Nestbox (Drainage)

From: klubea"at"comcast.net
Subject: drainage holes
To: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu

I just got some new BB houses with no drainage holes at the bottom. Some you see with 4 little square cut-outs at the bottom in the corners. Is it Okay to make 4 little drill holes in the bottom at the corners or is it best to leave it without them???
Calli in Connecticut (East Coast)

From: hubertrap"at"webtv.net (Joe Huber)
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 22:39:29 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: drainage holes

Hi All, Drill some holes. In boxes I have built I clipped the corners of the floor very severely, so they didn't plug up easily. This may also help with ventilation during the summer. Definitely need holes to drain box in case it gets rain in it. Joe Huber, Venice Fl.

Charter member NABS, Charter member OBS, Life member OBS Joe Huber..

Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2003 21:53:27 -0800
From: Linda Violett lviolett"at"earthlink.net
Subject: Re: drainage holes

Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif.

Klubea, if your box is a side or front opening box, it already has drainage at the door gaps. As a test, fill your nestbox with water by squirting water from a hose into the box entrance hole. Does the water escape through the door gaps? How many seconds does it take for a whole boxful of water to flow out the door gaps? Depending on how much water you expect in your box, you may need to add extra drainage holes.

From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"tds.net
Subject: Re: drainage holes
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 07:40:18 -0500

Calli, in CT, et al,
If your store-boughten houses were mine, I would certainly create some holes in the bottom somehow. Drilling sounds like the easiest way if the bottom is already nailed in at the factory. Maybe four 3/8" holes would do it, as close to the corners as possible without hitting the nails (screws).
In my opinion, these bottom holes are for air circulation as much as for water drainage, and I also provide 2 or 3 holes at the very top of each side-board, just under the roof (eaves). This circulation of air is especially important in the heat of summer, when we don't want hot air to collect (build up) inside the house. As the hot air rises and exits the upper holes, cooler air replaces it via the bottom holes. "Nature abhors a vacuum." (These are called convection currents.)

Bruce Burdett, SW NH

Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 06:44:09 -0800
CC: BLUEBIRD-L"at"cornell.edu
Subject: Re: drainage holes

Dear Calli.

Drilling "4 little drill holes in the bottom at the corners" is what you should do.

A 1/4' inch drill bit would be minimum, but I would use something a little bigger perhaps a 3/8" or as high as a 1/2" drill bit would be idle.

Regards,
John Schuster

From: "Michael Wheatley" sialia"at"cyberdude.com
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 23:24:16 +0800
Subject: Drain Holes

I'm not even putting bottoms on any new boxes that I build. I usd a well secured piece of hardware cloth for the bottom. In cold weather, place an inch or so of clean wood shavings for insulation. The rest of the time, this gives full drainage, minimizes mold & mildew, diving blow fly larva fall out the bottom, a full ventilation/chimney effect, feather shafts fall out and don't get in your eyes when you forget and try to blow them out, you know, stuff like that.

Mike in NW OH

...

On the topic of drain holes, I agree that a properly designed box should have little if any water ever entering it. However, I include 3/8" holes in the corners of the bottom to help with air flow inside the box. I don't remember where I read this but someone did a temperature study on boxes with and without drain holes and found that the ones with the drain holes were cooler inside on a hot day.

Steve Hewlett
Framingham, MA

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