Quickporch Is...
Mitchell & Sons has been in business for almost 50 years. Harry B. Mitchell and his two sons started building pickup campers in the fall of 1958, They became incorporated as Mitchell & Sons in 1960 and built pickup campers, fifth-wheel trailers, and class C motor homes, naming them Mithcell, and did this for 20 years until 1980. They became the largest RV builders in Colorado and had one of the country’s leading caravan systems, called “Big Horn Caravan.” Even today, 27 years later, you can still see Mitchell RVs all over Colorado. We actually saw one a few years back in Hawaii and we have shipped a few to Europe, also.
Due to the energy crisis of 1979, Mitchell & Sons turned some of its facility to manufacturing modular homes. By mid-1980, the need for modular units (many were condominiums for ski areas) was in great demand and the Rvs were struggling, so a decision was made to build modular structures full time. This was an acceptable business until the housing bust of the late 1980s. We searched around for something to sustain us for a few years, and in late 1991, Steve Mitchell (third generation of the Mitchells) put together what came to be known as Quickporch, a redwood deck kit, which was installed on new factory-built homes. This turned out to be the right product for the fast growing mobile home market. For the next 10 years, we manufactured thousands of these decks, and installed nearly half of them in the Denver area. At one time, when a factory-built home was set in Colorado, it had a 50% chance of having a Quickporch installed on it. We sold decks as far away as California, but the vast majority was used here in Colorado.
As the 21st century approached, we could see the factory-built home narket starting to decline. We were leasing a good portion of our facility when we lost our main tenant. We were faced with a decision of trying to re-lease the facility or use it ourselves. The dcision was made to use the empty building ourselves and to become a supplier of decking materials to deck builders. These new materials are man-made composites, such as Trex, that have proven to be very popular.
Today, we still maintain our Quickporch operation. However, due to changes in the housing industry, much of our emphasis is now on the Deck Superstore. The Quickporch deck kit has proven over the years to be an economical solution for those desiring to do it themselves. We have many site-built home owners who are very satisfied with their deck kits. We believe this web site will give new customers the opportunity to enjoy a Quickporch on their property.