds thats going to occupy, I would strongly suggest to watch more videos done by bird watchers who have been doing bird boxes for a long time and for different specific birds. There are clearly some points not considered like the draining, venting, more easier hinge method of opening for cleaning and suggestion to hang is a bad idea I felt. It felt more as a Dewalt equipment commercial project at the end.
Love it! Some people like to build decorative, but non-functional, birdhouses for yard art. My intent was to convey that you would end up with a fully functional birdhouse that birds would actually occupy. Best, DFJ
It would be better if you added ventilation by drilling some holes say under the roof overhang; and you must have easy access to clean out the bird's nest for the next year. Otherwise it will be single usage only. The bird's that use a birdhouse must build their own nest and will not use an old one.
I don't mean to be too harsh but there are books and department of ag plans out for actual birdhouses for actual species. This "generic" is basically yard decor.
Thanks for writing. There are indeed lots of plans and approaches out there. However, for a "generic" yard decoration, the birds sure do use them around here year after year. Best, DFJ
I don't think you watched the entire video. The floor is installed with screws that allow you to pivot or remove the floor for clean out or sanitization in the sun. Best, DFJ
Why didn’t you just put two screws opposite each other towards the rear and only one in the front . Then you don;t have to remove 4 screws to do a clean out. Only one then the bottom tilts to clean out.and leave your little handle screw up towards the front.
Thank you for explaining every single detail.
And measurements.
Now I can do my own birth house.
Thanks to you. Show Us.
Also.
Different birdhouses.
In measurements. Thank you for your time.
Everyday we learn something new.
From.
Cleveland Texas.😊
Most welcome 😊
thanks for taking time for making this video
My pleasure!
Super instructional video! I like that no tape measure or rule is used. The width of the picket is perfect. I have tried this and I have made six of these and they took me about an hour each. Again, good stuff!
Glad it was helpful!
I love the way you measure! To cool!
Thanks for this DFJ! I just cut out 24 of these for a summer camp project. The kids will assemble and paint them. This was a perfect way for me to contribute to the camp and the kids so THANKS AGAIN!
Just saw this for some reason! Great to hear that worked out so well for you. Best, DFJ
This is by far the best bird house video I have ever watched. Thanks for this awesome video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
You should watch more birdhouse videos.
It's rubbish...there's no way in to clean it.
This was the best birdhouse build video I have ever watched! Thank you so much! You are a very good teacher.
Wow, thank you! We have an event coming up where our gardening club is going to be building several of these. It's a great project and it's a blast to see the birds move into them. Thanks for watching and writing. Best, DFJ
DFJ, Just wanted to comment and give you a proper thank you. I purchased a picket for this very project and was drawing up a very similar design the night before and then TH-cam slid your video infront of me this morning over coffee. 🤨 To all the watchers, this birshouse took me less than 1 hour to build even with out a few of the tools that DFJ used.
One word of caution is that, becasue the dimensions are so small (5-6 "), you need to pay particular attention to your measurments and account for saw blade thickness.
I planned on mounting mine to a wooden post that is on my deck across from my kitchen window where I eat breakfast. I made to roof flush with the back wall of the house and made the bottom so that it would hang over about 2 inches. I may dress that area up. From the scrap pieces I put a french cleat at the top of the house to mount it to the wooden post and added a piece of scrap at the bottom so that it would not wobble when hung on the cleat. It looks great.
Thanks again for the drawing and video tutorial.
Lonnie - good to hear from you. Glad to be of help! Best, DFJ
DFJ this is a great video to do with the daughter. Thanks!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
A great project for my 11 year old Grandson and me ! Thanks DFJ ! 🙂🚜🐻 Bear Queensland Australia
Our pleasure! Great to hear from you. Best, DFJ
If you install two floor screws, one on each side about an inch in from the back, they will act as hinge pins and you can "latch" the floor in place with a third screw from the front. Building this way allows a "one screw cleanout"...
Brilliant! I'll do this when I build future birdhouses. Thanks for writing! Best, DFJ
This was a great video, thank you. I will be building a few of these today.
Have fun!
As someone who has built over 50 + birdhouses. One big mistake bird house builders make is not making vents at the peaks of the front and rear. The reason for this is to vent the heat out from inside the birdhouse. The summer heat will kill the young birds. You can either drill holes along the peaks or make the side walls a little shorter. Thanks for the video
Great insight. We are actually having a community event tomorrow building these birdhouses, and we've designed into them the feature you've described - the sides are left a bit short to create a gap along the wall but under the edge of the roof. Thanks for watching and writing! Best, DFJ
Great video
Thanks Jay
You're welcome. Thanks for watching and writing. best, DFJ
Thanks for sharing..
Thanks for watching!
No frills!!! Just build a birdhouse😃 .
Spring 2024.great birdhouse plan and instruction on how to make it .the only addition I did was to drill a half inch hole at the top of the peek 0n the front and back to allow for hot damp stale air to stove pipe out, good video .Our club puts many birdhouses out every year and maintain many more here in northern BC Canada . I will send a link to this video to my fellow club members- we will right your youtube name on each house we put up along with ours ,In recognition of you doing your part and that it is your design. Cheers
It would be helpful to the fledglings to have a "ladder" inside to access the hole. Some shallow cuts an eighth of an inch apart that their claws can grip.
Good stuff. Thanks for writing!
Another tip is to add either a piece of cloth or mesh from the inside floor up to the entrance/exit hole. That will greatly help the young birds leave the house.
Great tip!
Good morning from Southeast South Dakota
Morning!
Very nice, elegant design. The only suggestion I have would be to cut the side walls short enough to leave a quarter inch gap along the top under the roof to allow for ventilation. I love the design that allows you to get all the pieces out of a single ticket. Nicely done.
Mark, this is a great tip and there are other people that have mentioned the same thing. We're going to make another version of the birdhouse showing all the tips that have been sent in for this. Thanks for watching and writing! Best, DFJ
Thanks Jay, some good tips there. 😂 🇮🇪
Glad you think so.
Great video, makes following very easy. Thanks. I will be using this for our next woodland venture.
Glad it was helpful!
GREAT Video thank you. !!!!!! JUst had one question ......since all pieces are marked in sequence ,where do you start the cut ? Inside the line - or outside the line- or right in the middle...........?? Thank you again......
Why bother to saw 45 deg. angles at the roof apex ? Jut overlap one over the other ensuring that the length of overlap is added to one piece to ensure the roof on either side appear the same.
So true.
Chill out man
You need an air gap. You don't make it without some place for the air inside can circulate.
That's the lazy way!
Yes, this is the way I do it. Works fine.
The sidewalls need to be 1/4 to 3/8" shorter to allow ventilation.
I just made one today from old deck boards I had. It was a test run for the real thing out of cedar. Worked just fine I made my roof simple by just cutting off the length x thickness of one board then butted the pieces together. I love the simplicity of it all. Thanks. My only problem is that my bird house weighs a lot. Lolol
Great to hear of your project and approach. Thanks for writing! Best, DFJ
If someone is bothered by squirrels, you will need to reinforce the front wall with a piece of metal to keep them from chewing their way in.
Good insight.
Your the first to add ventilation in the bottom. Shouldn't there be places for air to rise out the top of the walls so it's not hot stagnant air inside the box?
Thanks for what you do.
Steve, good insight. The side walls could be cut a bit shorter than the end wall angles so that there is a very slight gap along the two walls. The birds can regulate the air flow as needed with nest material. I'll incorporate that into our next round of bird houses. Thanks for writing! Best, DFJ
Yes just a 1/4 inch gap on both sides of the wall would help them.
Were you the one that cut the corners of the bottom floor?
I watched a 1000 videos on bird house's and wind chimes yesterday
Thanks Mac
@@stevemac8436 - yes indeed, the cut corners give a bit of ventilation, and the gaps we'll now specify at the tops of the walls will even be better. Best, DFJ
Nice project. I normally use a 1-1/8" diameter bit for the hole. This allows birds like Chickadees and Wrens to get in and keeps out invasive House Sparrows.
Great tip!
👍🇺🇸
Thanks!
This might seem like a silly question but I do roofing so I noticed that alot of people don't make thier roofs water proof. In this video I noticed that water will get in where you installed your wire hook. Does the rain not bother the birds?
The small amount of water that does get in under the right conditions has not deterred the birds from using them around our place.
Unfortunately there are a couple serious problems. The biggest issue is lack of ventilation. Eggs and chicks will quickly succumb to high temperatures. It's easy to add ventilation by drilling several 1" holes on the back and sides. Another issue is there is no access door to checks on eggs and chicks and to clean out old nesting material. There should be a predator block over the access hole to prevent predators from reaching in and grabbing eggs and chicks. There sholud also be 3-4 kerf cuts made with a chop saw below the access hole and also on the inside. These allow easy access in and out of the box. Without this some chick may not be able to get out when it's time to fledge. I apologize if this seems critical but it's not how good or cute a bird box looks but rather does it includes all the elements of safety.
Dude good idea make a video adding these things to it
Rather than screw the bottom in, why not drill holes on all four sides into which slighty narrower rust proof nails could be inserted by hand. Then when the box needs to be cleaned they could easily removed with a pliers or pincers and replaced at a later date.
Good idea!
Do you measure out each piece and then cut or do you measure, cut, measure cut? it seems to me that measuring them all first will make each successive piece shorter by the blades width. how do you account for that? do you try and "split" the line with your blade? do you make your marks wide as the blade? i have some spruce fence boards. will those work?
Looks like he drew lines with a sharpie, line width is roughly the same size as blade kerf. So, cut on the line and everything comes out fine.
Great video maybe make the video using non powered tools for the kids
Good idea!
merci, alors la mauvaise idée est d'avoir fait passé le fil de fer à travers le toit toute l'eau va rentrée par le trou du toit guide par le fil en amont.
Oui, vous recevrez un peu d'eau entrant le long du fil, mais très peu, et bien moins que ce que les oiseaux supporteraient avec un nid dans le creux d'un arbre. Nous n'avons eu aucun problème avec les oiseaux qui utilisent les maisons. Si le petit espace est gênant, mettez un peu de calfeutrage dans le trou. Merci d'avoir écrit ! Cordialement, DFJ
Fantastic video and thank you. Have you ever thought about selling any ?
I don’t see this particular plan in the link you supplied.
Hmmmm. The home page of this link provides a graphic of it: www.pinterest.com/pin/573927546270983968/
Ahh, thank you.
Very cool and looks very easy to build. Love the idea of painting it for the garden. Would you ever consider doing a hinge for the bottom with a latch to make it easier to clean?
That's a great idea!
You can also use 16 penny nails (spikes cut short) as pins that stick thru the sides into holes drill into the bottom. Cut them slightly over length so you can pull them easily, and set them with a light tap for the season. 3 or 4 should hold nicely!
Are you using a 7 " blade on a ten inch saw? Looked funny!
Been making these for couple years.
Right on. Any variations you've done over that time that you'd recommend? Best, DFJ
Great Job Dirt Farmer!!!
Do you have any bat house plans?
Not at this point, but we are looking into it. Best, DFJ
I haven’t done so yet, but I’m thinking of experimenting with strips of velcro attached to the inside outer edges of the roof from the apex downwards. There would also be velcro strips attached to the upper edges of the front and back from the apex downwards. Then fit the roof onto the other piece. I think it works in theory.
Let me know how it turns out, John. Best, DFJ
cant find the plan specs you say was listed below
Here's an excerpt from the video description:
We found this plan on Pinterest®. We can’t locate an author’s or publisher’s name, but you can download it yourself by following this link:
www.pinterest.com/pin/573927546270983968/
Jay, I expect to see you expanding your project and being featured on Tv’s ‘Tiny Homes’.
Principles of geometry - which is a form of math, technically speaking.
I like that need some more please 😊easy from you but i can only do it on hand saw ( a little pain in the ass) any tips on 45°angles on a hand saw? lol
Although more difficult, it's not impossible, although to get perfect results is difficult. You'll need to clamp the roof pieces vertically somehow and use a 45 degree square to draw a starter line that is extended down both faces. Start cutting carefully from the top and work your way down, keeping the cut on both side in line with your guide lines. Let me know how it turns out!
What happened to pallet wood? It is cheaper to build stuff with it. I guess picket fence planks are trending now.😅
Chicken wire for the floor works too
Indeed. Thanks for weighing in. best, DFJ
Where do I get the plans for this bird house?
You can use the link in the description - here it is for your convenience:
www.pinterest.com/pin/573927546270983968/
@@DirtFarmerJay thanks. I saw that Pinterest link but didn't connect the dots that it was birdhouse plans. I'm very sorry.
Nice guide on how to build that plan neatly. How ever, if you are concerned about actual functionality and the well being of the birds thats going to occupy, I would strongly suggest to watch more videos done by bird watchers who have been doing bird boxes for a long time and for different specific birds. There are clearly some points not considered like the draining, venting, more easier hinge method of opening for cleaning and suggestion to hang is a bad idea I felt. It felt more as a Dewalt equipment commercial project at the end.
Thanks for the feedback! We plan to do another version of this that takes into account lots of good advice we've gotten from our viewers. Best, DFJ
Where is the description for the typed instruction
There is a link in the description that will take you to the Pinterest page. Best. DFJ
Stupidity can’t be blessed
you had me until you used sheetrock screws. (face palm) good stuff.
You can use deck screws or stainless ones if you prefer. Best, DFJ
cool project my be easier to put the floor in b4 the roof and have the roof on a ninge but nice simple build otherwise
No perch stick to land on?? A twig looks nice.
We don't use a perch as we've found that it gives bigger birds a place to land and use to launch an attack on the baby birds. Best, DFJ
Real birdhouse as opposed to a fake bird house ? Maybe I just don’t understand the thought processes.
Love it! Some people like to build decorative, but non-functional, birdhouses for yard art. My intent was to convey that you would end up with a fully functional birdhouse that birds would actually occupy. Best, DFJ
It would be better if you added ventilation by drilling some holes say under the roof overhang; and you must have easy access to clean out the bird's nest for the next year. Otherwise it will be single usage only. The bird's that use a birdhouse must build their own nest and will not use an old one.
Thanks for the info - it's appreciated.
I don't mean to be too harsh but there are books and department of ag plans out for actual birdhouses for actual species. This "generic" is basically yard decor.
Thanks for writing. There are indeed lots of plans and approaches out there. However, for a "generic" yard decoration, the birds sure do use them around here year after year. Best, DFJ
Useless...no door to clean the inside.
I don't think you watched the entire video. The floor is installed with screws that allow you to pivot or remove the floor for clean out or sanitization in the sun. Best, DFJ
Why didn’t you just put two screws opposite each other towards the rear and only one in the front . Then you don;t have to remove 4 screws to do a clean out. Only one then the bottom tilts to clean out.and leave your little handle screw up towards the front.
Good one. That would work fine. Thanks for watching and writing. Best, DFJ
💸yoo ere. Funee
This was a great video, thank you. I will be building a few of these today.
Have fun!