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...
Building a $3,000 Barn
By Robert Van Putten
Issue #169 • January/February, 2018
There comes a time when all homesteaders start thinking of livestock, and 14 years ago, we were no exception. But before we could get any livestock, we...
Parge the ugly out of your concrete wall
By Bill Leonard
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
You can say a great deal in favor of cement block (or, if you prefer, concrete block) building. It's fairly fast, reasonably easy, particularly in small projects, and...
Build a wood crib with free materials
By Mark R. Roach
Issue #156 • November/December, 2015
Trying to stack wood so it stays up without falling can be a challenge. Just when you think you've got it licked, down it comes (or months...
Tools and hardware for the backwoods home
By James Ballou
Issue #74 • March/April, 2002
A certain degree of self reliance is obtainable by those who have the knowledge and skills, resourcefulness, courage, common sense, and tools to perform most of the tasks...
Build a Trapper’s Tilt
By Robert Van Putten
Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted a rustic log cabin deep in the forest. I believe there is something unique about this simple,...
Build a Concrete Root Cellar
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #168 • November/December, 2017
I should have been a mole — it feels so safe and cool and quiet to be underground. So when my house burned down 20 years ago and...
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...
Install rafters alone the easy way
By Robert L. Williams
Issue #35 • September/October, 1995
Anyone who has ever worked on roof framing knows that nailing up rafters is a two-man job at the very best. At worst, the task requires the...
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...
Claw Hammers
By R.E. Rawlinson
Scottish writer and philosopher Thomas Carlyle observed that “Man is a tool using animal … without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.” In the modern world we are awash...
Build an Off-Grid Root Cellar, Garage, and Bunkhouse
By Robert Van Putten
Issue #166 • July/August, 2017
My wife and I built our homestead by hand. I’m not a professional builder, so once in a while I make mistakes -- the garage we built...
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 a homestead Copy Cart
By Charles Sanders
Issue #45 • July/August, 1997
I don't know too many homesteaders, gardeners, or small farmers who haven't at one time or another wished for one of those fancy big-wheeled garden carts. It seems...
Composite lumber helps outdoor projects resist water, weather, and sun
By Steve Maxwell
How many times have you built an outdoor project out of wood, only to be disappointed by the deterioration that hit after just a few years? Solving this problem is why I...
Ambidextrous chainsaw filing
By Thomas Brewer
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
I am not ambidextrous. My wife, Judith, uses chopsticks with either hand or even both hands at once. She is ambidextrous. I can barely write with my right...































