Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 12/01) - Yellowknife's tight housing market has attracted a Vancouver Island-based pre-fabricated housing company bent on setting up shop here.

Ken Pitt, sales representative for MasterLog and Lumber Ltd., of Chemainus, B.C., said his product of Lamwall pre-fab homes offers a cheap sturdy alternative that doesn't take long to build.

Pitt said the company wants to establish a dealer here in the city.

The company, founded in 1997, is close to going public.

Ken Pitt came up with the Yellowknife idea while watching television.

"I was watching the CBC news one night and they had a story about the housing crisis and people living in campgrounds," said Pitt.

Pitt saw the tight housing market as the perfect climate for a fledgling pre-fab home company so he scrounged for Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem's phone number and gave him a call.

"I told him that we really want to get a foothold there," said Pitt.

Daryl McDonald, sales manager with the company, said their product will fit in well with city.

"Our company has a lot to offer because of the insulation value we offer," said McDonald.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem welcomed the company's interest saying, "that's what we've been trying to promote."

"When they come, they will buy local land and use local labour," said Van Tighem.

Van Tighem said the city has a slew of lots just waiting to be occupied, including Lot 551 near Coronation Drive in Kam Lake, Niven Lake and downtown.

According to McDonald, MasterLog uses "structural insulated panels" on the outside walls of the home offering a constant insulation level on all sides of the house because there is no shrinking and contracting.

McDonald said conventional insulation levels go up and down in the nooks and crannies of a house.

"We're damn near the first ones to use SIP in the country," said McDonald.

It's a very strong structure," he added.

MasterLog offers everything from a two-car garage to five-bedroom home, said Pitt. It comes in a package off the truck with wood from MasterLog-owned land on Vancouver Island.

The heaviest piece of material in a MasterLog package weighs around 160 kilograms.

Pitt said his company could get going quickly if he finds someone in Yellowknife willing to jump on board and be the distributor.

While neither Pitt nor McDonald have been to Yellowknife before, they're planning on making a trip soon. They didn't give any dates.

"These homes will make you feel as cozy as a bug in a rug," said Pitt.