On This Page
We welcome you to read through this page for a whole-picture perspective on Women’s Advanced Carpentry. If you’re looking for specific information, you can use the following links to skip around:
Learn to build your own structures from the foundation up in our Advanced Carpentry Course!
In our basic carpentry classes, students learn how to safely and effectively use tools for carpentry. In response to popular demand, we created our Women’s Advanced Carpentry Course specifically for graduates of our basic carpentry class, so they can take their skills to the next level.
In these more advanced classes, we combine online lectures with five days of hands-on learning under the tutelage of expert instructors. You will actively be learning by doing. Students who participate fully will be able to leave the class with the knowledge and ability to construct a simple shed from the floor system to the roof.
Advanced Carpentry includes 5 full days of building instruction and practice, plus online material to study ahead of time and keep indefinitely.
Our Women’s Advanced Carpentry students learn to become confident carpenters
“This class was a big deal for me. Not only did I take away a lot of practical skills—like how to square a wall I’ve just built and how to install something that’s plumb—but I have a newfound confidence to engage with these projects on my own and create carpentry plans I can see all the way through to the end.” —Betsy, North Carolina, Gym Owner
This class is for you if:
- You’ve graduated from or are registered for one of our basic carpentry classes
- You enjoy skillful, welcoming, patient instructors
- You’re ready for hands-on experience building a shed or pole barn
- You feel excitement about learning to pour concrete footers, build a deck/floor system, build and erect walls, and put on roof sheathing or metal
- You love learning in a beautiful, sheltered, outdoor environment
What to Expect: Advanced Carpentry Instruction
Over the course of five days, we’ll work as a team to build a simple, functional, and pleasing shed—starting by crafting a solid wood-framed floor and ending with securing roof sheathing or purlins and metal to our rafters. At the completion of the class, every student will have learned the skills and techniques to construct a shed (or other small structure) of their own.
Women’s Advanced Carpentry Schedule
Get ready for five content-packed days of hands-on carpentry skill building and implementation.
Day 1: Saw skills review and getting started on the floor
On the first day of class, we’ll get to know each other and learn about the project we’ll be tackling together. We’ll spend some time reviewing how to use power saws so that everyone is up to speed and ready to make cuts safely and effectively. Then, we’ll divide into groups, look at plans, and dive into working on floor systems.
Day 2: More on floors and getting started with walls
On our second day, we’ll finish up the floor system, get into cutting pieces for walls, and likely start laying out our walls.
Day 3: Wall construction
This day will be all about walls—assembling them, erecting them, and likely starting to sheath them.
Day 4: More walls, plus rafters
On day 4, we will finish up framing and sheathing the walls of our structure, cut rafters for the roof, and begin installing them.
Day 5: Putting on the roof
On day five, we’ll continue to work on the rafters and finally install roof sheathing or purlins and metal roofing. We’ll also wrap up any other details that haven’t been finished, and we may cover some other tantalizing tidbits unique to each structure.
Building Plans!
After the completion of the advanced woodworking class, you’ll receive a copy of the plans used in your build, so you can build the same structure for yourself at home if you’d like.
Online Lectures: Floor, Wall, and Roof Systems, plus Window Installation
Within one week of registering for the women’s advanced carpentry course, you’ll receive access to an online lecture series covering floor, wall, and roof systems, along with window installation. In these in-depth lessons, you’ll learn the theory behind some of the most important parts of structural building.
It’s very important that you complete this material before you come to class, so that our in-class discussions can go beyond the basics. You’ll have unlimited access to this material, so you can refer back to it as you embark on your own projects.
We ask students to watch the lectures in preparation for the course, whenever it’s convenient, and freshen up on techniques before class begins.
Continue learning at your own pace – Check out our Online Tiny House Academy
Along with in-person building classes, we also offer an online tiny house building class called the Tiny House Academy. The online lectures for Women’s Advanced Carpentry are a very small sampling from this comprehensive online program. The full program includes a ton of how-to’s, along with an extremely comprehensive video library of tutorials, lectures, and demos, plus instructor support.
When you join Women’s Advanced Carpentry, you’ll receive a coupon for $200 off the Tiny House Academy.
We build at a pace that gets things done while considering every student’s needs.
We work hard to assure a balance exists between breadth and depth. Meaning, our goal is that each student understands the big concepts and principles, while also building competence with carpentry.
Everyone will get to participate in each stage of the project, get her hands on a lot of tools, and feel a sense of satisfaction at the end of the class. Since each step of structural building builds upon the last (pun intended!), we need to move at a pace that allows us to get to each step of the project. After running this class over a dozen times, we’ve dialed in what pace of work and scale of project allows for this, while not rushing the group.
Your Build Will Be Meaningful
The sheds we build will be going to local flood victims or community members, or will be used at the Wild Abundance campus. If you are a flood victim and would like to apply for a free shed, or if you are a local student who would like to purchase a shed for the cost of the materials (a really great deal!), please get in touch with us at campus@wildabundance.net.
Instructors
Nadi Udros
Madison Moore
Alex Kilgore
Tyler Lavenburg
Erica Doud
Women’s Advanced Carpentry is held near Asheville, NC, at the Wild Abundance Paint Fork Campus
Our Paint Fork campus is a bustling creekside landscape with gorgeous mountain views, a breathtaking timber-framed pavilion classroom, and spacious covered open-air wood shops for learning building and carpentry in all weather, plus other lovely features. The Paint Fork campus is 30 minutes north of Asheville.
Please note: our campuses are all unconventional, with rustic amenities and uneven ground. Read more about planning your trip and about our campuses. You’ll receive detailed directions on how to get here upon registration.
You’ve got several options of where to stay during your class. Some students camp, some locals commute, and others choose to rent accommodations with more creature comforts.
Onsite camping (with your own warm bedding and rainproof tent or hammock) is available for free to all students (including locals) during class. Some set-up-for-you tents are available with cots and cozy bedding for a flat fee.
Campers and all students have access to a lovely outdoor kitchen equipped with a stove and hot and cold water, plus pots and pans, knives and cutting boards, bowls, plates, and utensils, along with an outdoor shower with hot and cold running water and an outhouse. If you’d rather rent a hotel, house or cottage, there are many available. We’ll share a curated list of nearby options once you’ve registered.
So you can better plan your trip to come learn with us, here’s some info on accommodations we offer, or that we link to in the student handbook you’ll receive upon registration. Below it you’ll find info on transportation.
- Camping with your own gear: free
- Staying in a large tent with a cozy cot and bedding that we set up for you: $200 flat fee; you can stay there anytime from 5pm before the first day of your class, to 12pm the day after your class ends.
- Hyper-local off-campus single rentals: $40-$2000/night + fees
- Hyper-local off-campus couples rentals: $20-100/person/night + fees
- Hyper-local off-campus group rentals: $25-$86/person/night + fees
Wild Abundance students are given awesome discounts at a local hotel, and a hyper-local inn. More information given in the student handbook upon registration.
Getting a place or renting a car with a group of fellow students and carpooling are great ways to make connections and reduce costs! We share contact info for each class so you can get in touch and make plans together. Everyone has a chance to keep their info private if they choose.
You won’t need a car during your class. There’s a chance you may want to run an errand or go out to dinner with fellow students, and if this happens, it’s highly likely that another student with a car will be happy to give you a lift.
We’ve also got a list of folks who will do airport and grocery shuttle runs for $50-$80 each way. We share this information in the student handbook when you register. If you’d rather rent a car, those run anywhere from $45-$200/day. Just like with lodging, teaming up with a group of fellow students to share a car rental can help build connections and reduce costs.
Pricing for Women’s Advanced Carpentry
Please note that Women’s Advanced Carpentry is only available to those who have already taken the Women’s Basic Carpentry Class, either this year or in previous years.
Regular Pricing: $1,000 – $2,000
*Please pay what you can within this range. The median price helps cover the class costs. Choose the low end if you’re low income, or the maximum fee if your household earns over $115,000/year. Place yourself within this range based on your income.