Thanks for the responses I like things which last and that don't need any upkeep. I think i'm going to order one or two of those Woodstone boxes too, I don't mind paying the money as it looks like they'll outlast me. As someone else noted earlier, I've also seen the blue tits looking around for nesting sites. I have a feeling the new nesting boxes may be too new for them, after a year outside hopefully we'll get some residents next year. It's stop the owls from taking them too.
Slow-worm Haha, the first thing I thought when seeing them was 'Hmmm, wonder if I could make some of those?' No, carboard would be too flimsy and the water from the concrete would soak into it an make it worse. You'd need wood, plywood really to make a mould box, forming temporary enclosures for concrete is also known as 'shuttering'. Often made from wood the formwork is coated in an oil so it releases when it's set.
You can buy moulds for them, expensive though but if you were making several it would work out cheaper. Don't think I could be bothered with the faff. If the weather is decent tomorrow I might review the bird box situation. I know I need about 4 but the others can be cleaned and put back up - I think. I have 10 bat boxes too they've only been up 2 years so they will be ok.
@MikeOxgreen well there was method in my madness there, lol, I thought if the concrete set before the cardboard lost its shape, I wouldn't have to take it off - it could just be scrubbed off when the mix was dry, and that would mean no breakage. I'll come up with some genius plan one day! 😄 Ply and oil would be easy enough, and maybe a wooden slide-in back or front piece.
If you mean you want to make your own concrete nesting boxes @Slow-worm, a bit of shuttering made with almost any wood will suffice, as long as you take a bit of time to construct it and have it secure. You can get ready mixed concrete which makes it easier too. It wood be ideal for that. You need something for the inner casing, so make that first, then make the outer, and check it's thick enough etc. Just make sure you also have a suitable bit of pipe, or similar, to put in for the entry hole before you use the concrete though....
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
While I was checking out the woodcrete bird boxes on line I came across a couple of sites that explained how to make woodcrete. It is 1 part cement to 3 parts sawdust plus water, You need a former, I have no idea how you would make one for a nest box, 3 boxes inside each other, a piece of plastic pipe for the entry hole, the corner of a card board box set at an angle for the roof? I am sure someone on here will come up with a solution. A similar process to making the "tufa?" troughs and sinks in days of yore. They were a cement powder and peat/compost mix. I have decided to ask for some woodcrete boxes from the family for my next birthday present as I am also usually asked what would I like as a present.
Even a simple wood mould which would survive for just a few castings would take days to make - depending on how complex the shape is of course. I found some more basic slab sided woodcrete boxes last night, but they were no-where near as attractive as the ones in the last link. Moulds are so time consuming to create they're made for repetition work, so the time invested is dissolved by the amount of items you create to sell/gift.
Whilst a basic mould to make a few would be made from wood, the ones the manufacturers have will be made from more resilient materials.
Yes - woodcrete is different from concrete, as the name suggests, but ready mix concrete will also work. You'd just do it [the construction] in several stages @Joyce Goldenlily , especially if you wanted a conventional 'cube', and then you could make the roof removeable - in wood, but with a coating if needed. I have lots of little offcuts of roofing felt which would do the job. A piece of slate or old roof tile would also work, and you'd just have to find a way of attaching/removing it. Dowels/pegs, and holes, for example. They might be a bit rough and ready, but the birds won't mind
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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I ordered a couple of these in the early hours, as you do or at least as I do. I like the fact that the front of these ones are dark instead of a creamy white.
https://www.vivara.co.uk/woodstone-bilbao-32mm-oval-hole-nest-box
I like things which last and that don't need any upkeep. I think i'm going to order one or two of those Woodstone boxes too, I don't mind paying the money as it looks like they'll outlast me.
As someone else noted earlier, I've also seen the blue tits looking around for nesting sites. I have a feeling the new nesting boxes may be too new for them, after a year outside hopefully we'll get some residents next year.
It's stop the owls from taking them too.
No, carboard would be too flimsy and the water from the concrete would soak into it an make it worse.
You'd need wood, plywood really to make a mould box, forming temporary enclosures for concrete is also known as 'shuttering'. Often made from wood the formwork is coated in an oil so it releases when it's set.
If the weather is decent tomorrow I might review the bird box situation. I know I need about 4 but the others can be cleaned and put back up - I think.
I have 10 bat boxes too they've only been up 2 years so they will be ok.
Ply and oil would be easy enough, and maybe a wooden slide-in back or front piece.
Just make sure you also have a suitable bit of pipe, or similar, to put in for the entry hole before you use the concrete though....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have decided to ask for some woodcrete boxes from the family for my next birthday present as I am also usually asked what would I like as a present.
I found some more basic slab sided woodcrete boxes last night, but they were no-where near as attractive as the ones in the last link.
Moulds are so time consuming to create they're made for repetition work, so the time invested is dissolved by the amount of items you create to sell/gift.
Whilst a basic mould to make a few would be made from wood, the ones the manufacturers have will be made from more resilient materials.
A piece of slate or old roof tile would also work, and you'd just have to find a way of attaching/removing it. Dowels/pegs, and holes, for example.
They might be a bit rough and ready, but the birds won't mind
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...