what wood for bird boxes?

[Homerjh]

as subject really.

most of the online guides give measurements and suchlike for wood that cant be bought easily (ie in B&Q or similar) and also i want to make some for a charity sale, so would prefer not to spend £6 on each, easier just to donate the cash!

so where do you get yours from?

also keen to look at the scroll saw front, like the 'beaver' (urgh not in the uk) but that sort of thing. I have seen 'self build' boxes on some timber merchants, but again, they are cost prohibitive for the requirements.

so any ideas or suggestions, looking to spend £3 each on a box, and then maybe scrollsaw something for the front section to add some interest.

ta

 

[SPSlick]

I use old pallets

 

[beech1948]

Old pallets contain some of the worlds most noxious and dangerous chemicals to preserve them. If you are going to use pallets there are some which are untreated and look like new wood please use those.

 

[thetyreman]

pine, doug fir, cedar, poplar

 

[NazNomad]

...also keen to look at the scroll saw front, like the 'beaver' (urgh not in the uk) but that sort of thing.

I donated a 'beaver bird box' to raise funds for our local school. Auctioned for £98. You'd be surprised how much people that don't live in North America like them.

 

[JJ1]

Ideally the wood used for bird boxes should be at least 15mm thick to provide a good degree of insulation.

 

[SteveW1000]

I've made hundreds of bird box kits to be assembled by children & adults. Use 1 x 6 pine floor boards, about 1.2 metres and a square of 12mm wbp ply for the roof. Strip of commercial carpet tile for the hinge, easy to find thrown out by businesses or carpet fitters. Can also be used to make sparrow tower blocks, Found if used to make sparrow terraces they self destruct so going to use ply for the next batch of these I make.

 

[duncanh]

For bird boxes at work (at a Wildlife Trust) we use regular treated fencing boards.

 

[novocaine]

use pallet wood, but look on the side for the IPPC logo then use the stamp to work out what's in it first.
You're looking for pallets without MB in the code (Methyl bromide), if the stamp isn't there, then it it's one of 3 things.
1, it has been made in the UK for UK only shipping and it's unlikely to contain MB (as we as a country don't use it for fumigation anymore) but it's your call if you think it's safe or not (I'd use it for scrap and temporary supports etc. but not for a bird house).
2, it's got a EUR or EPAL stamp on it. if it's EUR then don't use it, it may have been treated, if it's EPAL then it's a nice new (ish) pallet and it it's fine to use, it meets EPAL standards which means it hasn't been treated with chemicals.
3. it's a single use pallet for bricks etc. easy enough to tell as they tend to not be as robust looking, they are fine to use, they haven't been treated, but they may have fine particles in there from what was on it, which brings us to the next point, what's been on it?

if theres any dodgy looking stains, best not to bother, you can get better from other pallets without much effort.

oh I forgot colours, red, blue and brown. they are from a rental pool (can't remember from the top of my head who's is who's), you can use the red one's if you must, but they may have formaldehyde in (the blues are more likely to have it), not worth using.

for splitting, if it's for bird houses I'd cut them down and leave the stumps, a bit of deck and the nails, you'll only get 12" boards but that should be big enough for a bird house.

 

[Racers]

The last one I made was from Mahogany, it should last a while!

Pete

 

[Homerjh]

For bird boxes at work (at a Wildlife Trust) we use regular treated fencing boards.

always thought you should use untreated, but that may just be a 'thing' and suppose the fence may not be that bad for birds compared to some treatments!

 

[Homerjh]

having a read it seems the issue is CCS treated timber, and this was banned from domestic use in 2003, so looks like may be able to look at fence/gavel boards for it.

 

[graduate_owner]

Naz, what is a beaver bird box please?

K

 

[NazNomad]

 

[graduate_owner]

Haha! Brilliant. Thank you.
I suppose this could start a whole new range of bird boxes based on animals. Actually, why stop at animals? What about Eiffel Tower bird boxes, or Big Ben, any easily recognisable landmark that's not too hard to make, or even a double bird box based on Samantha Fox (remember her? Probably a bit saggy these days) ideal for nesting boxes for **** ( couldn't resist that).

K

 

[Homerjh]

Found some fence planks in B&Q that are on offer for £2 each that work nicely, makes a substantial box, and took about an hour from getting home, getting the tools out and suchlike.

it is treated wood, but googling seems to indicate harmful treatments have been banned, and as these are planned for charity items i dont want to spend £6+ on untreated wood or try to find pallets, so fits the bill..

So will be looking to modify it a bit to add a removable front (for different birds) and maybe some sort of scroll, and no beaver planned, but on the list.

 

[duncanh]

For bird boxes at work (at a Wildlife Trust) we use regular treated fencing boards.

always thought you should use untreated, but that may just be a 'thing' and suppose the fence may not be that bad for birds compared to some treatments!

It's what we've always used. I was discussing making them with the bloke who checks our boxes and that's what he has always used as well. He's a member of the British Trust for Ornithology so would trust his judgement.

You could make them from untreated timber but they'd only last a few years. I was checking some in one of our woods a couple of weeks ago and there were some 5-8 year old ones that were still in good condition and several that were well over 10y.o and maybe over 15 which were still useable.

 

[Ttrees]

I think this has been mentioned here before ...but my fave so far is this mock up old woody hand plane

 

[Rhyolith]

It comes down to how long you want them to last, stuff from B&Q won't last long outside before rotting, nor will most woods. I would recommend Larch and Sweet Chestnut, they last a reasonably long time with or withour treatment.

 

[woodpig]

I personally wouldn't use any "treated" timber no matter what anyone says. There's really no way of knowing if you'd be killing the birds prematurely. Paint on the other hand, just on the outside may be ok? I would have thought any reclaimed hardwood would last for quite a few years untreated.