Cedarnest Bluebird Houses | Product review

Posted in Product Reviews on April 07, 2015.  Last modified on April 30, 2019. Read disclaimer.

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Living on a small farm, we have 20+ bluebird houses mounted around and have had wonderful luck attracting bluebirds each year.

I used to build the houses myself but that obviously took time, patience and required repainting them every couple of years. (I'd use regular lumber since cedar is expensive and pressure treated wood should be avoided -- baby birds peck on the interior wood and wet, pressure treated wood releases harmful vapors).

I'd occasionally picked up birdhouses each fall at Lowe's during their seasonal clearances sales -- however, that was pretty hit-or-miss and often the houses didn't have the block of wood around the opening which serves as a predator guard, so I'd again spend time modifying them.

Last year, while doing an online search for "inexpensive bluebird houses," we purchased 6 Cedarnest bluebird houses and we couldn't be happier. (Compensation disclaimer: As affiliates of Amazon.com, we receive a small commission if you click on that link to buy.)

Things we love about the Cedarnest bluebird houses that we bought -- along with one possible weakness:

Cedarnest Bird House Pros:

• Very affordable... especially when purchased by the 4-pack or more.
• Made of weather-resistant, non-pressure-treated Western Red Cedar.
• Predator guards are already in place.
• Door swivels open from the top so, to clean the box, you can sweep the old nest right out.
• Super easy to mount and clean since the front swings open. (Another benefit of birdhouses that open from the front is that this prevents the most common predator problem of raccoons, etc. opening the top of the birdhouse.)
• Simple and durable design. This is nice since we've had a couple of the more ornate birdhouses from Lowe's (ones with ridged-type roofs) split in spots where the manufacturer placed wood staples.

Cons:

• Some other bluebird house designs have ventilation slots just below the roof. I'm not sure how important this is but it's not a part of the Cedarnest design.

Mounting suggestion:

After experimenting with all sorts of pipes and posts for mounting bluebird houses, I believe we've finally come upon the perfect solution:

1. Drill 1/4" hole in center of back board of the birdhouse.
2. Insert a 1/4-20 stainless steel screw from the inside of the birdhouse so that the threads stick out the back.
3. Push the thread side of screw through one of the top holes of a 7' tall steel U-post from Lowe's so that the back of the birdhouse fits tight up against the flat site of the U-post. (I believe that 6' above ground is a good height for bluebird houses -- so this allows for 1' to be in the ground. And if you wait 'till after a rain, when the ground is soft, the post can be pushed most of the way in with your shoe. Otherwise, a small sledgehammer may be needed. The benefit of using a metal U-post rather than a metal T-post is that U-posts 1) have the one side that is perfectly flat and 2) the screw holes are predrilled. And, I'd never use wooden posts since they just seem to be inviting predators.)
4. We threaded a 1/4-20 stainless steel lock nut onto the screw threads to hold the birdhouse in place and we were done! Next time, however, I'll use a wing nut so the house is easier to take down in late fall and put back up in early spring. (Bluebirds hang around in NC over winter but they abandon their houses so there's no reason to have the birdhouses getting weathered all winter. I just have to be sure to get them back up by late February.)

To browse the many models that are available, see more details and prices, click here: Cedarnest bluebird houses. (Compensation disclaimer: As affiliates of Amazon.com, we receive a small commission if you click on that link to buy.)

Hooray! It's early March and there appear to be bluebirds nesting in all of our houses.

If you have suggestions about birdhouses or how best to mount them, we'd love to hear from you. Please share your ideas in the comment section below.