Building Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Life-long siding with fiber cement board

By Jay Stoler Issue #117 • May/June, 2009 Fiber cement board siding is one of a number of siding materials that is replacing wood these days in new and remodeled home construction. It is essentially a...

Make your own lumber with a chainsaw mill

By Jacqueline Tresl Issue #39 • May/June, 1996 Milling a board with a chainsaw lumber-maker. Figure1: The pieces. Beams, joists and walls were made with a chainsaw mill. Figure 2: The frame. Figure 3: The surface to which the chainsaw...

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...

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 Your Own Hoop House

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #171 • May/June, 2018 I’ve had my own garden for more than half a century, and I have learned a few things after all these years. One of the most valuable things...

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...

Save Time and Energy with the Fenced Chicken Coop/Garden

By John Silveira Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 My engineer father was not fond of wasting time or energy. He was always searching for a better, more efficient way to perform chores, especially chores that reoccurred...

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...

Three Raised Bed Designs

By Joe Mooney Issue #150 • November/December, 2014 When it comes to gardening, almost anything can be used to create a raised bed. Tires, blocks, rocks, and scrap lumber are just a few of the most...

Never underestimate a woman

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #32 Mar/Apr 1998 (In the May/June issue , we published an article by Dorothy Ainsworth titled "Determined woman builds distinctive vertical log studio," in which Dorothy detailed how she built a beautiful...

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...

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...

Stairs — The next level

By Skip Thomsen Website Exclusive • August, 2004 Any good carpenter can build a staircase. What we're talking about here is taking that staircase to the next level: beyond just a means to get from one...

Simplify life in your backwoods home by using these easy mountain methods

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #54 • November/December, 1998 Backwoods folk, or in my case, mountain folk, are typically very resourceful, utilizing whatever is on hand to make their lives easier and more pleasant. And hill-women...

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 stone wall

By Charles Sanders Issue #70 • July/August, 2001 The natural beauty of a stone wall has been romanticized in poem and picture for hundreds of years. There is a soothing permanence that can be seen in...