# Extreme Birdhouses



## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Hi everyone ! 
Whenever i am not working at my son,s house i am building birdhouses . Here are a few more ! 
This is the first time using cedar .I got the scrap wood from my sons deck .
I completely sold out of birdhouses a few weeks ago so i have to stock up again .


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*We can only hope*

That the birds appreciate all the artistry, effort and hard work that you put into these beautiful bird palaces. Go Canada! NIce work.... ......again! :thumbsup: bill


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks Bill ! The birds do love them . Every birdhouse i have up has birds in them . :thumbsup:


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Once again John you have done a fantastic job. These are just simply awesome. I like everything about them. Kind of makes me wish I was a bird. :yes:
Ken


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks again Ken ! 
These small ones are a little boring to build but they sell like crazy . :laughing:
It helps pay for the big ones . I have a few large ones on the go now .
This one is over 7 ft wide 










Someone ordered a copy of this one too but with a red roof .


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Just one question......I see multiple holes in every house and I'm just wondering if these are multi bird dwellings. What I mean is, are there individual compartments inside for each hole or do the holes enter into a common room? You may have answered this before, but the life of me, I can't recall.
Ken


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

All of the rooms are divided up .I build the shell first then add the insides after .All of the insides are removable for cleaning .

This is my largest house so far . It is 9 ft x 9 ft and has 103 rooms .Total height is 18 ft .










I make the insides out of 3/16" plywood .


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That's amazing John. Thanks for sharing. I keep wanting to make a birdhouse replica of our cottage but just haven't had the ambition to get it going. I don't think it would be 9' X 9' however. :laughing:


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

I get a lot of orders for replica,s of homes and cottages . I like creating my own designs the most . 
If you ever want to build one i,ll send you a copy of plans . I have a cape cod and a easy one with straight gables .


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I would love to build one.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*A 10' x 10' should.....*

Be big enough for a few birds and a new scroll saw. How tall are you sitting down?  bill


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> Be big enough for a few birds and a new scroll saw. How tall are you sitting down?  bill


 
:laughing:


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## woodworking1 (Jul 31, 2010)

Absolutely amazing. Great craftmanship, I am sure the birds are quite comfortable in these palaces. Looks like a sof wood like pine,have you ever made them out of cedar? Just think it would give it a different look. Great work and God Bless.
Jeremy


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks Jeremy ! 
The cape cod and the 4 smaller houses are made from scrap cedar .
This is the first time i have used new cedar for birdhouses since i started 5 1/2 years ago . I really like the look of it too . I usually make them 100- 150 year old hemlock barn wood . I have built 107 of them so far . 

Once i finish my sons deck and gazebo i should have enough scrap to build 20 or so .:thumbsup:


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

i think i found a new hobby , my birds are gonna be falcons , eagles owls raptors in general ,imagine tweety sitting on the chimney when a homeowner shows up swoosh nothing but feathers littering the ground haha that is cool you have birds that are uppity snobs, i can see them flying south to a run down lame old bird house, slumming it hahaha


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

John, that is some beautiful work, I really like them, keep up the great work.
I bet you don't have many birds around with all your cats.


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## woody woodturner (Jul 9, 2010)

did you make your own bird town thay look great but the big ones a worry (thinking eagle ,albatross ,emu ):laughing::laughing:


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks again everyone ! 
I still have enough room to put a few more up in the next few weeks . :thumbsup:


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## txpaulie (Jul 21, 2010)

> If you ever want to build one i,ll send you a copy of plans


Does that go for me too..?:yes:

Truly beautiful work.

We've got some wrens here that will build a nest in yer coffee cup if you set it down for a minute.

p


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks P ! 
Send me your email and i,ll send you a copy :thumbsup:


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

txpaulie said:


> Does that go for me too..?:yes:
> 
> Truly beautiful work.
> 
> ...


Your plan is on the way :thumbsup:


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## reprosser (May 19, 2010)

Those are really neat! :thumbsup:At first, I thought you were assembling them like "Lincoln Logs", but I see now that they squared with no cutouts. 

Are they glued in place? 

That is a great use of scrap lumber that I am going to incorporate in my plans. I can use my method of cutting stickers for the sawmill to make birdhouse logs with a more rustic look.


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## reprosser (May 19, 2010)

txpaulie said:


> We've got some wrens here that will build a nest in yer coffee cup if you set it down for a minute.
> 
> p


We must have the same wrens here.:yes: I moved in a mobile home a few weeks ago and opened the small vent window in the bathroom to air out overnight. The next day there was a nest with eggs. The babies hatched out and recently departed, so now the window is closed and nest free.


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

reprosser said:


> Those are really neat! :thumbsup:At first, I thought you were assembling them like "Lincoln Logs", but I see now that they squared with no cutouts.
> 
> Are they glued in place?
> 
> That is a great use of scrap lumber that I am going to incorporate in my plans. I can use my method of cutting stickers for the sawmill to make birdhouse logs with a more rustic look.


I use a tablesaw to cut all the logs , they are nailed with 2 1/2" galv 16 gauge finish nails . They go through 3 logs at once so they hold very well . No glue !


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

*Extreme Birdhouse # 108*

I thought i posted this one but i guess i forgot . :laughing:
I just finished this house on Sunday . It is 7 ft tall 5 ft wide and 4 1/2 ft deep . This house is made from 120 year old bard wood .It has 38 rooms and a roof top pool :boat:


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

dam it i was gonna use my old barn wood hahaha you beat me too it


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

:laughing: I have been building birdhouses with barnwood for the last six years . Just recently i started using scrap cedar .


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That one is gorgeous too. I haven't started mine yet because I have other projects lined up that are in the half done stages. Another great job.
Ken


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

all i seen was the cedar ones lol

i figured old barn wood was beneath a man of your caliber lmao and i wanted to surprise you hahaha


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## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

cranbrook2 said:


> I thought i posted this one but i guess i forgot . :laughing:
> I just finished this house on Sunday . It is 7 ft tall 5 ft wide and 4 1/2 ft deep . This house is made from 120 year old bard wood .It has 38 rooms and a roof top pool :boat:


Hi john it is getting hard to tell where the bird houses start and where they end. Is your house in their some where ? hahaha del


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks Del ! I still have a bit of space :laughing:

The owner of this birdhouse just sent me a message yesterday along with a few pictures . 

Here is what he sent 

John:
We got the birdhouse home without any problems.

The next day, Monday; I started looking for a forklift to hire. Well, there are not many of those four wheel drive lift trucks around that people know of, but as I was driving along the industrial area, saw one sitting at a welding place. Went in and asked the girl if they hire it and the driver out, she put me on the phone with the owner and we agreed on Thursday morning. I had to pay for a tow company flat bed truck to bring it to my house and Paul the owner of the lift came and he picked the birdhouse up in front of my house, drove it down the street to the park entrance and into the park to where my trees are. Had it on top of the trees perfect in about 10 minutes. It took me about 4 hours to have the top of tree trunks perfectly level with a chain saw though. Had to cut in where the braces where as well. After all the engineering of the tree and the measurements of the birdhouse, it fit like a glove. Instead of fence posts as braces for the birdhouse, I used aircraft wire and adjusters. Screwed in eyehooks into the tree and drilled holes for eyehooks through the base of the birdhouse. Worked great and from a short distance you only see the trunks of the tree and the birdhouse on top of it. We took lots of pictures and I will send you some real soon. Looks really great on the trunks and the people in the park are totally amased at what they see. Thanks for a great job and I will send you pictures.
Hank and Deb


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## kenmtb (Jul 15, 2010)

Beautiful work. The birds will be competing to get a space in your mansions. Don't forget us folks who are short on cash, did you ever consider making a bird mobile home? *grin*


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## FiveOneSix (Sep 26, 2009)

*...*

absolutely ridiculous!!! by ridiculous i mean AMAZING! wow!
i made a birdhouse out of MDF and sealed the edges and painted it but now i might have to try one of these!
great work my man!


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thank you Ken and Jason ! :thumbsup:
The biggest problem with MDF is it likes to swell up :thumbdown:
I use hemlock and cedar but pine would work too . 

Your plans are on the way Jason ! :thumbsup:


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## FiveOneSix (Sep 26, 2009)

:notworthy:
SWEET!!!...got em'...can't wait to start!
i'll let you know when i get confused lol.
thanks again dude!!!


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks Jason . It should be pretty easy to do . :laughing:

I just finished another one today . It is 4 ft square x 4 1/2 ft tall . 
This house has 29 rooms and took me 3 days to build .I still have to caulk the seams as soon as i can get some red caulk . This one is going in my yard so i,ll post a few pics once i erect it ! :thumbsup:


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## FiveOneSix (Sep 26, 2009)

*like rocky road...*

I LOVE IT!
haha i work at lowes in lumber/building supplies and what you use for roofing looks just like the metal roofing we sell.
:icon_smile:


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## Richard (Oct 3, 2007)

That the most amazing bird house I ever seen, your birds must be very happy living in those beautiful houses. I've made a few regular bird houses but nothing like the ones you make. Any chance I can have a copy of the plans.

Thanks

Richard


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Richard said:


> That the most amazing bird house I ever seen, your birds must be very happy living in those beautiful houses. I've made a few regular bird houses but nothing like the ones you make. Any chance I can have a copy of the plans.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Richard


Thanks Richard ! Just send me a private email with your address and i will send you one right away .

I just got this house erected about 5 minutes ago . It looks pretty small for 4 ft square and 4 1/2 ft tall .:laughing:


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## Richard (Oct 3, 2007)

I just show my coworker and his eyes bulged.

Thank you for the plans.


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## Angrymaurice (Sep 2, 2010)

I know you've heard this a billion times but once again, I just wanted to say you do some amazing work! I've done a couple simple bird houses but would love to try something like this!


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Angrymaurice said:


> I know you've heard this a billion times but once again, I just wanted to say you do some amazing work! I've done a couple simple bird houses but would love to try something like this!


Thank you Maurice ! If you send me a private email with your address i will email a copy of them free . :thumbsup:


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## pinokeeo (May 7, 2010)

I remember seeing your work on Craftster. I love what you do. It's so amazing to see so many beautiful houses for our feathered friends.

I built a few nest boxes this year for the first time. I can't even imagine building something this big. Nice. Very nice.


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks pinokeeo :thumbsup:
I should have a few new ones done in the next couple of weeks .


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## Angrymaurice (Sep 2, 2010)

cranbrook2 said:


> Thank you Maurice ! If you send me a private email with your address i will email a copy of them free . :thumbsup:


 
I'll make sure and do that as soon as they enable the private messages again


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

dam you, i was out in the shop working and finished early, looked down and seen a bunch of scrap.

was ready to toss into the kindling pile and remembered your thread,

so seeing as i wasn't in a hurry, i started ripping scrap up, it wasn't long and i had me some material,

i just wanted you to know, it was only to get rid of my scraps. well there comes a point when your ripping down scrap and then your ripping new material lol very addictive hahaha

i wish i would of done a blue print but i like to do it by eye as i go and fix mistakes as they come, its the mark of a good carpenter hahaha 

i still have some work to do yet, stone fireplace, landscaping etc. all in due time though. its only a 3500 square inch lol


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

That is a very impressive looking birdhouse ! You really came up with a great design too !! :thumbsup: I,m sure the birds will love it too :yes:

Birdhouses can be very addictive when you have a great imagination . :hammer:


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

thanks cranbrook, if it wasn't for your thread i would of never thought to do one like this 

oh ive done birdhouses before ya know ya whip 10 out in 30 minutes type deal 

you looked at it in different eyes and see what ya did 

for newbs this is really the project they need to do to learn, if you scale it down its really the same deal, as far as angles and all


ripping small stuff down requires addons to the saw for safety.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

That's a great birdhouse. Okay, that seals the deal. I'm starting mine today. Thanks for the inspiration fellas. I'm off to the shop
Ken


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

thanks kenbo, i can see the scroll saw work already hahaaha,

i have to warn you, itis very addicting hahaha you can do everything ya can't afford to do to a real house lmao.

and you say screw the tax accessor hahaha and make it as nice as ya want hahaha.

when ya run out of scrap and ya pick up the new wood just cut it up they sell more everyday lol


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## projectsforwood (Sep 14, 2012)

That is so Cool!! Thanks 

I wrote an article on bird house plans you can check it out here! 

http://projectsforwood.com


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## steamfab (Jun 22, 2012)

What is the word next to extreme? That is definitely your birdhouse! A stellar vision and realization!


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## R.J. (Feb 11, 2011)

Well anything to itself!
Simply fine! I didn't see it earlier.

The big starling house very much resembles Russian style.
Thanks.


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Here is another 35 room mansion i just completed a few days ago .It is made from northern white cedar .


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

Once again John, that's beautiful. Great work.


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## ihackwood (Sep 5, 2009)

It's hard to compete with cranbrook

Very nice job


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## cranbrook2 (Oct 14, 2006)

Thanks guys ! I am working on this model for the 5 th time right now . Everyone keeps asking for a red roof so i am hoping to do green or blue before someone else sees it :laughing:

I am also building a 13 ft wide house in my spare time . I have no idea how it will look until it is done .It already has more then 100 rooms .


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