Warsaw Swift Tower

These pictures are of a model of one of the winning entries in a competition to design a swift tower to be built in Warsaw, Poland.

Contributed by Rafal Pieszko, Menthol Architects

click on images to enlarge

One of the biggest problems for swifts in Poland is the loss of nesting sites. Modern construction is devoid of spaces where the birds can nest. Old buildings are renovated in a way that slots and holes where the birds nest are blocked. 

Unfortunately, the presence of birds in buildings during renovation causes intense conflicts between bird lovers and investors. However, people are beginning to realize that their presence is beneficial because they eat huge quantities of insects which are oppressive to humans. 

One of the best ways to protect these birds is to create safe nesting sites. Construction of small architectural forms would provide safe accommodation for the birds in a city environment. 

The dynamic silhouette of the swift during flight was the inspiration for the project. Long, narrow, pointed wings during flight and a slightly forked tail were captured in the proposed design, both in the front and side elevations. The form of the tower, reflecting the swift in flight can be easily recognised, and thus it promotes action to protect it.

The proposed location for the tower is in the park near the Vistula river in Warsaw. The tower is 7.82m height and has 90 nest boxes. The solar photovoltaic panels provide power for playing attraction calls, as well as 4 LED strip lights which will be lit at night time. This way the structure will function as a year round sculpture and it will attract more attention from people who will be aware of what is being done for swifts in Warsaw. 

We will reuse the ground from digging the foundations to form small landscape shapes covered with grass, as shown in the model.

For more details, see Menthol Architects

m e n t h o l   a r c h i t e c t s  -  natural  architecture  laboratory

Wessex Place, Cambridge

This is a story of cooperation between local swift enthusiasts, the city council, owners, architects and builders resulting in the installation of 34 swift nest boxes in a renovated building.

Written by Dick Newell

Wessex Place nearing completion with 14 nest-boxes under 

the eaves on the left,  and another 20, in 2 lots of 10 under

the eaves on the right.

Wessex Place, a residential care home, on the one time site of the Rex Cinema, was closed in April 2009, since which time it has remained empty, apart from 2 pairs of swifts and a number of nesting starlings. Trinity College spotted the opportunity to renovate it and turn it into student flats.

Magrath Avenue resident, Helen Hodgson, knew that there were breeding Swifts and had already informed Guy Belcher, Cambridge City Council Nature Conservation Officer.

10 of the 20 nest-boxes built into the eaves. Note the small
speaker on the left with wire back into the roof space ready
for attraction call playing

Discussions took place between Guy,  the agents, Bidwells, the site manager Michael Denson and Trinity College who all agreed it would be a good idea to preserve the existing nest sites, as well as to create more opportunities for nesting swifts in this part of Cambridge.

The original intention was to preserve the 2 existing nesting places and to provide an additional 7 nest-boxes.

4 of the built in boxes. The swifts will nest on top of the
wall which is about 25mm below the entrances

On examining the situation, Michael Denson, together with Roger Seaman, Bidwells' Building Surveyor, could see that there were another 8 places identical to where the swifts were nesting, many of these had been occupied by starlings. Further, these nesting places were so large that each one could easily accommodate 2 pairs of swifts. So the 2 nesting places requested became 20 nesting places. All that was needed was a simple partition down the middle of the space between the joists, and a facing board with entrances designed for swifts which would exclude starlings. These were made by Bob Tonks.

4 out of 7 pairs of nest-boxes.

There is another speaker installed at the far end

1 pair of nest-boxes. The gap above the box, which avoids 

blocking ventilation into the roof space, has an insect and
bird-proof barrier. Doubtless some swifts will attempt to get
into it.

For the other 7 boxes, we built a prototype of a single box to fit on the outside of the south part of the building under the eaves between the protruding joists. It was requested that the nest-boxes be made longer, so that they would fit neatly between the joists to which they could be attached more easily than screwing them to the wall behind the boxes. The extra length meant that each box could be divided in 2, thus yielding 14 nest boxes. 

Although the two pairs of swifts have lost a breeding season, there is every chance that they will return next year to find luxury new accommodation, and, over time, be joined by many other pairs. 

The residents of Magrath Avenue can look forward to a vibrant swift colony on their doorstep.

The Air Brick Liner Swift Brick

In ancient times, Swifts nested wholly in natural places, such as holes in trees, sometimes made by woodpeckers, or in rock faces. Then a new source of nest sites appeared when we unintentionally provided spaces in our buildings, and doubtless the swift population greatly increased. Now that we are destroying nest places with roof renovations and roof insulation, the time has come to deliberately incorporate nest places in new buildings. We previously reported on the rescue of a Swift colony in St Neots, using air brick liners for swift bricks. The success of this has lead us to refine our ideas and report fully on how such air bricks may be deployed more widely.

Contributed by Bill Murrells & Dick Newell

Swift brick. [since this picture was taken, we now

use 'undercloak' for the ends, a low cost, strong, asbestos

substitute].

The picture at left shows A swift brick made from a standard, clay air brick liner of length 200mm. The internal floor area is 200mm x 175mm, diagonal 266mm), and the internal height is 100mm. This is big enough for any swift to turn around, without bending its wings and it is large enough for a young swift to exercise. The outside dimensions of this brick are 200mm (plus 2 slates) x 215mm x 140mm.

At least 2 of these were occupied at St Neots in 2012, so they are accepted by swifts.

The air brick is the model 401 (see PDF on page 9). The ends, made of slate, or under cloak, are glued on with resinous glue. The air brick is available in any length up to 300mm. Although swifts will use an air brick 200mm long, They may prefer something longer, so that they can get further from the entrance.  From a swift's point of view, a brick 300mm long would be luxurious, 225mm (the length of a standard brick) could be a good length to go for. The computer models below illustrate air bricks in 2 situations. This brick occupies the space of 1 house brick horizontally and 2 courses of bricks vertically. Its internal floor area is 200mm x 175mm (diagonal 285mm),  height 100mm; the outside dimensions are 200mm (plus 2 slates) x 215mm x 140mm

Four SB-225's in a gable end

Two SB-225's under a soffit - from below

The ideal location for installing air bricks is as high as possible under the eaves or in a gable end. It is possible to hide much of the brick behind a barge board or within the eaves. They would also go well in the middle of a wall, but in such places where they could get wet, then a cavity tray might be needed (a piece of felt below and behind the swift brick)

Two SB-225's under a soffit - from above

The advantages of this swift brick are that it is made of approved building materials, it looks aesthetically pleasing, it is easy to make and easy to install, it is a good size for swifts and it is made of low cost, readily available materials; the basic air brick costs less than £10. It merely requires an angle grinder to fashion the entrance (a slot 65mm x 28mm), and some glue.

Thus we think that it should be acceptable to architects and builders, as well as being desirable for swifts.

Although the terracotta colour is acceptable in most situations (see examples below), the air brick can be painted with any exterior paint, such as Sandtex.



Examples:

6 of the 12 boxes (SB-200's) in the old St Neots factory site in Brook Street

At least 2 boxes were occupied in 2012, and 1 pair bred.

One of the 5 boxes occupied in 2013, chicks were known to be raised in at least 4 boxes
and Swifts were seen entering 9 different boxes.

2 air brick linersin a small development in Colville Rd, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge

Closeup of an installed air brick liner

Some success in Nottinghamshire!

This was originally posted on 30th July 2011, scroll down to the update (beyond the 'read more >>') on 19th August 2012 at the bottom of this post: successful breeding and a second pair established!

Contributed by Carol Collins and Alan Wilkins

Update 2017:
Since 2012, much has happened at Kinoulton church.
In 2012  the boxes were increased from 10 to 20
2013 was disappointing when 2 pairs raised just 1 chick, partly due to invading bees.
2014 was better when 3 pairs laid 8 eggs resulting in 7 fledged chicks.
2015 saw the boxes increase to 40, now 10 on all 4 sides, but 6 pairs of Swifts had a poor season, raising only 8 chicks, partly due to problems with Starlings, resolved by reducing entrance sizes.
In 2016 things took off with 11 pairs producing 20 fledglings, then in 2017 14 pairs produced 26 fledglings.
Cameras are installed with live viewing of 3 nests in the nave.
The local school and neighbouring parishes are also taking an interest.
So all in all, what a successful project!

Boxes inside the north louvres

In Kinoulton we started by visiting the experts. We went over to Ely in February and spent a really useful morning with Dick Newell and Bill Murrells being shown the intricacies of installing swift boxes in St. Mary’s Church, as well as looking at several other sites where boxes have been put up by the Cambridgeshire team. We learned a lot, about swifts in general and about the boxes, and came back determined to get boxes installed in Kinoulton Church before the end of April.

St. Luke’s Church is brick built, with a square tower with a louvred window on each side. We are lucky in that there is a boarded floor above the bells and below the louvred windows, so that we have a safe and empty space in which to work. The only bell which is above the wooden floor is the large one which tolls the hours - and inevitably takes us by surprise each time it strikes. We now wear ear-muffs on the hour!

10 inspection holes

We decided to put the boxes on the north face and as close to the top of the louvres as possible which meant constructing a semicircular unit (incorporating 10 boxes) to fit the top of the window. We thought about trying different designs of entrance holes but in the end made them all the same size of oval, and put a concave in each box. In the picture the observation holes on the back have yet to have their sliding covers added; the entrance holes are the smaller ovals on the lower side.

Story with a Happy Ending

Contributed by Jake, photos by Judith Wakelam

At the end of June, Bill Murrells and I were called to a site in Ely where a terrace of three cottages was being reroofed. On removing the tiles at the gable end, one of the workmen uncovered a nest with three young nestlings in it, which turned out to be Swifts. As the builders had done the right thing by reporting the nest, we did not wish to force them to delay the work.

Our first idea was to put up a nestbox as close to the original nest site as possible and to transfer nest and nestlings into it.  The chicks had probably not been fed for maybe twenty-four hours, something Swift chicks have evolved to handle. We decided to give it another twenty-four hours to see if the parents would take to the box. Evening and early morning vigils confirmed that the adults were not going into the box. With the benefit of hindsight, this idea may have been a mistake, as mitigation nest-boxes are known to sometimes work before breeding has started, but not afterwards.

One of the chicks on the day it was taken into care

So, I put the three nestlings in my hat and took them to Judith Wakelam, one of our star rehabbers. The nestlings began feeding almost immediately, the runt of the litter being more voracious than the other two, to the extent that eventually the runt became the biggest and heaviest of the trio!

One month later, 3 chicks ready for release

When Judith judged they were ready to be released - flight feathers fully grown, lots of "push up" exercising and the usual restlessness - she took them to the nearest open space, Newmarket Heath, close to the Racecourse, where Bill and I were privileged to assist. The method of release is important: bearing in mind how fledglings normally leave the nest - perching at the entrance or on the edge of the nest and hesitating for ages before finally taking the plunge.

An enchanted Bill Murrells with Swift ready for release

We attempted to reproduce this situation, by holding the bird aloft on the flat or back of one's hand, allowing the Swift time to adjust and to make up its mind to go. It also helps to have the bird facing into the wind to give it lift. It is considered bad practice to "throw" it into the air. Be patient, let the bird determine the pace. Of course, you can rock your hand gently from time to time, which causes the bird to spread its wings to maintain its balance, but no more than that.

Ready steady ......

Go!!!

Eventually the three birds took off. It's a breath-stopping moment when the bird leaves your hand. Will it gain height? Will it plummet to the ground? (It's because of the risk of plummeting that you stage the release in a big open space like Newmarket Heath, so that you can find it easily in the short grass). The first bird released gained height and started to circle around us at some distance. Out of nowhere, another Swift appeared and joined it. Other rehabbers have noticed how, from an apparently empty sky, Swifts will appear to accompany a lone released bird. Amazing.

The second and third fledglings eventually launched themselves into the air, and were also joined by other Swifts, once they had gained height and distance. Mission accomplished.

Lessons of the story:

1. It is a good idea if nesting Swifts (and other species) are found, before renovation work is planned.
2. Respect the builders who were good enough to report the nest they had disturbed. Do everything you can to avoid causing a delay to their work. Only use the law as the very last resort.
3. It's also good PR to keep them informed. We took photographs of the rescued birds, showing how they were progressing, and then reported back that they had been successfully released.
4. Use a competent rehabber. Swifts need specialist treatment, and there aren't many people like Judith with the skill to do the job. If you don't know a rehabber, contact us through actionforswifts@gmail.com or call 01353 740540 for help.
4. If you are launching a bird yourself (eg an adult that was simply grounded or winded), take it to an open space, hold it high on your hand, facing into the wind, and be patient: the bird will go when it's ready.
Also see our advice page: If you find a grounded swift

Gable End Boxes

6 boxes within one triangular cabinet
click for larger picture

We were sent this picture by Nick Stokes of Norfolk. The width of the eaves constrained the boxes within 140mm, the same width as a number of successful commercial nest-boxes.

A design tailored to fit a given situation can enhance the appearance of a property rather than detracting from it. These boxes are placed at the north end of the house, the south end may require a thicker front

Note the neat positioning of a speaker above the apex of the boxes.

#triangle

The Swifts of Cherry Hinton, Cambridge

Contributed by Dick

Sometimes, you just don't know what is going on on your doorstep. I was recently tipped off by Justyn Thomas of a significant number of Swifts in the area surrounding Fisher's Lane, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge. So I went to have a look. As I arrived in Fisher's Lane, I got out of the car and the air was full of the screams of Swifts. High above me there was a large flock of Swifts. A potshot with my camera (I could not get them all in the field of view) included 29 Swifts.

Perfect eaves for Swifts. They are also ideal for fitting external
nest boxes if roof insulation interferes with nests inside

So I walked up Pen Close and Shepherd's Close, and it was clear that the whole of the estate had been built, unintentionally, with eaves designed for Swifts, complete with suitable entrances.

It was the same story in Keates Road and Leeting Road; rows of houses with eaves designed for Swifts.

Take a drive down Fisher's Lane on the Google Street View below and look at the houses on the left. Also look up Shepherd's Close and Pen Close as you pass them on the right.

Heaven knows how many Swifts are breeding in this neighbourhood, it will require a proper survey. The locals say there are fewer Swifts here than there used to be. So if any of them read this and would like to know how they could help to avoid further decline, then just get in touch.


View Larger Map

PS Also high above Keates Road were 4 Peregrine Falcons in the air together. That's the second time recently I have found multiple large falcons in association with swifts!

Postscript: Later the same day, I ran into Kirsty Morris, teacher at Shirley Primary School. She mentioned that she had a lot of Swifts in her road, Providence Way in Waterbeach, less than 2km as the Swift flies from my house. So I called in on my way home. She wasn't kidding, there must have been 100 Swifts flying around the houses, uncountable really, some entering nest-holes, others prospecting, others in screaming parties - quite a spectacle. Another one that needs surveying next year.

Pacific Swifts in the Russian Far East

Contributed by Dick

AfS regulars may forgive my indulgence in this slightly off-topic post. I have just returned from a spectacular tour of the Russian far east on the ship Spirit of Enderby, starting at Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy and ending in Anadyr in Chukotka. I was surprised and disappointed to find no swifts, of any kind, in Petropavlovsk.

Part of a flock of over 30 Pacific Swifts above the clifftop

One of the purposes of the trip was to search for breeding Spoon-billed Sandpipers, in which we did not succeed. We reached 61°N and embarked on the 2nd of 3 searches.

On coming ashore, we found good numbers of Pacific Swifts circling the cliffs, together with House Martins collecting mud, but there was no time to study them as we had a long walk across the tundra searching for "spoonies" to complete.

However, on returning to the cliffs, a search for Pacific Swifts entering crevices in the cliffs was soon interrupted when a lady, Jude Power, from California, said to me, "Dick - what is this?" Jude was used to searching holes in cliff faces in search of owls and found 3 white birds in a hole - and if they are white, they must be Barn Owls - but try as she would, she could not make them into Barn Owls. I raised my glasses and what I saw, also confused me,  my first reaction was 3 white feral pigeons. In a place so remote? 

3 full grown white Gyr Falcon chicks - a stunning sight
Photo © Chris Collins

Then no! they look like falcons, white falcons? and the enormity of what we were looking at dawned on us. 3 full grown white Gyr Falcon chicks plus an adult flying around.  

Our search for Pacific Swift breeding sites was abandoned - too many distractions, including Red-flanked Bluetails, Bluethroats and Rubythroats singing nearby, breeding Slaty-backed Gulls on the cliff-face, breeding Sandhill Cranes, a huge Brown Bear patrolling the cliff below the Gyr Falcons and more.

Pacific Swift Apus pacificus has longer, slimmer wings than
Common Swift, a more deeply forked tail and softer
screaming calls. This bird appears to have food in its throat
pouch.

We never did observe a swift entering a nest crevice, but with at least 30 flying around above the cliff top, with their soft screams, there must have been a significant colony here, the most northerly known location on this coast for breeding Pacific Swifts. It was also the most southerly known location for breeding House Martins.  

The picture left shows a Pacific Swift with a full throat pouch indicating this bird had chicks to feed nearby.

The hour or so that we spent in this place was one of the most magical of experiences that I have had in a long birding career.

St Rémy Church, Molenbeek, Brussels

Contributed by Martine Wauters, words by Dick

St Rémy Church with one cabinet installed

This is an interesting story about how to provide accommodation for Swifts, in a most beautiful building, without any obvious way of hiding nest-boxes behind louvres or in a window. Martine Wauters approached me (Dick) in Berlin to suggest ideas. After a number of unsatisfactory attempts, we eventually came up with the idea of a louvred cabinet of nest-boxes placed at the bottom of the large openings on each side of the tower. It is important that the boxes were painted in a colour that matches the stonework.

In the final analysis, we think we have achieved our goal of providing quality accommodation for Swifts without offending the beauty of the building, even though the cabinets are fully visible from the outside.

As is normal with almost any project like this, there are always problems. In this case, the original idea was to have the lowest box entrances outside the wall of the church. On installation, this was found to not be possible, so the boxes were raised to allow the Swifts to enter these lowest entrances. The gaps below the cabinets probably need to be blocked. More serious, the boxes were originally a little too wide, so "adjustments" were needed.

The execution of this project has been exemplary, in particular, the carpentry by Philippe Jacob is most professional. It is refreshing that church officials can accept and support an idea like this. One cannot wait for the sight of Swifts circling this wonderful tower.

The pictures below tell their own story of how the project was conceived, the boxes built, and the installation accomplished. Click on any picture and you will see them all enlarged.

Google Sketchup model of cabinet

The team with completed carpentry, from left to right:

Marie-Christine Séron & Jacques Vanneck (church council representatives)

Jan Gypers (alderman in charge of the environment), 

Martine Wauters and Chris Mallia (ringer & neighbour, project initiator)

Exhausted after climbing the tower

Installation in progress

Both cabinets installed

Close up of one cabinet

A Swift's view from the tower

More boxes under eaves

UPDATE 2018: On returning to the house after 6 years away, Sean & Moira found 7 pairs of Swifts in residence!

UPDATE July 2015 
An inspection of the boxes found that 2 were occupied by Swifts.

UPDATE 8th July 2012
A pair of Swifts has been seen entering and roosting in the box to the left of the drainpipe.

UPDATE 20th June 2012
This demonstrates that the Box of Swifts attraction call playing is working:

This unfortunate prospecting swift has fallen into the drainpipe funnel. There was no way it was going to get out of here unaided. The bird flew off strongly the following morning. In hindsight, we should have spotted this hazard. The funnel is now covered.

---

Contributed by Dick
These tailor-made boxes were installed in Chippenham, Cambs at my son and daughter in law's house. This is another example of eaves with joists, this time supporting a fascia board.

2 single and 2 double boxes. The Box of Swifts speaker is
installed on the double box next to the drainpipe

The gap between the fascia and the wall was 225mm, plenty wide enough to accommodate a Swift box. At the top of the wall there was a narrow ventilation grill, so the backs of the boxes do not extend to the top to avoid blocking the ventilation. A single box was placed between two joists 460mm apart, but most gaps between joists were 550mm.

4 boxes (6 nesting places) before installation

So for three of these 550mm gaps, we built two double boxes and a long single box. The dimensions of the double box nesting places were 255mm x 210mm, which should be big enough. The separating wall in the double boxes does not extend to the top, allowing light from one entrance to shine through to the opposite box.

All of the boxes were installed by removing the bottom, a single screw into each adjacent joist, then replacing the bottom.

The installation was finished off with a Box of Swifts.

#openeaves

Sparrowhawk attack!

Written by Dick

This sort of thing can test one's sympathies for Sparrowhawks.

However, one starts to wonder what can be done to make life more difficult for the Sparrowhawk. If the problem persists, I may be tempted to extend the louvres by about 25mm, so that the Swift can get out of danger as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, both Swifts in this box have survived so far.

Fulbourn update

Written by Dick Newell, photographs by Rob Mungovan

Rob Mungovan, centre in yellow, with the volunteer team

Fulbourn is a great example of a district council, working together with local people to mitigate the consequences of the destruction of a large colony of ~70 pairs of Swifts in prefabricated buildings from that rich architectural period of the 1960's (see buildings in background in first picture).

John Willis, centre in blue, organises the team

This has been a well planned project to make sure that new nesting sites are available in the new housing estate nearby (called "The Swifts") before the old buildings were pulled down. A number of styles of nest-boxes have been installed in the new housing estate, including built in boxes, as well as Schwegler 1MF swift boxes.

The Swifts are steadily occupying the new boxes, but so are the Starlings, especially in the Schwegler boxes, as their entrances are larger than is necessary for Swifts.

Front louvres with and without Polyfilla

We earlier reported on ideas to restrict the entrance size to exclude Starlings, here we can report on the implementation of that plan with local enthusiasts organised by John Willis, overseen by the South Cambs District Council Ecology Officer, Rob Mungovan.

The idea is a simple one, reduce the entrance size by using Polyfilla.

Unmodified entrance

Entrance reduced to 30mm

Swift nest boxes at Shirley Primary School

Alan Clarke suggested to Kirsty Morris, a teacher at Shirley Primary School, Cambridge, that it might be a good idea to install some swift boxes at the school. Kirsty (Mrs Morris to the children) thought it was a good idea too! So, permission was obtained, a suitable location on the school was found and the project was started.

8 boxes ready for painting and installation

We decided to make 8 boxes similar to those erected at Milton Road Primary School and at Lackford Lakes in Suffolk - these are easily adapted to any odd-shaped eaves. All of the eaves at Shirley school are sloping one way or another.


It was decided to copy Martin Grund's idea in Germany to get the children to number and paint the boxes before installation. As swifts have excellent colour vision and as it is a good idea to have distinctive marks on the boxes for the swifts to recognise them, this seemed a good plan.

The school has an 'Eco Group' of 12 children, made up of 2 children from year 1 to year 6 (6 to 11 year olds). So, on 2nd May, the children gathered around, paint brushes in hand ready to paint the boxes.

Exquisite artistry by Jean Wutchaiyatamrongsil

Colourful artwork by Emily Cooper

8 boxes installed together with sound system

Clarke admiring 4 of the 8 nest boxes

The painting was supervised by Vida Newell and Alan Clarke, together with teaching assistant, Marjory Calamel and student teacher, Sally Worthington.

After painting the boxes, the children stuck sterilised pheasant feathers onto MDF nest concaves. As swifts are very unlikely to find pheasant feathers, we will easily be able to recognise any feathers added by the swifts themselves, typically pigeon feathers.

After gluing the nest concaves into the boxes, they were ready for erection. Here we were joined by Clarke Brunt, who has his own swift colony in Milton, and the 8 boxes were quickly installed under the eaves. While installing the boxes, we spent a lot of time looking up, and we saw several swifts flying over. We finished  off by installing a Box of Swifts attraction call-playing system.

Shirley Primary School is now one of a very small number of schools in the UK with Swift nest-boxes.

Cabinet on a chalet-style gable end

Contributed by Dick
Sandy Jackson of Pakenham in Suffolk sent me some pictures of her chalet-style house asking for suggestions of where to put some swift-boxes.

The original opportunity, as presented

It looked an interesting challenge, as there was nowhere immediately obvious for standard rectangular nest-boxes. So, I decided to have a go at it myself. Trying a number of Google Sketchup models, we eventually came up with a 2-storey cabinet containing 3 nest-boxes. It is again based upon the Zeist-box idea with entrances pointing obliquely downwards.

Front view

There are quite a few 45° cuts to make, but having mastered that, it came together quite well.

It was fortunate that the eaves were nice and wide at about 300mm. Which allowed a good width for both storeys. The dimensions depend critically upon an accurate measurement of the angle at the apex, which in this case was 90°.

We chose the north end of the house to avoid the sun.

Internal structure

With the benefit of hindsight, first make the back and check that it fits perfectly, then make the rest of it.

The whole front, made of 4 pieces of wood, is screwed and glued together, and is removable as a unit. So installation is achieved by screwing the back, with floors attached, to the wall, then replacing the front.

Sandy and husband Tony decided to stain the box to match the colour of the woodwork on the sides of the house.

End result

The final result fits in nicely with the house.

Just how many gable ends like this must there be in the country?

See another idea for a gable end here

#triangle