Building Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Make adobe bricks

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #110 • March/April, 2008 Last winter I got a phone call from an old friend in Arizona. One of his sons had fallen in love, gotten the girl in trouble, and...

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 Baby Zane is probably the only newborn in Hollywood sleeping in a log crib made by his grandmother in Oregon, but it was inevitable. The finished log crib. Dorothy uses...

A Kid-Friendly Chicken Coop

By Melissa Souza  Issue #159 • May/June, 2016 My family is committed to becoming as self-sufficient as possible, and a huge part of that is growing...

Build a cold smoker so you can make delicious squaw candy

By Jane Duquette Issue #148 • July/August, 2014 For delicious squaw candy, start with the freshest fish. One fresh July evening at our summer cabin in Soldotna, Alaska, my husband, Tom, and I sat with friends around...

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...

Make a fully functional cold storage pit/mound and enjoy your garden’s production all winter

By Armand O. Deblois Issue #47 • September/October, 1997 Cold stored fruits and vegetables are the next best thing to fresh-picked. Flavor and texture change little and nutritional value remains high. They keep for an amazingly...

A river rock shower

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 The finished shower weighs a ton and cost about $800. Cultured stones, made of pumice and portland cement, weigh about half as much as river rocks. Notched-trowel texturing in the mortar...

A cabin for one

By Lee Greiman Issue #109 • January/February, 2008 Between 1989 and 1990 I built a 20 by 20-foot log house on the Musselshell River in Montana. The next year I built an addition on it that...

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...

Radiant floor heating — Alternative to forced-air heating is solar-powered, too An interview with...

By Michael Hackleman Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 Hydronic, or radiant floor heating is a method of heating a home, shop, or other building with the heat concentrated in the floor. It works by embedding special...

Vise Dremel Moto Tool mount

By Dana Martin Batory Issue #84 • November/December, 2003 Sometimes it seems two hands are not enough—three would be nice, four even better. This economical, easy to build jig solves that common workshop problem. Designed to...

Build this sturdy large-capacity food dehydrator

By Charles Sanders Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Drying of food as a means of preservation has been around for a long time. Populations in suitably dry climates all around the globe have dried meat, fish,...

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...

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...

Renovating old walls

By David Lee Issue #106 • July/August, 2007 Some years ago my wife and I were out searching for a new building lot when we fell into The Trap. We had recently built and sold a...

Build your own log home in the woods

By Jackie Clay (Photos by Bill Spaulding and Jackie Clay) Issue #72 • November/December, 2001 This is the third part of a three-part series. The first two parts appeared in issues 70 and 71. In the last two issues...