Building Archives - Page 3 of 8 - Backwoods Home Magazine

A house a tornado helped build

By Robert L. Williams Issue #16 • July/August, 1992 On May 5, 1989, tornadoes ripped through parts of three western North Carolina counties, including ours, and left piles of debris where houses, also including ours, once...

How to build a good fence for your homestead

By Charles Sanders Issue #103 • January/February, 2007 One of the basic fixtures on a homestead is fencing. Fences are used to keep animals in, or...

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...

Building and stocking your pantry

By Jackie Clay Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 At the turn of the 19th century, most country homes had a walk-in pantry, as well as a root cellar for keeping vegetables and fruits. This pantry contained...

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...

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...

Build a holz hausen to dry firewood

By Doug Fluckiger Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 My secret passion is tall, dark, and handsome. I may find her lying luxuriantly among a dark grove of firs. She may be standing proudly on a sunny...

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 Composter

By Charles Sanders Issue #170 • March/April, 2018 As with most of the other facets of homesteading, composting can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish to make it. One of the easiest ways...

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...

Turning a $10,000 House into a Home — Part 1: Salvaging the Wreck

By Claire Wolfe Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 December 2012. Welcome to my house as I first saw it. The door opens onto a dirt-floored room. It's not a garage, not a storeroom, not a laundry room,...

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 Heated Germination Bed

By Charles Sanders Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 Many of us who garden have learned the benefits of starting our own vegetable and flower plants. There are several benefits to having a spot to start your...

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...

Build a Groundhog Snare

By Allen Easterly Issue #98 • March/April, 2006 In just a few minutes your completed snare is ready to put an end to your groundhog woes. A snare set vertically is very effective catching groundhogs with...

Solar Building Design

By Steven Heckeroth Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Solar building design has been used since ancient times. In the more recent past, it has been more or less ignored as impractical, complicated, or too expensive. Incorporating...