Cedar splitting - how to protect against weather

[Greg Magone]

I am making a large number (~50) birdhouses for installing on some vacant forested land that we have. Due to the sheer number of birdhouses that I am working on making, I am using low-quality cedar pickets normally used for fence making. They cost $2/picket compared to $10 to $15 for quality lumber, which makes the project affordable.

Anyways, I glue up the birdhouses using Titebond III wood glue and then install #8 exterior wood screws, as I have heard that the wood screw + glue combination will last longer. Unfortuantely, the cedar often splits a little as I install the screw.


My question is what should I do to protect the cedar split from the elements? My concern is that the split area will allow water instrusion and therefore will start to decay the wood faster in this location. The easiest way to protect the wood is to smear a little wood glue on the outside, but perhaps that isn't necessary?


I would like the birdhouses to last about 10 years outside. I'm staining them with fence stain to help protect them and might need to restain them in 5 years or so.


Below is a picture of the first 5 birdhouses.

[Peter Christensen]

Are you pre drilling the holes before running in the screws? Clearance through the first piece and minor diameter for the threads to bit in the second.

How will you open them up to clean them out? The pests will carry over from year to year if you don't. Lice and mites.

[Greg Magone]

Are you pre drilling the holes before running in the screws? Clearance through the first piece and minor diameter for the threads to bit in the second.

How will you open them up to clean them out? The pests will carry over from year to year if you don't. Lice and mites.

Yes, I am predrilling but not countersinking. I think the splitting might be happening when the head compresses the wood. My new process is to use the drill to install the screw most of the way and then hand tighten the remainder. The new process has greatly reduced the amount of splitting. Still, I need to go back and fix the ones that have partially split (or just put them up and see how they fare).

As far as cleanout, I have no plans to clean them out. Birds will have to figure out what to do on their own, just as in nature. Honestly I don't expect birds to use the houses in the first place and that's fine. They are being installed more for appearance than function.

[Lee Schierer]

switch to round head screws to stop your splitting problem

[John K Jordan]

You can buy countersinks that also drill the pilot and clearance holes at the same time. I don't get any splitting with those.

In case any birds use the houses you might check about the health benefits to them from cleaning the boxes out every year. I use a similar design and simply fasten the roof on with a hinge at the top.

JKJ

As far as cleanout, I have no plans to clean them out. Birds will have to figure out what to do on their own, just as in nature. Honestly I don't expect birds to use the houses in the first place and that's fine.

[Jim Becker]

It's actually easy to hinge the bottom for clean out simply by how some screws are installed, too.

[rudy de haas]

Cedar is very soft - if you don't want to lightly hand tighten the screws, try a washer with a hole just big enough to partially "countersink" the screw head. Birds, remember, won't care what it looks like.

Western red cedar lasts a very long time exposed to the elements. My house has a cedar fence that was put in circa 1992 and looks like weathered barn wood now, but is structurally completely solid. To my knowledge there has been no maintenance of any kind done on it. The house itself is cedar sided with the initial siding going on in, I think, 1977. When we bought the house circa 2005 I used many many many gallons of cedar oil (really just a wood oil) with a high presure sprayer on it - probably it's first maintainence effort ever. Since then I've had to do nothing - and it looks great.

[John K Jordan]

. The house itself is cedar sided with the initial siding going on in, I think, 1977. When we bought the house circa 2005 I used many many many gallons of cedar oil (really just a wood oil) with a high presure sprayer on it - probably it's first maintainence effort ever. Since then I've had to do nothing - and it looks great.

I should have done that on my house when we bought it in 2003. The western cedar siding was installed in '88 along with cedar shake shingles which from the evidence were replaced before too long. However, by the time we bought the house the siding was already deteriorating in places. That makes me wonder if not all cedar siding was created equal, or perhaps the climate is different here (hot, humid summers, full sun, hilltop with no protection from wind). We finally tore off and replaced all the siding in just the last few weeks. The old stuff sure burns nicely.

JKJ