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I had an elementary school friend, Paul, who came from what you’d call a relaxed-priority family. Until my first visit to his place I’d never been to a home with dead cars on the lawn, a screen door you had to kick open, and evidence of people having slept on the floor. But when I walked into the bedroom Paul shared with two older brothers my understanding of the range of life’s possibilities expanded even further. more »

Successful building should be boring. At least at the beginning, anyway. That’s because all great builds ultimately come down to how clients and contractors interact. Success isn’t primarily about sexy technical issues like floor plans, heating systems and windows. Get the people part right first, and the fun stuff takes care of itself. Get it wrong and you’ll suffer big-time. more »

Composting toilets are probably the world’s least glamorous product. Their homely reputation lives on because horror stories are so much fun to tell. Most cottagers love to recount tales about composting toilets gone terribly wrong, and I’m no exception. When I was a teenager during the 1970s, my parent’s installed a composting toilet in our family cottage. more »

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Ontario couple creates straw bale solar dream home beyond the ordinary Lot’s of people talk about how they’d love to build an energy-efficient, solar-powered home in the country some day, but few ever get beyond armchair day dreams. Fewer still manage to actually complete the project with style, elegance and the kind of attention to quality required for real-world success. Glen Hunter and Joanne Sokolowski have achieved all this and more, and that’s why their unique story has so much to offer more »

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But as good as these tools were, I wish I could show Grandpa my own tool collection today. There’s still lots I want to buy, but there’s also brand new kinds of tools I’m very pleased to own. Here’s a look at a few of my favourites that he never saw. more »

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If ever there was an ideal Canadian walkway and driveway paving product, interlocking concrete paving bricks must be it. They’re called pavers in the trade, and besides looking great, the factory-cured concrete they're made from is almost as indestructible as granite. What other masonry product can stand up to years of our brutal, ground-level freeze/thaw cycles without crumbling? And if the earth beneath the installation heaves a bit during the spring, as often happens, interlocking pavers more »