WHICH CLASS IS FOR ME?

We offer several types of housebuilding classes to serve your needs. View our Course Offerings to see a complete list of what we offer or view our Schedule to see what we're offering in the coming year.

Our most popular courses are the two-week Design Build Class, which covers everything you need to know about homebuilding, whether you’re starting new or renovating old and our Purely Post & Beam Class, which is a hands-on building class—designing, measuring, marking, cutting, fitting, and erecting a whole 24'x24' timberframe. We recently added an online version of the Purely Post & Beam Class so that students can access the knowledge without leaving their home. Our Contract-It-Yourself course teaches the details to help you plan, budget, and schedule a successful construction project.

Students can receive credit toward college degrees, teacher certification, and real estate certification through our Design Build and Purely Post & Beam classes. Many of our courses qualify for tax credit and state or VA job training reimbursement programs.

We offer dozens of free information classes or weekend workshops throughout the year, so visit our website often, follow us on Facebook or Twitter, join our mailing list, or subscribe to our blog to receive updates on our schedule.

Join the thousands of Shelter Institute graduates building and maintaining their dream homes!

“Graduates leave knowing how to do something most Americans only dream about doing: build a house.” —Time Magazine

"I learned more in the Design Build Class at Shelter Institute than in my Seven Years of College and Graduate School." Graduate Evie Weinstein