I took the two week course and was a bit disappointing. I thought I would get intense detailed instructions on building a home. Building class was very specific to the area that has no public sewer or water. Time was wasted on may things such as building a saw horse, group building of a miniature model of a cabin, introductions took about 3 hours. I would like to have more hands on plumbing and such. Some of the hands on supplies were super old and we wasted a lot of time just finding parts that were not broken. read more

It has always been a dream of mine to design and build (or supervise, to be more accurate) my own house. So eight years ago my honey and I spent three weeks with Pat and Patsy Hennin learning the ins and outs of how to design and build homes. Pat does most of the instruction. He doles out his wry French -Canadian wit generously with his teaching aplomb. It never really felt like school. In fact, it was amazing how easy it seemed to use the formulas to size post, beams, joists, rafters. The course covered all aspects of the home building process with more emphasis on some elements than others. They have now moved out of downtown Bath to their dedicated facility a few miles North. While I have not yet got to that dream project, this was a great experience! We went in October and, while chilly, it was a beautiful time of year to be in a beautiful place. Now that I write about it, I may just try to stop in one more time before we put hammer to nail ourselves. These guys have been doing this for over thirty years now and they really have it down. Pat has a hilariously uproarious finale to the course. He pulls together a little self-mockery and sage advice into the funniest "class" I have ever witnessed. You probably need to spend three weeks with them to make it seem this funny, so that you pick up all the idiosyncrasies well enough that he can lampoon them to best effect! I guess you had to be there!!! read more

Wonderful wonderful place. Their courses are phenomenal and their shop is like a candy store filled with some of the most I retesting and useful non electric building and green living supplies. Have been a customer for 30+ years and plan to continue being one for 30 more! read more

I took the 3 week class over 30 years ago, with the idea of building a house on a piece of land I had. Knowing very little, except how to hammer, saw and drill, I learned a definite 3 weeks worth of building-house stuff. I never did build my " dream house," but instead bought a messed up fixer-upper in upper CT. More than anything, Shelter Institute taught me about the principles of houses; how they are not one big mystery to fear, but actually consist of systems, partitions of knowledge: shell, electricity, plumbing, etc. They gave me the courage to take on a mess of a house, knowing that "anything could be fixed" (quoting Pat). And though I did do a lot myself, I knew enough when hiring others to help me...I got the knowledge and confidence from SI. I took the class in 2 sections: half in winter, half in summer. That's all my job would allow me, and fortunately at that time so did SI. They make it sound easy. It is not easy, but the break-down into systems and their parts is what diffuses the mystery. In fact, if you remember the New Woman mag, I was featured as one of the 3 in an article: Handywoman's Special (many moons ago). I would not have gotten that far without the SI. I doubt I'll ever build my dream house, although I still dream of it. LOL I doubt I'll even do a post and beam from trees which I've cut down (Pat and Patsy did that as early projects, complete with the old red water pump outside). The only fault I found: there was not enough taught about septics and wells. However, once you've gotten good local helpers in other areas, those folks can point you in the right direction for help in these 2 areas. I will never forget these 2 dynamos who so obviously love what they do! I will never forget how much courage they gave me in the form of knowledge...and knowledge is power. :) read more

I called Shelter Institute to see if they offered sharpening services and was told they did so I dropped off 31 gouges and chisels to be sharpened by the owner on 6/27/14. Here it is 7/26/14! Not a peep! I finally called today to pick up my tools only to be told none of them had been sharpened. Upon picking them up, there were only 23 tools. They could not locate the 8 that were missing. I was told by Jennifer, who did not even have the decency to look me in the eyes, that the owner has been so busy that he hadn't even opened the box the tools were in and I got back all the tools that were dropped off. She could not confirm how many had been dropped odd because they did not take the time to inventory the tools that they received. She then gave me a business card for Blueberry and told me to call her to sort things out, but not right away because she was about to leave on vacation. The only person there with any customer service skills was Spencer. He was the only one who showed concern and empathy. I ended up leaving there with 8 missing tools and no one to call. An hour and a half later, I got a call from the owner introducing himself as the big bad person who is trying to steal my tools. He said he found 2 tools he believed to be mine on the sharpening bench. When I expressed how disappointed I was with the service I got today, the fact that no work had been done, the lengthy of time without so much as a phone call as well as the poor service today, he defended Jennifer despite not being there to witness our interaction. All I got were excuses. He said no one else sharpens tools and he does it only as a favor to his customers. Some favor huh? If only some one had said so when I made my first call! I told him I had in fact come across someone else who offers tool sharpening and was met with sarcasm. He said he was glad I found someone else to take my tools to. He said my other 2 tools he located were behind the counter and for me to come and get them. I have worked in customer service for over 18 years and would never consider being rude or sarcastic to my clients. Perhaps they should consider educating themselves as to how to provide better service. read more

Lots of wisdom and know-how here. I took their Small Housebuilding course. They did a great job of demonstrating and teaching as we actually built a small house together in a week. Highly recommend. SI Construction has built a lot of beautiful post & beam houses around here. They emphasize good insulation for the tough winter climate. They also have a fun shop where you can learn about and buy lots of useful tools, eco-friendly products, basically everything you would need to build or maintain a house- handsaws, excellent construction book selection, composting toilets, you name it. SI Realty service combines an intimate knowledge of the area and solid understanding of construction principles. All around very helpful, knowledgeable people- a terrific resource on all levels. read more