Bird House

[Dynaglide625]

Hi everyone-Hope I am in the right forum for this.
A few weeks ago my niece (7 yrs.) was visiting from VA, and I thought it would be a nice idea for Erin & Maggie to do a craft together. So.....down to AC Moore for two birdhouses and acrylic paint. The girls had a great time painting them, but didn't have time to seal the paint before Maggie left for home. My question is, what type of sealant can they use to protect their art outdoors? I'm afraid of polyurethane, wouldn't the fumes remain inside the birdhouse for a long time? :shrug: We need something that will be weatherproof, but not hurt our outdoor friends. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help as always, Anne

[Shirley]

I would not seal the inside at all.

We make bird houses, and my husband's construction class makes them as a class project. They use any kind of wood they can find, so long as it is NOT treated wood, and they do not paint/stain/ or treat the inside at all. They stain or paint the outside if they want to. These bird houses last "forever" and the birds love them. They mainly use cedar and pine for their wood.

~ Shirley

[Jean]

Shirley, If at all possible, I would love to see some pics of Steves class project sometime. That is a great idea and does wild birds some good.

[Shirley]

OK, but you'll laugh... they all bring in old license plates, bend them at 90 degrees I think, and that is the top of the house, then the rest is a plain bird house with a wren size hole. We have two of them, and one has my old Louisiana license plate as the top. The boys made it and gave it to me for Christmas 8 yrs ago, and the birds are still building in it!

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow...

[Jean]

OK, but you'll laugh... they all bring in old license plates, bend them at 90 degrees I think, and that is the top of the house, then the rest is a plain bird house with a wren size hole. We have two of them, and one has my old Louisiana license plate as the top. The boys made it and gave it to me for Christmas 8 yrs ago, and the birds are still building in it!

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow...

Now, that is artistic! I can imagine the birds love it with their own designer plates. Now, I know where to send my old plates. :)

[Dynaglide625]

Thanks for the input ladies. I wasn't planning on doing anything with the interior of the birdhouse, I figured the little guys could "decorate" it themselves. I was just concerned with protecting the exterior. I think the craft store has a finishing coat that can be used outdoors, and it would be safe I think, otherwise they wouldn't sell it to children. Right? Or am I being naive? Thanks again, Anne

[Shirley]

IMO, I don't believe it will hurt anything to polyurethane the outside if you want, but it's not necessary. Our houses are fine years later left natural. Get an oil-base stain and that will last forever, practically, and look better than p-urethane, imo. More natural.
:)

[Jean]

Annie, we used polyurethane on the exterior on a couple bird houses many years ago and also left the inside plain sanded. All I remember is that they were made of pine and had wood shingles for the roof.

[Dynaglide625]

Wow Jean-Shingles for the roof? How up-town! Next you'll provide A/C & indoor plumbing! J/K Anne

[Jean]

Wow Jean-Shingles for the roof? How up-town! Next you'll provide A/C & indoor plumbing! J/K Anne

:roflmao2: :roflmao2: Really, only because we had some extra! LOL
When I was a scout leader we made some bird houses out of woven palm leaves, then used popsickle sticks for the exterior roof. They turned out pretty good. We also lined the inside with some loose straw.

[Silvanus]

OK, but you'll laugh... they all bring in old license plates, bend them at 90 degrees I think, and that is the top of the house, then the rest is a plain bird house with a wren size hole. We have two of them, and one has my old Louisiana license plate as the top. The boys made it and gave it to me for Christmas 8 yrs ago, and the birds are still building in it!

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow...

Would love to see the pictures.
Over here in Singapore we rarely see birdhouses. Infact most of the parrots are kept in cages.

[Shirley]

Those are like the cages we keep our parrots in. The birdhouses I'm talking about are for the wild birds to build their nests in, such as wrens. :)