Anyone contemplating building an aviary from scratch should do as much research as possible. Think carefully what you want. Visit as many Aviary's as possible and remember when you start, plan it out. Think what you want and need. Start from the foundations and plan it from there. Measure your ground space to see if the size your planing fits comfortably and remember if your making your aviary out of wood then you need to allow a fair amount of space all around for regular maintenance.
Put a good foundation in place before you start to build. If you are building a wooden aviary, a good idea is to put it on a course of brick work on the foundation first. Air bricks can be placed at intervals to aid the air circulation underneath the building and a general damp course can also be put in place at this stage.
Take notice which way your garden faces Make sure that your doors and windows are facing the right way. The weather can be nice, everyone loves the sun, but the sun shining into an aviary all day can do a lot of harm to your birds. Budgerigars will not sit in direct sun light if they can help it. They also do not like conditions that get to hot, so a little thought and a little planning can save you a lot of problems later on.
Now that you have planed the aviary by day , plan it by night. Insulate it well and you will save a lot on heating costs. Look carefully at the position of the windows. Are they facing into the street , will car light be able to shine inside. Look at security lighting from adjoining properties, it may disturb the birds at night when it clicks on and off. A hen that is disturbed at night may come off the nest and might be giving the appearance that she is sitting her eggs when actually she is not.
Look at the security of your Aviary, a good alarm might be a good investment. If you look at all possible problems now it will save you a lot of time, and alterations in the future. Most of all it will save you money.
Last but not least, plan the inside of the aviary . Picture the cages in as many different positions as possible. Don't be in a hurry to get it started. The right decision now could save you an awful lot of money in the weeks to come. The money you save , could buy you your first pair of birds and send you on your way on that all important road to success.
Now that the aviary is ready to build, one last thing to remember is , Have you left enough room inside for seed bins etc., and most importantly, Yourself.
I now have an aviary which I'm really proud of. It has 30 breeding units each measuring 24 x 18 x 21 . It has an inside flight 10ft x 6ft and an outside flight which is also 10ft x 6ft and most of all it has loads of room.