Restoration History 5: Birdhouses for everyone
This is not exactly a restoration story. But it explains a bit about how we approach the madness of our house and our interest in woodworking.
Birdhouse (c. 2002)
I was always a little interested in woodworking. We had also started shopping for furniture and seen how expensive it was. Around the house I had built a fence and a small garden bench but nothing major.
At a garden store one day, we saw a cute little bird house for around $25.
“I bet I can make that,” I said. One fence board and some extra paint later….
2003
I set up a tiny shop in the basement, but I was about to quit woodworking after destroying a small bookend project by drilling agressively. That was when I decided to take a class. Best woodworking decision ever. The commute was hellish and the class was tiring: a two hour drive after work with rush hour traffic, and then four hours of woodworking till ten. Luckily Kris came too.
During this time I bought my first router and a table saw to work on projects at home. My father-in-law had given me a starter jigsaw and circular saw and I had a cheap plane or two. Kristin didn’t yell at me when I bought the table saw and even let me keep it in the living room for about six months.
I built the red blue chair too during this time.
Bigger Birdhouse
We were starting to have some serious storage issues. Did I mention we had no garage? Then I decided to build a shed one night.
I got a book,got a rafter square to measure our house’s roof pitch, altered the drawings to match, and… here it is. 
The foundation is built of pressure treated wood on cement blocks. The most time consuming part for me was cutting the rafters and the shingle work. I bought the window at a salvage yard and learned to reglaze it after breaking the glass while building a jam. The door is tongue and groove cedar with a z-brace to hold it together. 8′x”8 foot dimensions overall.
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