Help fixing this bird bath to our balcony

[tinpanalley]

We have this very simple heated birdbath we'd like to install on our balcony but I'm coming up against problems I don't know how to solve...

The photos in that link will show the mounting options it comes with. This is a photo of the part of our balcony/railing we'd like to use for installation but

• that top railing (covered now by pine branches) isn't flat, it's slightly rounded. So it doesn't take things clamped to it well. If there's another way that's done, I don't know it.
• the railing's also metal. So there's nothing I can actually screw into with the mounts
• That is pretty much the only place it can go but the rest of the rail is the same anyway.

Any ideas? I'm completely stuck.
Thank you!

 

[RPD]

Get a wood pole, zip tie it to the railing, screw bath into said pole.

 

[tinpanalley]

Get a wood pole, zip tie it to the railing, screw bath into said pole.

I did that with a bird feeder. The problem is that in summer, this part of the railing has a long lattice board we put in front of it. I suppose you just remove it in spring when the lattice goes up and get more zip ties.

This is what the curved railing looks like along the top in case it's of any help...

 

[RPD]

This isn't as difficult as you are making it.

 

[Greenman]

3 boards, six wood screws.
Screw the three boards together so you have a flat top with a channel that fits snugly over the rail, set bird bath on top.
This concludes my course on particle engineering for today.

 

[tinpanalley]

3 boards, six wood screws.
Screw the three boards together so you have a flat top with a channel that fits snugly over the rail, set bird bath on top.
This concludes my course on particle engineering for today.

Ok, the bird bath can't go on top. Nothing would be holding it in place. It can only be held in place by the mount on its outer edge. And you either C-clamp it or screw it into something but vertically. The photos in the product link show it clearly.

 

[Steltek]

Ok, the bird bath can't go on top. Nothing would be holding it in place. It can only be held in place by the mount on its outer edge. And you either C-clamp it or screw it into something but vertically. The photos in the product link show it clearly.

What @Greenman is talking about doing is making a poor man's balcony rail table that rides on top of the balcony rail. If you want to attach the bird bath down, screw a small section of 2x4 vertically to the top of the table surface you make, then use the deck mount option on the bird bath and screw it into the vertical 2x4 section. Would make for easy removal as you'd just remove the whole table.

Alternatively, just buy another small round free standing table like the round one in your pictures (or even an actual balcony rail table) to place on your balcony rail to put the bird bath on top of and call it a day.

So long as it is placed in an area protected from the wind and you keep it filled with water, it shouldn't need to be attached down. If you still want it attached down, though, you could just use velcro strips on the bottom of it.

 

[Greenman]

Ok, the bird bath can't go on top. Nothing would be holding it in place. It can only be held in place by the mount on its outer edge. And you either C-clamp it or screw it into something but vertically. The photos in the product link show it clearly.

The solution here would require 3 more much smaller pieces of wood screwed to the top of the shelf to create a bar that you would clamp the bird bath to.
I'm going to go ahead and guess that you have no method of cutting wood, nor the equipment required to screw it together. I think you're going to be stuck with dirty birds.

 

[tinpanalley]

I'm going to go ahead and guess that you have no method of cutting wood, nor the equipment required to screw it together.

You can go ahead and guess that if you like but you'd be wrong. I mean I can't cut a tree down, but I have a regular saw and a jigsaw if it's of any use for this. I don't quite know what screws I'd use though. I don't do a ton of diy so I wouldn't have immediate knowledge of which of several screws to pick for something like this.

 

[BoomerD]

You can go ahead and guess that if you like but you'd be wrong. I mean I can't cut a tree down, but I have a regular saw and a jigsaw if it's of any use for this. I don't quite know what screws I'd use though. I don't do a ton of diy so I wouldn't have immediate knowledge of which of several screws to pick for something like this.

Dude...you're overthinking this.

 

[Greenman]

Dude...you're overthinking this.

Just a little.
I'm tempted to build the thing and take a picture of it to explain to him. I have enough material in my garbage can to do it.

 

[esquared]

Mocking people that are asking for help isn't a good look for the people that can actually build stuff. Congrats

esquared
Anandtech Forum Director