Building Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Build a deluxe barrel stove

By David Lee Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 Winter is coming again, pretty much on schedule in spite of global warming, and it will be cold, just like always. Having a reliable heating system makes winter...

Small engine maintenance for women

By Michelle Richards Issue #24 • November/December, 1993 How many small engines do you have on your homestead? I counted mine the other day and came up with eight. These engines help me live a simple...

The Mini-Skyline — A homemade yarder to bring firewood up a draw

By James F. Deaton Website Exclusive • January, 2006 The need to get firewood from a draw below my house to my woodshed started me on what became a fun project. After felling 4- to 8-inch...

The Forever Floor

By David Lee Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 It is pretty devious starting off an article with an exaggeration but now that I have your attention let me tell you about a floor surfacing method I...

Shake update

By David Lee Website Exclusive • January, 2005 Since my shake article was published in Backwoods Home Magazine, Issue #88, I have learned that some of the more ambitious and better-looking readers have gone out and...

Build an attached solar greenhouse

By David Lee Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 We planned it to be permanent, well built, and able to withstand the extremes of temperature, humidity, and weather a greenhouse must tolerate inside and out for many...

Installing a steel roof

By Norman Bennett Issue #126 • November/December, 2010 One of the reasons steel roofs have become so popular is the simplicity and economy with which they can be placed over an old shingle roof. Still, despite...

Trusses — Low cost marvels to roof over most large spaces

By Martin Harris Issue #23 • September/October, 1993 When you strip away all the frills, building construction is nothing more than enclosing a volume of space to create a micro-climate for human activity. You can call...

Build an all-purpose ladder

By Robert L. Williams Issue #45 • May/June, 1997 Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 The story never varies. If I am doing outside work and need a ladder, I spend nearly as much...

Free pallet wood and birdhouses add up to big country dollars

By Rick Brentlinger Issue #53 • September/October, 1998 If I could show you how to manufacture a product anywhere in the country and if I offered to find you the raw materials free, would you be...

How safe is your electric fence?

By Eloise Twining I’ve used solar powered electric fencing on my California ranch for at least 35 years. Over that time electric fencing has proved to be a very effective way of controlling stock safely....

Build a Trail

By Claire Wolfe Standing near the top of the trail, looking down. The bright sunny spot in the middle distance will be the site of my future camping "pagoda;" it will...

Build a barrel stove

By Nick Weston Issue #133 • January/February, 2012 This stove kept me warm and provided an excellent cooking surface for more than six months while I lived in my treehouse. With a bit of nip and tuck...

The house that Dorothy built

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 This isn't the first time we've had an article by and about Dorothy Ainsworth. Throughout the text are editor's notes refering you...

Rural Building

By Martin Harris Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 From the architect's chair Before beginning any building project, it is usually beneficial, from a time and cost perspective, to think through all the possible alternatives, weighing the pros...

Building your chicken coop

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 Here's a coop we built from pallets and scrap lumber. The goats lived in one end and the chickens lived in the other. It was free and worked...