Four by Four Martin House Column
I started construction of the purple martin house with some one by eight cedar wood. I cut and nailed, I used my air nail gun, the wood into a square column that would fit loose around a 4 by 4 post. The column will be used to support the house and be the core of the martin bird house. The reason I want the column to fit loose is so the birdhouse can be slid up and down on a four by four allowing for easy access and cleaning.
Martin House Column Floor Stop
Next I used some scrap cedar to create a one by two stop for the first floor six inches from the bottom of the column. Again this was nailed using the air nail gun.
Martin House First Level
The first floor was measured and cut from the scrap plywood that started the project. The first floor is the smallest of all the floors. As you can see from all the pencil marks I measured a few times before getting it right.
Martin House All Levels
I made the other three levels progressively larger to give the martin house a tapered look. In the photo above I test fit all the floors over the column to make sure everything would line up correctly when it was assembled.
Martin House Second Level Added
Here the second floor was added six inches above the first floor using the same size stop that was used on the first floor. The stop for the third floor was also added six inches above the second floors.
Martin House Fourth Level Added
The fourth floor stop and level was added again six inches above the last floor.
Martin House Floor Framing
The framing to sturdy up the floors and give something to mount the sides to were then added. This process took awhile because I had to notch each floor to match the two by two stock that was used for the framing and get each floor measured correctly.
Martin House Siding
I cut the siding from some quarter inch underlayment that I had around the garage left over from a kitchen floor project I did a few years ago.
Martin House Siding Complete
Now all the siding is done It is starting to look like something. Each floor is at least six by six or larger as required by Purple Martins.
Martin House Gables
The martin house gables were cut from the same plywood that was used for the floors. I will continue this project after it warms up outside or later in spring. It’s very cold outside and my little garage heater doesn’t heat so well.
Until next time happy birding!!