By Rogi
NRW,
Germany 
Hallo to you all from a very very wet Wuppertal in Germany, they have a saying here that all babys born in Wuppertal have an umberella in their hand when they are born, but that has absolutly nothing to do with my question !. I have built a robins nest box, you know the type.. with an half opened front instead of a hole. I have clear varnished the outside of it and also put a slate on the roof, I was wondering if I should also varnish the inside of it, or would it be harmful to the birds...that I hope will nest in it next year?. Thanks for any answers.
6 Nov, 2010
Answers
Thanks Bamboo for the answer.
6 Nov, 2010
The remnants of any smell could put the robins off, Rogie. Like Bamboo i would only varnish anything that is essential and then leave the box outside for as long as possible to weather.
From a wet, but not 'very, very' Moray in Scotland.
6 Nov, 2010
Thanks Bulbaholic for your answer. A good idea to leave it outside to weather. I have a dry undercover..a roof and 2 walls but no door, I can leave it there for a couple of months to realy dry out and so that the smell goes away.
6 Nov, 2010
Just as an aside, Rogi...I spent 2 months in and around Wuppertal when I was a student...many moons ago! However, my abiding memory of that city was
1) the railway
and 2)...the RAIN!
Nothing's changed then!
6 Nov, 2010
Hallo Izzy. OK about you being in Wuppertal for 2 months, I have been here for over 40 years and still not tired of the place.. You mentioned the rain and the railway, I presume you meant the overhead railway, the Schwebebahn, well that is still here as well as the rain..hih. I would have liked to have added a photo of the Schwebebahn just to show other GoY members what I´m talking about, but I see I can´t add photos here...pity.
6 Nov, 2010
If you go back to 'edit' your original question, Rogi, then you might still be able to add a photograph. I would also like to see the Schwebebhan.
One of the downsides of this site is that you can't add a photgraph in the answere to a question. I often feel that an illustration could more easily answere the question than a thousand words.
6 Nov, 2010
We students called it 'The Upside Down Railway'!...nothing whatsoever to do with the amount of alcohol consumed!
6 Nov, 2010
Hallo all. If you read my original question here you will see a photo of the "Schwebebahn" that I was talking about with Izzy.....the photo is totaly in the wrong place but as Bulbaholic said he would like to see a photo of it and told me how to do it I have put it there.
6 Nov, 2010
Wow, Rogi, do they have life jackets under the seats! That looks good, many thanks for showing it to us.
6 Nov, 2010
Aw-w! Takes me back! Thank you, Rogi.:-))
6 Nov, 2010
No probs Izzy.
6 Nov, 2010
Not sure its necessary to do the inside, really, but if you want to, you can get water based varnish, so use that, not the oil based one.
6 Nov, 2010