As most of you know, last year I built my first Styro house with the help of many, but especially Bernie and Emil. The house was constructed to have three levels, roof containing two compartments, and two lower levels containing four compartments each. Unfortunately, I had a telescoping pole and did not trust the pole to safely support three levels, wind concerns not weight, and only raised two. Here's a look with plastic gourds underneath (1).
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However, for this season, I have a new EZ lift pole and concerns of support were eliminated. This means, I could add all three levels to the house. One problem which was raised on Bernie's post was the issue of the levels separating and exposing four compartments. To solve that issue, I added compartment "lids" or "covers". This will allow the levels to separate without exposing all compartments and to perform individual nest checks (above #2).
With that completed, I needed to convert the house so it would raise and lower on the EZ Lift. Which really meant cutting a hole in the roof and enlarging the holes between the levels. As you can see in the picture below, the levels would actually work with a 4X4 post which Bernie uses. However, I needed a "stop" for the house once raised. I made a "stop" out of wood for the house to raise up under shown here (3).
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Next, just prepare some natural gourds and assemble (4)....Then raise it up!!! As you can see, the house was easily modified for use with the EZ Lift. Last year, had 9 of 10 compartments used during it's first year! Hope to fill all 14 compartments this season!!!
Your experiences show martins love styrofoam houses in the heat of Texas, as well as the May snowstorms of Alberta.
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