Robert Bosch GmbH

Birdhouse for balcony and garden

Expedition into the animal

kingdom.
Birdhouse
Animal researchers can
soon go on the lookout
and rediscover the world
outside their own balcony
door of large and small
animals.

1 Introduction
This nest box for songbirds will breathe new life into your garden or balcony.
Even a beginner can easily build the birdhouse within half a day. The costs are
approx. £15.
The following construction guide applies to 12 mm thick birch multiplex panels.
Simply have the panels cut to size at a DIY store or by your carpenter. If you
use other materials or material with a different thickness, adapt the parts list
accordingly.
The birdhouse can be either stood up or hung up. You will need cord for the
hanging version. It will also serve to secure the roof. To make the standing
version, simply mount a broomstick to the base plate of the birdhouse to serve
as a stand.
You will find a detailed material list and the construction drawing under the link
entitled “Downloads for the project”.
Required power tools:
> Jigsaw
> Cordless drill/driver
> Cordless screwdriver
> Fine spray system
Other accessories:
> Scribing square or set square
> Compass
> Universal drill bit, 4–10 mm diameter
> Pencil, folding rule
> Sanding paper, grit of approx. 150
> Paintbrush (or spray gun)
> Countersink
> Scrap panel to rest the workpiece on
> For your own protection: Face mask, protective glasses, gloves
Robert Bosch GmbH

Detailed material list:

pcs Designation Length Width Thickness Material
1 Baseplate 350 mm 200 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
2 Side border 350 mm 40 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
1 Front border 224 mm 40 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
2 Side walls 175 mm 190 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
2 Gable walls 275 mm 200 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
1 Roof 245 mm 212 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
1 Roof 245 mm 224 mm 12 mm Birch
multiplex
1 Dowel rod 300 mm 10 mm 20 mm
1 Broomstick as leg 1,000 20 mm 20 mm
mm
4 Cord 1,000 20 mm
mm
27 Flat head screws, 3.5 x
35 mm
1 Flat head screw, 4.50 x
50 mm (standing version
only)
approx. 0.5 l acrylic paint,
white

2 Cutting the front and back wall to size

First transfer the front design from the construction drawing onto the front
panel. Mark the roof slopes using the ruler and mark the entrance hole using
the compass. Use a pencil to also mark the two holes underneath the peak for
the hanger and the hole for the landing pole.
Now saw out the roof gable along the lines using the jigsaw. To do so, fix the
front panel with G-clamps on the edge of your worktable in such a way that you
can saw without sawing into the table. Once you have sawn the first roof slope,
you have to re-position the workpiece and clamp it again.
You can use the sawn front as a template for the rear wall. Mark the roof
slopes and the holes for the hanger and cut the rear wall accordingly. To make
sure that the edges are nice and clean, deburr them with the multi-sander.
Robert Bosch GmbH

Now drill the corresponding holes in the front and rear wall of the birdhouse.
Put the front panel on pieces of square timber so that you do not drill into the
worktop, and fix everything with G-clamps. Drill the three small holes for the
hanger and the landing pole with the 10-mm wood drill bit.
To make it quick and easy to saw the entrance hole, use a holesaw as the
accessory on your drill. If you do not have a holesaw, drill several small holes
with the 10-mm drill bit, once through the centre and four times on the edge of
the entrance hole (at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock). Now use the jigsaw to saw from
the centre to a hole on the edge and then along the circle from hole to hole.
You may need to re-position the workpiece and re-clamp it several times.
You only drill the two small holes for the hanger in the rear wall.
3 Connecting the front and back wall to the side sections
The front and rear wall are screwed to the side sections with four screws each.
Put the walls together in the position that they will later be screwed together
and mark the inner edges of the side sections on the front and on the rear wall
using a pencil. Separate the parts again and mark the position of the screws
in the exact middle between the marked line and the edge. The screw holes
should be about 4 cm in from the top and bottom.
Pre-drill the screw holes in the front and in the rear wall using the 4-mm drill
bit. Now you put the front or the rear wall and the side section together in the
same position in which they will be screwed together and use a 3-mm drill bit
to drill through the holes into the side section. Also pre-drill the other holes in
the side sections in the same way.
Then use the cordless screwdriver to assemble the front and back and the
side sections with screws (3.5 x 35 mm). Make sure that the screw heads are
completely countersunk.
4 Preparing and mounting the floor panel
First mark the holes for fixing the bird feed on the floor panel and drill them
with the 8-mm or 10-mm drill bit.
The floor panel is fixed to the birdhouse from below with 8 screws, two per
house wall. You therefore place the floor panel on your worktop with the bottom
facing up. Put the four walls of the birdhouse on top of this. Then trace the
outline of the house on the inside and outside using a pencil. Take the house
off again and now mark the screw holes in the middle of the marked contour of
the walls, each 4 cm away from the corners.
Pre-drill the holes through the floor panel and in the bottom of the walls as
described. Fit the floor panel from below with screws (3.5 x 35 mm). Again
make sure that the heads are cleanly countersunk.
5 Fitting the fence
Now you fit a fence to your birdhouse. It consists of a shorter strip at the front
and two longer strips at the sides. Fit the side strips with four screws each and
the front strip with three screws as specified in the construction drawing of the
floor panel. Don’t forget to pre-drill!
Robert Bosch GmbH

6 Making the gabled roof

The gabled roof is not screwed to the walls. Instead it is hung to the house
by cords. To guide the cords, before assembling the roof you drill two 10-
mm-diameter holes through each of the two roof halves as described in the
construction drawing.
Now the two roof sections are screwed together to form a gabled roof. Mark
the holes for the screws as described earlier, pre-drill again and make sure that
the screw heads are completely countersunk.
7 Fitting the pole for the standing version
If you do not want to hang the birdhouse up, you will now need a stand. Use
a standard broomstick for this. To fit it to the birdhouse, take the roof off again
and use the 5-mm drill bit to drill a hole in the middle of the floor. Pre-drill the
broomstick accordingly with the 4-mm drill bit. Then apply some glue to the
broomstick and fix it on the floor panel by driving the screw (4.5 x 50 mm) into
it from above and through the floor.
8 Fitting the cord for the hanging version
You will need two cords per gable side for the hanger. Measure the length that
you need and add 10 cm to each. Take two cords and tie a dowel to the end of
each one to act as a holder. Now thread the cords through the bottom hole in
the gable from the inside out and back in through the top hole. Now thread the
cords through the holes in the roof by guiding one cord through the hole on the
left-hand side and the other cord through the hole on the right-hand side of the
roof. Do the same on the opposite gable side. Now you can tie the cord ends
together and hang the birdhouse up.
9 Painting the visible surface
Before painting, you should detach the roof again to paint it separately.
If you are using a fine spray system, pour the paint into the paint tank and
dilute it if necessary with water. Using a test board, adjust the spray jet at the
nozzle and the paint flow at the setting wheel. The spray jet can be set to
horizontal or vertical for surfaces and tapered for edges.
10 Done
The birdhouse is finished. Scatter some bird feed into it so that it quickly
receives some visitors.

Bosch does not accept any responsibility for the instructions stored here. Bosch would also like to point
out that you follow these instructions at your own risk. For your own safety, please take all the necessary
precautions.