Press

Prefab houses are as varied as the people who purchase them: There are round homes, Georgian homes, log homes, conventional homes and detached studios. But they all have one thing in common—most prefab homes are an energy-efficient and environmentally sound alternative to traditional homes.

I could do this.

Since 1970, Shelter-Kit has offered pre-cut custom post and beam barns and sheds for assembly by people like me—who have no prior building experience. (The company says women make up a large portion of its customers.) Versatile in appearance and function, the kit buildings can be used as storage, workshops, barns, pool houses, garages, garden sheds and hobby spaces. My dream is to build one as an office.

Put on your tool belt and get ready to start building the garage you always wanted, that garden shed you’ve been intending to buy for years or even the new home you’ve been dreaming about.

Recently, I heard about a New Hampshire company called Shelter-Kit that sells DIY houses for “people who can’t even read blueprints.” Seeing myself in that description, I investigated. The company claimed that two amateurs could build its smallest model in just four days, without power tools.

Building [a cabin] yourself requires at least six months, a garageful of tools and serious skills… Or there’s Shelter-Kit, which sells spartan, sturdy, pre-cut cabins that can be assembled in as little as a week by two people with no special skills or equipment.

Shelter-Kit produces kit buildings for “assembly by owners” with no prior building experience. Perfect for folks like myself whose only construction until recently had been assembling IKEA shelves.

It’s the ultimate erector set for adults. For 40 years, Shelter-Kit has designed affordable, build-it-yourself homes, barns, cabins and garages that combine sweat equity, simple instructions and quality materials. And the kits don’t require cranes or power tools to assemble.

A Tilton company has started the New Year with a bang, being featured in a six-page spread in the February issue of Country Home magazine as well as garnering prime placement on MSN.com’s Web site in January.

Lizzie Pickard and Daniel Cogan built their house from a $45,000 kit— and bought themselves the freedom to customize every detail.

Tired of having to accept the cookie-cutter homes that developers push your way? Want to get your hands dirty and perhaps raise your own roof? A kit home could be for you.

Let me introduce you to Shelter-Kit, a New Hampshire-based firm that’s had a formidable presence in the kit home building industry for the last 40 years. Just this year, they’ve teamed up with TimberLogic LLC, a Certified Green Professional company, to give inherently greener kit homes even more eco-appeal.

Shelter-Kit’s do-it-yourself approach allows owners
to build their own structure with the use of straightforward,
step-by-step directions. No prior carpentry skills
are needed. Quality hand-selected materials arrive
at the site ready for assembly. Shelter-Kit barns are
available in widths ranging from 16 to 36 feet and
lengths of 16 to 64 feet and can be customized to meet
additional needs.

New England Cable News Reporter Lauren Collins visited our office and factory to learn more about our unique kits. Shelter-Kit owner Dave Kimball talked with Lauren about our house, cabin, barn and garage kits, and explained why they are a great solution for amateur builders who want to assemble their own building. Lauren also visited a Shelter-Kit Barn House, and talked with the owner about his experience building his own home.

You could say Shelter-Kit and other do-it-yourself home building businesses are great-grandchildren of the Sears Home kits that hit the market more than 100 years ago… Shelter-Kit makes four basic building styles, but allows for customization, according to Dave kimball, owner of the Tilton, N.H.-based company.

If timber framing is beyond your skill or budget level, you can still consider building your own home. Not a contractor? Not a builder? Never built a structure? No problem. Shelter-Kit, based out of Tilton, New Hampshire, is in its 40th year of manufacturing DIY kit homes, barns and garages, all of which are engineered to exacting quality and precision specifications so that anyone (including you) can in fact, build their own structure.

You’ve heard of Ikea before, where not-so-handy folks can and do successfully build do-it-yourself furniture? Shelter-Kit takes the DIY concept to the next level. The Tilton, N.H.-based kit-home company creates barns, garages and even homes, all of which are engineered to exacting quality and precision specifications so that anyone (including you) can build their own structure.

There’s one sector of the homebuilding market that seems to be weathering the recent economic storm better than the rest of its industry—kit homes. Kit homes are houses built from packages of building materials, sometimes pre-cut to fit together without waste. Various styles of homes can be built from house kits.

Shelter-Kit is a Tilton, N.H., company that precuts and drills lumber and hardware for post and beam building kits up to 36 ft. wide for do-it-yourselfers. “Everything is designed so that two people can handle all the material,” says David Kimball of Shelter-Kit. Shelter-Kit’s goal is to produce kit buildings for assembly by owners with no prior building experience.

Do-it-yourself kit-home manufacturer, Shelter-Kit, Inc., has launched a Green Home Kit that will allow customers the ability to be a part of a certified home project from the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) National Green Building Certification Program (NGBP). The Tilton, NH, based kit-home company creates homes, barns and garages that anyone can build their own home.

You’ve heard of Ikea before, I’m sure… where not-so-handy folks can and do successfully build DIY-furniture. Well, Shelter-Kit takes this DIY concept to the next level. The Tilton, NH based kit-home company creates barns, garages and even homes, all of which are engineered to exacting quality and precision specifications so that anyone (including you) can in fact, build their own structure.

You’ve heard of Ikea before, I’m sure… where not-so-handy folks can and do successfully build DIY-furniture. Well, Shelter-Kit takes this DIY concept to the next level. The Tilton, NH based kit-home company creates barns, garages and even homes, all of which are engineered to exacting quality and precision specifications so that anyone (including you) can in fact, build their own structure.

New York Times

6 April 2008, 20 July 2007

Vermont Magazine-At Home supplement

2007-08

USA Weekend

16 September 2007

Family Circle

March 2007

Domino

March 2007

Inspired House

February 2005

Inspired House

January/February 2005

Outside

August 2002

Country Home

June 2002

Yankee

May 2002

Mother Earth News

February/March 2002

Weekly World News

13 March 2001

New Hampshire Business Review

23 February 2001

The Horse

February 2001

Concord Monitor

13 August 2000, 9 August 2000

Kit Car

May 2000