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...
Shelves and benches
By David Lee
Issue #107 • September/October, 2007
Money doesn't buy happiness but it sure does buy a lot of stuff. If it is nice stuff then you need a place to display it. If it...
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...
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...
Building a Ferro-Cement Shed
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By Robert Van Putten
Issue #162 • November/December, 2016
For a year and a half, we lived in an 18-foot travel trailer while building a straw bale cottage. There isn't much space in a travel trailer,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
A simple backwoods hay baler
By Rev. J.D. Hooker
Issue #82 • July/August, 2003
During the winter months, Steve and his wife Tandy feed between 120 and 150 bales of hay to a herd of pretty high-quality dairy goats on their...
Build a pizza oven
By Mike Lorenzen
Issue #143 • September/October, 2013
About a year ago, my wife and I traveled around Italy by car. We had lots of wood-fired pizza. Italians make their pizza very thin with some sauce,...
Rural Building
By Martin Harris
Issue #63 • May/June, 2000
Q. We have just purchased 15 acres, and our question is how to install our septic system, how far away from the on-site stream and can we use...
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...
The Forever Floor
By David Lee
Issue #92 • March/April, 2005
It is pretty devious starting off an article with an exaggeration but now that I have your attention let me tell you about a floor surfacing method I...
Building David’s Cabin, Part One
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
Issue #172 • July/August, 2018
Like most young folks today, our son David graduated high school, got a job, and went to college (accumulating student loans in the process). After that, he worked...
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...
