Join the Thousands of Shelter Institute Graduates
Building Their Dream Houses!
Shelter Institute offers a wide variety of courses ranging in length and hands-on opportunity. In our classes we take apart the building process and teach each step individually. Students walk away from the course with all the design tools necessary to build a house.

Which class is for me? We offer several housebuilding classes to serve your needs. Our students range in age from fourteen to eighty. Some of them are contractors, architects, and engineers while others have never picked up a hammer. Our basic Design/Build class is offered in three formats. It receives four college credits, real estate, and appraisal recertification credits. Our Post & Beam Class is a hands on building class designing, measuring, marking, cutting, fitting and erecting a whole timberframe. Contract-It Yourself is a short primer course for those hiring a house built which will coach you on pitfalls, good-practice details, and design ideas that you will want to incorporate.

1)Two Week Design/Build Class: The core syllabus is based on 15 lectures. This Two Week Class consists of lectures in the mornings and most afternoons and workshops held in the evenings. The weekend is spent in workshops and out at house sites. This is an intensive course that saturates you with knowledge from site planning to foundations, insulation, engineering, design, wiring, plumbing, tool knowledge and the ability to Design and Build. Whether you have been dreaming of building a home or are already heavily involved in the building industry; regardless of where you are building, you will walk away from this class with a new understanding of construction and confidence in your ability to complete a project.

2) Purely Post and Beam: In this one-week class we start with raw lumber and in five days cut and raise a 24x24-foot timber frame by hand. (Full syllabus here.) The days are spent on-site designing, cutting and raising a post and beam frame. You will learn to select, use and care for a complete set of timber framing tools. After the sharpening workshop you'll be able to shave with your chisels. In five short days you will turn fresh lumber into a carefully crafted houseframe and leave knowing how to design and build your own.

3) Contract-It Yourself:Three days with our staff focusing on contractor relations, new materials, and techniques that allow the homeowner to be aware of and wary of details that make the house efficient, cost-conscious and personal. A fresh look at all the concerns of a homeowner hiring the house renovated, built or expanded.

4) Small House Building Class: For those who see the beauty and utility of a truly small house. This class is new this year - designed to provide the basic skills and knowledge needed to build a complete little structure. We are building a house that is less than 200 square feet in five days! A special feature of this structure is that is designed to be a take-apart-house. When completed, this little structure will be easy to dissassemble for transport and re-assembly. All the details from foundation options to door-hanging details to roofing will be completed in five short days.

5) Free Product Information Series:

We've noticed that there are a handful of products that we spend a lot of time discussing with individual customers; so much time that we thought you ight be itnersted in joining us for a free series of round table discussions before you buy. Although these sessions are free of charge you must register beforehand as are a limited number of seats. visit our schedule for a list of upcoming discussions.