8 ROOM PM HOUSE IDEA

BumBee · Tue Feb 27, 2018 8:10 pm

The plan is to use cedar fence boards for material. I can not find 1/2 inch
material aside from plywood. The cedar fence boards are way much lighter
that a 1/2 inch plywood.

Dave Reynolds · Tue Feb 27, 2018 9:35 pm

Good looking house.. What type of program do you use to draw the house ?? Looks like fun to work with..

Dave

William Bagwell · Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:07 am

Do not know enough about PM houses to offer any constructive criticism, but looks good to me... Do wonder how you plan to join the edges on the roof? Those boards are rough sawn (make great bat house baffles!) seems like it would be labor intensive to smooth out the edges enough to get a water tight glue joint. At least for folks who do not have a fully equipped wood shop.

BumBee · Wed Feb 28, 2018 2:53 pm

Pro-e 3D program.

Main body joints are glued (water proof) and brad nails. I plan to cover the roof with FlexSeal product. If it is as good
as it is advertised, it will be good.

Dave Reynolds · Wed Feb 28, 2018 3:51 pm

Thanks ... BumBee.

Dave

Don Troha · Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:57 pm

Maybe add some hinges to the side panels for quick access to the compartments for nest checks.

BumBee · Fri Mar 02, 2018 5:33 pm

In order to cut weight, I opted to use two screws and a cabinet door magnet
to attach the entrance wall on to the module. Here is what it would look like
with the entrance wall open for nest access.

Don Troha · Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:36 pm

Okay I couldn't tell from the previous photos that the doors swing open downward. This looks okay but I don't like the magnets. A heavy bird like a hawk or owl might be able to pop open the door by just landing on the porch. Or if a raccoon climbs the pole and grabs the porch...

shaddo · Fri Mar 02, 2018 9:52 pm

Don Troha wrote:Okay I couldn't tell from the previous photos that the doors swing open downward. This looks okay but I don't like the magnets. A heavy bird like a hawk or owl might be able to pop open the door by just landing on the porch. Or if a raccoon climbs the pole and grabs the porch...

You could put a small piece of wood like a bar going across the top beside the magnet attach to the top then put a small bolt through for a wingnut. It wouldn't take but like 2-3 twist of the wingnut to hold it together especially if you used the magnets. I don't think it would be that big of a burden when doing inspections.

BumBee · Sat Mar 03, 2018 9:03 am

Good point, You see I do not have "Climbers" problem where I live.
Hawk on the other hand is. I will rattle my brain one more time.

Don Troha · Sat Mar 03, 2018 2:34 pm

I haven't caught one climbing my pole but I know they are here.

Dave Duit · Sat Mar 03, 2018 7:46 pm

The cedar fence boards are your best bet for 1/2 inch. I have built with these boards and they work well for such projects. Best of luck my friend.

BumBee · Sun Mar 04, 2018 6:45 pm

Here is the door latch I came up with as a back up latching system. If the magnet
fails, this door latch will for sure hold the entrance in place. The spring keeps a constant down
ward pressure on this door latch.

I like the magnet for it keeps the entrance door from rattling.

BumBee · Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:11 pm

I think this latch will work well, it looks good in the 3D world.

Don Troha · Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:07 pm

Looks good to me. If trapping becomes necessary the compartment size should allow for inserting something like a universal trap and it looks like there's plenty of room for this. Will you be building this house?

BumBee · Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:31 pm

I would like to see this up in the air. if I decide to build, I will have to replace the two 12 room aluminum PM housing
on two poles I built 18 years ago. It is not attracting PMs any more. I have friends that have barn looking plastic housing
and they are full of PMS.I would like to see my design come to life to see if its worthy to hoisted atop my two
PM housing poles.

I think a wooden PM house will be more attractive to the PMs.