Outhouse Style Birdhouse

Recently, I moved into a new house where the backyard is not much else but grass, a couple trees, and fencing. Somehow, the yard just did not have enough life in it. To fix this, my family and I decided on attracting the neighborhood birds to our yard with a bird feeder. This has worked very well, with whole flocks of birds visiting our yard every day for the seed, but still, our yard is quite clear of any decoration. To begin to fix that problem, I decided to build a birdhouse, which is not only good for decor, but also would bring even more birds to our yard. If you would like to do the same for your backyard, or just want to build a birdhouse for the fun of it, then this instructable is for you.

For this birdhouse, you will need:

-Plywood with a 1/2 inch width

-Plywood with a 3/4 inch width

-A drill (~1/16 inch drill bit)

-An electric saw (or a really good hand saw and some muscle)

-Sandpaper

-2 hinges w/ screws

-A pencil

-Measuring tape

With the 1/2 inch wide plywood, you will want to cut 2 rectangles with the following dimensions:

8.75"x6.5" - door

6.5"x1.5" - wall between door and roof

With the 3/4 inch wide plywood, cut 3 rectangles with these dimensions:

10"x9" - roof

6.5"x8.75" - back

6.5"x8" - base

Additionally, with the 3/4" plywood, cut 2 trapezoids with these dimensions:

8" - base

9.5" - side

11" - side

Draw the dimensions for a bird hole on what will be the door. The center of the hole should be 2" from the top of the door, and the diameter should be 1.5"

Using a drill, bore holes on the circle. Try to make them as close together as possible. After this, the piece will likely still be stuck, so using the drill, try to drill diagonally by entering one hole and drilling towards another. This should work to free the piece, and form the hole.

Another way in which this could be done would be to drill a hole in the middle, and then using a hack saw, make a cut on the circle.

Now that the piece has come out, the hole is there, but with rough edges. Using sandpaper, sand the inside of the hole until the hole is smooth and circular. In the image above, I could have continued sanding to make it even more circular, but I thought it was good enough. Main thing is to sand until the hole is smooth (Don't want the birds to cut themselves).

Mark out where the 2 hinges will go on the door and the side piece. This can be done with pencil, just in the picture, I have the screw entry points marked with the screws themselves. Make 1 hinge 1/2" from the bottom of the door, and the other 1/2" from the top of the door (Note that this is unlike the picture, where the hinges are not centered). Once this is done, drill holes in the marked points for the hinge screws. Finally, place the hinges on the marked places and screw them into the door.

Next, find one sidepiece, and connect the door to the 11" side of the trapezoid shaped sidepiece. Make the bottom of the door be a shade more than 3/4" from the bottom of the sidepiece. This is to make sure the door can swing freely into the door frame. Once in position, screw the hinges into the sidepiece.

Using nails longer than 1", connect the pieces of the birdhouse. Start with the base and the back piece. Hammer the back piece onto the base, allowing the base to be underneath the back piece. Make sure the base edge is flush with the back.

Take a sidepiece, and position it so that the 9.5" side is flush with the back. Also, make the 8" base flush with the base, so that the bottom of the sidepiece becomes part of the base.

Next, connect the 6"x1.5" piece to the 11" side of the sidepiece. Make it flush with the front of the sidepiece. Be sure it is positioned so that it makes the third side for the frame of the door.

Connect the sidepiece holding the door like the other sidepiece is connected, but on the other side. Be sure the door can fit in the resulting door frame.

Lastly, fit the roof onto the birdhouse. Center the roof widthwise. Make the back of the birdhouse flush with the back edge of the roof.

After putting all of the wooden planks together, you should have a completed birdhouse! Of course, if you would like, you can add paint, add a perch, or anything else to customize it. Keep in mind, the dimensions used in this instructable by no means need to be followed. If there is a certain type of bird you would like to attract to your backyard, make sure you do research on what the proper dimensions for the birdhouse would be for the best chance of seeing it, including what hole size would be needed, and adjust them accordingly. If you do not mind who visits your backyard, then just follow these dimensions to be safe. Hopefully, this instructable serves as a good guide for building a birdhouse. If you have any questions, comments, or advice on improvements, just leave a comment below!