Wood Birdhouses

"The General Store"

Wood birdhouses are very easy to build and are excellent projects for people just getting into woodworking (and for people who love birds). The general store birdhouse gets his name because it has the look of the storefront of an old western-style general store.

I built this birdhouse from a 1" x 4" cedar fence board. Once I cut all the pieces, it took less than 10 minutes to assemble. Since the fence board was old, the only cost was the galvanized finish nails and wire that it took to hang it from the tree (less than a dollar).

Building the "General Store" Wood Birdhouse

You can build this birdhouse from a solitary 1" x 4" fence board. Use your miter saw or circular saw to cut the following pieces from the fence board:

One 7" x 4" piece (the base)
One 8" x 4" piece (the "store front")
Two 6" x 4" pieces with a 15-degree angle cut at one end (the sides)
One 4 3/4" x 4" piece (the back)
One 6" x 4" piece with a 15-degree Bevel cut at one end (the roof)
One 2" x 4" piece with a 15-degree Bevel cut at one end (the front shed roof)

Again, once you have cut all the pieces, assembly is easy. Follow the instructions below to construct the birdhouse. I used a pneumatic finish nailer with 2-inch galvanized finish nails to fasten the pieces.

Step 1 - Attach the back end piece to the birdhouse base, where the back end piece will sit on top of the base, as shown in the diagram. I cut two 45-degree angles on the front corners of the base for looks.

Step 2 - Attach the sides as shown in this diagram. Nail the side pieces from the underside of the base and from the back piece of the birdhouse.

Step 3 - Attach the front section as shown in the diagram that shows the "storefront" attached.

Step 4 - Drill a 1 1/4" hole in the front so that birds can get in and out, and attach an aluminum wire to the top so that you can hang it from a tree. Attach the back and front roof sections as shown in the diagram, align the front shed roof piece with the back roof, and nail it in place.

Success!

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