How to build a butterfly house

This step by step diy woodworking project is about how to build a butterfly house. If you want to attract colored butterflies to your garden, you should invest in building a beautiful wooden box. After getting the job done, you should place the house on a wooden post or to hang it in a tree. Irrespective of you choice, apply several coats of pain over the components, to get a professional result.

Before starting the actual construction project, we recommend you to plan everything, as to save money and to keep the costs under control. Adjust the size and the design of the butterfly house to suit your needs. In addition, we recommend you to invest in high-quality materials, such as pine, redwood or cedar, as they have a nice finish and are highly durable, especially in a humid environment.

If you don’t have a rich expertise in woodworking field, you should ask a friend to give you a hand with the project. There are many things that you could go wrong, so make sure you plan everything and invest in quality materials. Select the lumber with attention, making sure the components are perfectly straight and in a very good condition. Use a carpentry square to check if the corners are right-angled. See all my Premium Plans in the Shop.

Made from this plan

Building a butterfly house

Materials

A – 1 piece of 1×6 lumber – 24″ long FACE
B – 2 pieces of 1×4 lumber – 26″ long SIDES
C – 1 piece of 1×6 lumber – 6 long, 1 piece – 20″ long BACK
D – 1 piece of 1×4 lumber – 7″ long, 1 piece – 5 1/2″ long BOTTOM
E – 1 piece of 1×6 lumber – 48″ long ROOF

1 piece of 1×6 lumber – 10 ft
1 piece of of 1×4 lumber – 6 ft
1 1/4″ screws
glue, stain
wood filler

Tools

Safety gloves, glasses
Miter saw, jigsaw
Chalk line, tape measure, spirit level, carpentry pencil
Drill machinery and drill bits

Tips

Apply several coats of wood stain to the wooden components
Fill the holes with wood filler and smooth the surface

Time

One Day

Building a butterfly house

Fitting the sides

The first step of the project is to build the frame of the butterfly house. As you can easily notice in the project, we recommend you to build the side components out of 1×4 lumber. Mark the cut lines on the slats and get the job done with a circular saw. Smooth the cut edges with sandpaper. Drill pilot holes through the bottom and insert 1 1/4″ screws/nails into the sides.

Building the face of the butterfly house

Next, build the front face of the butterfly house out of 1×6 slats. Cut the components at the right size and create the notches inside the slat, in order to get a professional result. Drill starting holes and make the openings with a jigsaw. Smooth the cut edges with sandpaper and remove the residues with a vacuum cleaner.

Assembling the frame of the butterfly house

Drill pilot holes along the sides of the box and insert 1 1/4″ screws into the front face. Drill pilot holes through the bottom and insert 1 1/4″ screws into the frame of the box. Leave no gaps between the components and check if the corners are right-angled.

Building the top structure

Fit the back support between the sides of the butterfly house, as described in the diagram. Leave no gaps between the components and drill pilot holes before inserting the 1 1/4″ screws, to get a professional result.

Fitting the door stop

Fit a 2″ wide component to the bottom of the butterfly box, in order to lock the door into place properly (door stop). Drill pilot holes and secure the component into place with 1 1/4″ screws.

Attaching the back door

Cut the door out of 1×6 lumber and smooth the edges with fine-grit sandpaper. Attach the metal hinge to the wooden door and fit it into the opening. Afterwards, secure the metal hinge to the butterfly house and check if it opens and closes properly.

Attaching the roof

Cut the roof out of 1×6 lumber and center it to the top of the wooden box. Drill pilot holes and insert 1 1/4″ screws into the frame of the butterfly house. Add glue to the joints and remove the residues with a damp cloth.

How to build a butterfly house

Last but not least, you need to take care of the final touches. Therefore, you need fill all the holes with a good filler and let the compound to dry out properly, before sanding the wooden surface with 120-grit sandpaper.

Thank you for reading our article about how to build a butterfly house and we recommend you to check out the rest of our home improvement projects. Don’t forget to SAHRE this projects to your friends, using the social media widgets, if you’ve found it useful. LIKE us on Facebook to be the first that gets our latest updates.

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