Bird House 2 by 4

To begin, you will need your two planks of two by four wood. You will need any type of saw. This could be a band saw or a table saw or any other saw that can cut well. Clamps will be needed too.

-2 planks of four by wood

-Any type of saw (Band saw, table saw, etc)

-Drill

-Dowel

-Glue

The first thing you want to do is measure the halfway mark of both pieces of wood along the thin side of the planks of wood. The width should equal one inch on both sides. However, If the entirety of the board is less than one two inches, always aim for the middle. Example: if the entirety of the width is 1.5 inches, put the line on the .75 inch mark.

Next, mark the longer side of the board into seven pieces that are eight inches long. Again, if you’re height and width of the board are not exactly two by four, then adjust accordingly. Example: If the board is 3.5 inches instead of 4 inches, then make the marks at 7.5 instead of 8.

Once all the marking is complete, your next move is to cut all the marks you have created. After that, you should have seven pieces that are 8 inches by 4 inches by 1 inch (changed only if your measurements are off).

Once you have all seven pieces. You want to label them so you remember where you want them to go. Soon the roof will be put on but it will not be a normal flat roof. Take into consideration that the piece of board that you will designate to be the ‘floor’ piece will need to be modified to a shorter piece of wood to accommodate for the other pieces to fit in correctly.

For your front side, outline a hole by utilizing any circular object that is about the size of a soda can and then cut it out. It must be in both pieces of the front so that it is in the middle.

Measure a dot for every piece of the board that will be touching another board. These holes will be used as connectors for all the pieces, so you should make as much as you need. The dowels will be placed in these holes to connect both pieces to each other.

Take any type of drill and drill your hole into all the dots of the boards. Remember to take into account the size of your dowels and and the glue needed to stick them in the holes. This will aid you in your combination process.

At this point in your project, it would be a good idea to take all your pieces and verify that they are the proper length and width so that your dowels will fit in. Once this is completed, you can start placing your dowels into the holes and gluing the pieces together. I suggest using a hot glue gun, but any glue will work fine.

Finally, you want to cut two last pieces for the top of your birdhouse. These should be the same lengths as the sides. The only difference is that these pieces will need to have a diagonal edge to fit neatly together.

Enjoy your final product! Try to put it someplace where you can enjoy it and where birds can reach it without squirrels entering!