Ron Altier Posted May 10, 2019 Report Share Posted May 10, 2019 (edited) I have built some fancy birdhouses for my wife. I used fencing Cedar because it weathers good. Well, I thought it did. Now a few years later, all of them are badly cracked or weathered away. I must also add that they were hit by some big hail. (That I can do nothing about.) However I am up for suggestions on a better wood or perhaps a finish that would help them last longer. The Colorado sun is brutal and destroys most wood in short order. I am not going to repair or rebuild till winter, so there is no rush. Birds are now starting their nests and I discovered how bad they were when I cleaned them out. I patched and repaired enough to get thru summer. They now look NOTHING like they did in the picture Edited May 10, 2019 by Ron Altier add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morris Posted May 10, 2019 Report Share Posted May 10, 2019 Hey Ron, living in So Cal, inland area where we are dry and high temps over the 100's from late June to late August, my dad makes birdhouses every week and sells them. I have had a few of his and our friends have as well, and they seem to weather really well, years actually and I am only guessing the difference between yours and my dads is his are painted and you like to use a more natural finish that lets the UV rays in, while the painted versions probably block the rays pretty good. I am only guessing on that of course. But, with the wonderful style of birdhouses you like to build, painting may not be fitting, I sure like the natural finish you use. Here's a few of Dad's homes. He collects sticks from around his area and makes those log cabin ones, they actually last a very long time without any finish for obvious reasons, they are sticks! And you can see the painted ones, those actually last for 3 or 4 years plus with some fading but they look really good still after many years. I really do think Ron that the paint makes the difference in the longevity, and again the ones that are log cabinish really last because the sticks were gathered locally in his hills, and if you were to leave those sticks were they lay, they'd still be there years later, so to incorporate them into a birdhouse, really gives a hardy material to work with. His homes that are traditional, the red one, and the white and others, those are made of cedar fence boards mainly, and painted, so in that case you have a great material cedar, and the extra protective property of paint. FlGatorwood, HARO50, Harry Brink and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Posted May 10, 2019 Report Share Posted May 10, 2019 Ron you might want to try cypress. A neighbor just put up a new cedar fence and we compared the old boards and new and looks like the new may be about 1/3 thinner and you know very wet. FlGatorwood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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