Building Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Woodbarrow

By Setanta O’Ceillaigh When I first abandoned a slum town and fled back to the countryside I gathered and carried firewood with a laundry basket. Later on I acquired a collection of salvaged tools like...

Easy awnings

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #149 • September/October, 2014 A window without an awning is like a lamp without a shade bare and glaring. In my opinion there's not a window around that wouldn't look better...

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...

Five building tricks for super strong framing

By Don Fallick Issue #49 • January/February, 1998 I was standing on the edge of the roof overhang, holding two bundles of asphalt shingles, when my boss's son drove up. He looked at me, then took...

Build a 6500-gallon concrete water tank for $1500

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 When I bought 10 dry barren "affordable" acres back in 1981 I got what I paid for: No electricity, no septic system, no well, and no water. What...

A salvaged oak floor for $5

By Robert L. Williams Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 Several months ago we decided we did not want to install a traditional bedroom floor of plywood and carpet. We had several reasons, but the major ones...

For large quantity food dehydration try this homemade gem from the past

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #41 • September/October, 1996 The thing I like the most about Backwoods Home is that, unlike a lot of other magazines, the articles are written by folks who are actually doing...

From triumph to tragedy to triumph again. Dorothy Ainsworth makes her valiant comeback

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #50 Mar/Apr 1998 BHM readers are familiar with Dorothy Ainsworth, the log home-building Ashland, Oregon, waitress who spent more than six years building a beautiful log home, only to have it burn...

Build a Top-Bar Bee Hive

By Jereme Zimmerman Issue #175 • January/February/March, 2019 My journey to becoming a beekeeper has been a long one, and I’m still not quite there yet. For the past five years or so, I have read...

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

By Robert Van Putten Issue #170 • March/April, 2018 Apples are an important food resource for us. Every year we store hundreds of pounds in our root cellar where they will keep for up to six...

Build a poultry killing cone

By Allen Easterly Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 You've worked hard and spent many hours raising your pretty flock of meat chickens from eggs or chicks to nice fat fryers, roasters, or stewing birds. They've provided...

Build a graceful footbridge

By Harrison Stone Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Tap your heels together three times and repeat after me, "There is no place like homeThere is no place like homeThere is no place like home, especially when...

New invention— The Fencerunner

By Dietmar Berg Issue #68 • March/April, 2001 Here's a gadget I developed to run barb or barbless wire. You mount it on the back of a pickup truck using the ball hitch (see drawing) so...

Choosing a chain saw

By Steven Gregersen Issue #119 •September/October, 2009 Winter will be here soon and along with winter comes cold weather and high heating bills. Obviously there's nothing new about any of this but with the current economic...

Getting logs

By Dorothy Ainsworth Website Exclusive • March, 2004 Online Exclusive April 2003 Attention: Would-be loggers. There have been changes in policy at the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. I have just found...

How to Resurrect Old, Rusted Tools

By R.E. Rawlinson Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019 The homesteading lifestyle can require a number of tools to cultivate the garden, maintain the home, repair the tractor, and build various pens and coops. We use them...