Special Outdoor Projects

Framing a building with wood or steel is no easy task, and usually takes a team of talented and skilled laborers to get the job done with precision and quality. Whether fastening a steel door...

A greenhouse is a useful tool for gardeners wanting to grow year round and continue producing their plants and fruit. Having a small greenhouse for a balcony can be beneficial for people who live...

If you're lucky enough to own a home on the water, you may want to consider building your own dock instead of buying one. Docks are versatile structures used for fishing, docking a boat or even...

Building a frame for a wooden shed floor can be accomplished by using 2-inch-by-4-inch boards. The process is really quite simple once you understand how to connect them all together. Think of...

A great way to prevent a clutter of starter pots in the house during early spring is to build a cold frame outside to start your vegetables in. A cold frame will give your seedlings access to more...

An exhaust fan is usually located at the top of a greenhouse. It is an important temperature control that keeps your plants from getting too hot. It also helps control moisture, improve...

A shed will be much more durable if it is built on a concrete slab foundation instead of just dirt. The slab will protect the shed from rot and provide a better seal against insects and vermin....

Solar ovens have been typically made using crafty methods, with materials ranging from pizza boxes and tin foil to tanning reflectors that sit on the ground. These can be effective for cooking,...

Building a portable greenhouse lets the home gardener extend the outdoor growing season by starting early and growing later into the fall. Using a portable greenhouse with raised beds further...

Enjoying a warm summer afternoon taking in the sun is good for the mind and body, but lazing on a floating dock that you made yourself works even better. With even a little aptitude for carpentry,...

Get friends together for a manageable weekend building project of making your own backyard sauna. Just like home buying, your first consideration is building the sauna near water for the...

A yard is a nice way to entertain guests and relax in the outdoors. One of the most important things you need for an outdoor area is shade to protect your guests from the sun. The most convenient...

Storage sheds that are build to keep various garden tools and other items can be built on a platform or a concrete slab. Once the structure has been built it should be anchored to the ground to...

Building an A-Frame for a wooden swing is a fun and easy project that can be completed in just a few hours. Using standard dimensional material will help this project go smoothly and will look...

If you are an avid gardener or just beginning the hobby, a great way to add your own style to your garden is to create a garden planter. A sturdy and moderately easy planter can be made from...

Some plant lovers enjoy hobby greenhouses as a way to retain a bit of summer in the dead of winter. These greenhouses may have indoor ponds and boast fabulous specimen plants. Other gardeners,...

If you own a home with a back yard and have children, you may want to consider building them a play set. Although this might seem like an impossible task to undertake, building a play set is...

A do-it-yourself shed framing kit removes much of the design work required in building a shed, mini barn or workshop. Containing everything you need to build a strong, sturdy frame for your...

Before you can build your back yard barn, it is best to do some assessing of your needs. If you know ahead of time what you plan to do with the barn, it will make it easier to plan and build. For...

A playhouse is a great weekend project. The options vary with your budget, skills and the time you can invest. The possibilities in themes, designs and color schemes of your playhouse can be as...

In a time where people are trying to reduce waste and dependence on fossil fuels, it's possible to do both. Build with plastic bottles to create a greenhouse. Not only can you turn something...

Basic welding and metal fabrication skills are required to build a Texas style grill with smoker. You will need a clean 55 gallon drum, angle iron for the frame, hinges and hardware for the lid...

A child's playhouse can consist of a simple structure built in one afternoon or a more elaborate miniature house which requires a significant amount of time and skill to create. Regardless of the...

You can build a small solar panel to power small appliances with readily available tools and materials for under $500. The foundation for the solar panel will be a two-foot by four-foot frame made...

Preparing an area for a storage shed is an additional investment for the longevity of the small building. You'll save money if the site is ready to go once the storage building is either delivered...

Every gardener dreams of extending the growing season. You can do that by constructing a cold frame. One caveat about cold frames---you need to monitor the air temperature as well as the...

Cabins come in many forms and sizes. Depending on how much room you have and how much time you are willing to invest, you can construct a cabin that best suits your needs and limitations. Even if...

A child's playhouse can be a much-needed getaway for any little boy or girl, but sometimes four wooden walls and a cut out window just won't suffice. Here are a few creative ideas for a backyard...

In a now by-gone era, the little house out back served young and old alike. Making a trip to the outhouse in the dead of a winter night was a chilly experience at best. Most latrines were humble...

Taking the time to build your own greenhouse will save you a substantial amount of money compared to the expense of paying someone else to build it for you. When you choose to build your own...

A beehive frame is a wooden rectangular structure like a picture frame that provides support to a commercially made section of honeycomb foundation. The foundation gives bees a comb-like surface...

PVC is light and can be assembled fairly quickly using adhesives and connectors. However, PVC structures are easily blown over in the wind unless they are anchored to the ground. PVC gazebos...

Selecting the best design for your greenhouse plans calls for you to take a hard look at what you actually intend to use the greenhouse for--what kind of plants you'll grow, at what temperatures...

A metal shed is an affordable way to add additional space to your home. Metal shed kits are easy to put up. You can easily erect one in a day's time---and you can usually do most of the work by...

If you have a swimming pool, hot tub or a special spot for tanning or you just want a little privacy, a lattice privacy screen is easy to construct, looks nice and can be completed at a very...

Camping season is coming and excitement is building for the annual family foray into the wilderness. You enjoy roughing it, but every year you find yourself wishing you had easy access to hot...

Kids love to play in playhouses. They are great for girls or boys. Build a movable playhouse with wood, tools and your imagination for hours of pretend play fun.

Make an easy-to-assemble gazebo from an eight-column dome kit. The PVC construction requires that the post holes be set in concrete so that the gazebo does not tip over in high winds. UV-rated...

The main purpose of an ice shack is to protect you from the elements while you are ice fishing or hunting in cold weather. It should be lightweight and simple to transport from place to place....

Building a trellis for your garden is a great way to spruce up the look of your garden while also saving a ton of space. A trellis can be many different sizes and shapes, and that will ultimately...

Lot of materials are available for building docks, but none feature the buoyancy and ease of use as Styrofoam billets. One square foot of Styrofoam is enough to keep 55 pounds afloat. Styrofoam...

Most gardeners wish for a longer growing season. A cold frame, which is a bottomless box with a glass top, can help provide this. A cold frame is placed over a part of your garden; the window in...

Building a deck over a solid level cement surface is fairly simple. Decks can be built in any size or height depending on the area of the cement surface, but for the purpose of this article, a...

Building a 7-foot square wooden storage shed on your own can save you money rather than buying a pre-made unit. Sheds are beneficial if you lack space in your home or even at your workplace to...

The construction of a boat dock is very similar to the construction of a deck you would build at your home, with the addition of some specialized hardware. The dock being built in this article...

Making your own PVC greenhouse will save you money over purchasing an expensive, pre-built product. The frame is made from PVC pipe, an inexpensive material available at home improvement stores....

If you have too much junk in your house and need some extra space--or you want a place to keep your tools, garden supplies or other outdoor equipment--you might be thinking about putting up a...

A greenhouse can be a self-contained structure with apparatus for climate control and irrigation. These structures tend to be expensive, ranging anywhere from several hundred to several thousand...

The most important thing to consider when building a tree house is the safety of the structure. Designing and building tree houses for your children should begin with a sturdy tree and at least...

This popular shed design measures 10 x 12' and holds all of the lawn and garden tools and more.