PVC Wren House Materials and Tools Needed

Materials
4" diameter PVC drain pipe
4" PVC inspection cover
4" PVC end cap
PVC Primer
PVC Cement
1/2" screw (I use hex head)
1-1/2" screw (again, hex head)
** if you use a 3/4" thick wooden disk as the bottom, instead of the inspection cover you will need instead
             - 3/4" thick wooden disk cut to fit the 4" PVC pipe
             - 3 1" wood screws

Tools
Power drill
Bits
Hex head screw driver for drill
1" hole saw
Crosscut saw (or power saw)
ratchet 
socket for hex head screws

Step 1: The tube and the bottom

First, why wrens?  They are primarily insect eaters.  Plus, I like their song which is loud and complex.

Now to the house.  Measure and cut the 4" PVC tube* so you have a 9" long tube.  This is the tube or body of the wren house.  Make the cut square so the top and bottom will fit securely.  Test fit the bottom and top PVC parts.  Square off the tube if needed.   Temporarily assemble the cap to the tube and drill a 1" entrance hole just below the cap.  The 1" hole will let wrens get in but is too small for less desirable birds like sparrows and starlings.  Wren don't need a perch.  A perch would only give other birds a place to sit to harass the wrens.

Invert the inspection cap (the house bottom) on a piece of scrap wood and drill three 1/4" drainage holes.

*These are often 8-10' long at the DIY store.  Buy enough materials for 10-12 houses and give them as gifts.  

Comments

[Kiteman]

If you're leaving these out early in the breeding season, fix it lower down - the earlier in the season they nest, the closer to the ground they go (most nesting wrens* I have come across have been in scrub or undergrowth less than two feet from the ground).



*I'm assuming you mean Troglodytes troglodytes