Special Outdoor Projects

There's nothing that compares to the wood-fired flavor of hearth-baked breads, but that unique taste is nearly impossible for the home cook to recreate without an outdoor bread oven. Luckily,...

Thinking of ways to revitalize your front yard landscape or your backyard garden on a budget? Installing a beautiful stepping-stone pathway is an easy, economical way to bring both whimsy and...

There are many reasons to move sand and gravel underwater, whether you mine it or other minerals in a quarry, you prospect for gold or you are trying to reform a river bank or the beach of a lake...

Backyard fire pits are a popular way to spend a relaxing evening at home. They can be store-bought or they can be recycled from common materials around the house--even the metal tub from a washing...

If you want to add a patio or walkway to your outdoor space, consider using landscaping pavers. You can use landscaping pavers to fill an area of any size or shape. With such a wide variety of...

Stepping stone walkways are an easy, economical and decorative addition to your front or back yard. They do not require concrete or construction and can be implemented in only a few hours. Follow...

An outdoor clay oven is the ideal place to make wood-fired pizza or to roast meat. Outdoor ovens are capable of reaching much higher temperatures than standard ovens, and this high heat creates...

A wood-burning outdoor oven is easy and affordable to make. You can design your own dome, choose the size, and even add design to it. One way to build a wood-burning outdoor oven uses red bricks,...

The dry stream bed, the path of sand, pebbles and stones left after the water in a stream dries up, is both visually and architecturally interesting and useful in landscape design. Situating the...

On a hot summer day, the scent of Corsican Mint and Thyme waft up from the sun-warmed rock floor of my gazebo. There is nothing so satisfying as building something that is beautiful, practical and...

Many people believe that a great way to improve the back yard of a property is to add a homemade barbecue fire pit. While many specialty stores sell kits that allow for the setup of a backyard...

The pleasure of eating bread is greatly enhanced when you are the one who did the baking. But you might enjoy the experience even more if you actually built the oven in which the bread was baked....

Small ponds can be the perfect habitat for birds, amphibians, insects and fish and are an excellent way to entice wildlife into your yard. Amphibians, such as frogs, generally have a complex life...

An outdoor wood fired oven doesn't have to be fancy. While there are many kits and fancy materials on the market specifically targeted to this pursuit, you can just as easily make one with...

Having a playground in your back yard can provide a fun area for children to exercise and play, as well as give parents a chance to relax as they supervise nearby. To make sure that your home...

A wood sandbox surrounding an above-ground pool can be like a stretch of beach. It will also afford children two places to play--the sandbox and the pool. Of course, you may consider the addition...

Building a pizza-making, wood-burning oven can be a daunting, yet rewarding and tasty task. The best strategy for building a brick oven for pizzas is to have a set plan before you start and then...

Children playing in a sandbox is one of those stereotypical images of childhood. A basic enclosure filled with sand is a simple way to introduce amusement and play activities for a small child....

Gardeners are always seeking ways to add interest to a garden. One of the common ways is to add rocks in strategic places. But if you don't have rocks at hand, you can always make faux rocks so...

Raised beds can play an important role in solving problems related to space and soil conditions for both flower and vegetable gardening. The simple construction of small, self-contained, raised...

A crackling fire outside on a nice summer or autumn evening creates great atmosphere for parties and cookouts, and a well-designed stone fireplace in a backyard can increase a home's value and...

The type of soil you are dealing with and where to place your septic is a big decision. You must also consider the number of people that will potentially be using the system. If the tank is too...

The sandbox reigns supreme in the world of outdoor play items for kids. Options for a backyard sandbox range from recycled materials to customized wooden boxes. The size of the space available and...

Paint is a wonderful application to freshen up outdoor areas that are tired from the constant demands of weather. Paint can be applied to just about any surface, and with the variety of colors and...

Sandblasting is the use of an air compressor to force small-sized particles of sand against a surface. This practice is generally performed on metal, but glass can also be etched using a very fine...

Yorkstone is a type of sandstone quarried in Yorkshire, England. This sedimentary rock is famous for, among other things, having been used at one time to pave the streets of London. Yorkstone is a...

While a concrete bird bath is easy to make, you cannot deny its usefulness in making an otherwise boring backyard peaceful and serene. The number of birds you'll attract do wonders to improve the...

Build a small sand filter for an above-ground pool with a large ice cooler. The principle of sand filtration is simple. Water flows from the pump over the sand medium, where it is forced through...

Sand casting, also called sand-molded casting, is a popular industrial process used by foundries to manufacture different parts for machines and instruments using different metals. Foundries...

Sandbags are useful to create a temporary retaining wall to hold back water and dirt. Sandbags are valuable during winters and rainy seasons to prevent flooding waters from seeping in, under...

The power of wind to transform landscapes is unquestioned. In deserts and coastal dune areas, wind blows sand into spectacular formations spanning vast distances. Preventing sand drifts and sand...

Perhaps the single most recognizable clay oven is the igloo-like pizza oven. Large enough to allow for a wood-burning fire in the back of the oven, the front half is used to bake pizza on a flat...

Building an outdoor play area requires time, planning and a drive to complete the project within a financial and time budget. Using swings, water slides, pools and other outdoor accessories that...

Brick pavers provide an attractive finished surface for outdoor steps leading to a patio, deck or porch. It's a challenging process but can be completed in a weekend of work, leaving you with a...

From time immemorial kids have loved a sandbox. For playing, learning, building, wallowing, nothing beats clean, white sand for an outdoor play area. Perhaps you have priced the tiny plastic...

Understanding concrete is a incredibly important and often overlooked DIY skill. Seeing as concrete is the most versatile building material on the planet, not to mention the most cost efficient...

Barbecuing is a ritual of summertime. It signals the time of eating outside with the smells of wood smoke and sizzling meat, carmelization and saltiness. Think of potato salads and coleslaw, jello...

It is a little known fact that you can make your own fire pit bowl to sit around on nice summer evenings. With a few materials and some space, you can design a fire pit bowl that will decorate...

Kids love to play in both water and sand. Trips to the beach or playground can thrill them, but sometimes you just don't have the time or energy. Satisfy your kid's desire for creative play by...

A charcoal grill is the simplest and most accessible way for most people to cook food over an open flame. While an electric grill may have the advantage of portability, and a gas grill is easy to...

Making a pond is very easy nowadays. Most flexible liners are strong and long-lasting but are sometimes difficult to install. Pre-formed pools are a simple solution and about as near as you can...

As long as there have been kids and sand, kids have been using it to dig, build and destroy sandy creations. A sandbox is a contained area of sand for kids to channel their creative building...

If you enjoy baking, and you would like to have a go at baking in an old fashioned way, you can build your own wood fired oven. It's a fairly long process, thanks to waiting for the material to...

A calming place used to soothe the mind and spirit is what a Zen garden should be about. Zen gardens are being studied by neoroscientists because the simple designs are pleasing to the...

Clay or concrete pavers are often the "go to" choice for landscapers. They are both cost-effective, strong and weather-resistant building materials but the inexpensive cost can quickly offset by...

Building an island that stays put and you can live on is not science fiction. Many man-made, inhabited islands exist in the Netherlands, Japan and Dubai. Artificial islands were made centuries ago...

A zen garden is not a garden in the traditional Western way of thinking. A zen garden generally does not contain plants. If it does, the plants need to be meaningful to the individual and they...

Since the first dinosaur bone was found, the ancient creatures have fascinated adults and children all over the world. The paleontologists of today were the little people of yesterday reading...

Kids love to play with sand and water. Not only is it a great way to enjoy the outdoors, that type of tactile play fosters creativity. Creating a backyard sand and water play area for your kids...

Build a backyard barbeque pit, use gravel to level the ground for a fire pit and learn why it works better then sand or dirt in this free construction video.