SV Chineel
New member
Hey bird people. I actually only joined this forum due to a lack of good information online about wood treatment for birdhouses. So I thought I'd add my input as a woodworker and bird enthusiast.
There is a lot of misinformation online, mostly on various forums by people making baseless, unresearched opinions.
The answer is to use linseed oil, it is absolutely food-safe, and you can thin it with turpentine. Many foods already contain trace amounts of turpentine as it is produced by plants to protect themselves against rot. Teak oil I'm not 100% sure about, as they tend to keep their formula a secret, but the ingredients I know about are food safe in small amounts - linseed oil, turpentine, mineral oil and tung oil. Personally I would ere on the side of caution and only use teak oil on exterior surfaces.
The correct way to use linseed oil is to start with a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and turpentine, reducing the amount of turpentine by about 10-20% for each coat. Each successive coat will take longer to dry. For the interior of a bird house, I would say that 2-3 coats is fine - you're not looking to create a varnish, just have the oil penetrate and protect the wood. This will make it harder for rot and parasites to take hold, and aid with cleaning. Used on the exterior, linseed oil will significantly darken the wood over time, teak oil less so.
Anyway, I hope that clears up some of the misconceptions I've read online. I'm on my boat in the Bahamas currently, and have already befriended a Red-Legged Thrush and some Grey Kingbirds. I will soon be building a teak birdhouse (I'm working at a marine salvage yard here so we have plenty of "scrap" teak). I don't have a decent camera, only my phone, but hopefully I can get some good photos after the bird house is built, maybe I can start training them to eat from my hand, if I have time.
There is a lot of misinformation online, mostly on various forums by people making baseless, unresearched opinions.
The answer is to use linseed oil, it is absolutely food-safe, and you can thin it with turpentine. Many foods already contain trace amounts of turpentine as it is produced by plants to protect themselves against rot. Teak oil I'm not 100% sure about, as they tend to keep their formula a secret, but the ingredients I know about are food safe in small amounts - linseed oil, turpentine, mineral oil and tung oil. Personally I would ere on the side of caution and only use teak oil on exterior surfaces.
The correct way to use linseed oil is to start with a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and turpentine, reducing the amount of turpentine by about 10-20% for each coat. Each successive coat will take longer to dry. For the interior of a bird house, I would say that 2-3 coats is fine - you're not looking to create a varnish, just have the oil penetrate and protect the wood. This will make it harder for rot and parasites to take hold, and aid with cleaning. Used on the exterior, linseed oil will significantly darken the wood over time, teak oil less so.
Anyway, I hope that clears up some of the misconceptions I've read online. I'm on my boat in the Bahamas currently, and have already befriended a Red-Legged Thrush and some Grey Kingbirds. I will soon be building a teak birdhouse (I'm working at a marine salvage yard here so we have plenty of "scrap" teak). I don't have a decent camera, only my phone, but hopefully I can get some good photos after the bird house is built, maybe I can start training them to eat from my hand, if I have time.
