By Lindsay J. Warner

For The Inquirer

Nothing elicits squeals of delight like a power tool, says do-it-yourselfer Shelly Halloran.

As program director for the Philadelphia branch of Habitat for Humanity, Halloran frequently witnesses the excitement that accompanies someone's first attempt at correctly pounding home a nail or using a screw gun - doubled in intensity when the builder is female.

Women Build, an international program offered through Habitat for Humanity, encourages women to get involved in construction work by providing basic hands-on training and organizing women-specific job sites.

In Philadelphia, an active female volunteer force prompted the initiation of a twice-yearly, hands-on construction course in 2007, designed to introduce women to power tools, drywall, flooring and roofing techniques, and basic home-repair skills. Lauren Mariani, a carpenter with Mariani Carpentry L.L.C. and a former AmeriCorps volunteer with Habitat, developed the course, which next will be offered Feb. 20 to March 13 at the Habitat warehouse near 19th and West Berks Streets.

The four-Saturday workshop is designed to teach women to safely and capably work at Habitat sites, but at $295, it also functions as a fund-raiser for other Women Build initiatives, including its mission of providing simple housing for low-income families. Each session, 20 women walk away with a good, working knowledge of basic home repair to put to use on job sites or at home - while also gaining confidence in another especially useful skill.

"Many of the women who sign up for the course are coming to get comfortable with hand tools in the hope of taking on projects in their own homes, but the classes also help to give them confidence when dealing with contractors, who are generally men," said Halloran, 34, who lives in Germantown. "If we can help women talk the talk a little bit better, then they're better equipped to know what questions to ask to avoid being taken for a ride by less-scrupulous contractors."

The four-part course opens with a brief introduction to the basic principles of construction work, reinforced with hands-on practice ranging from pounding a straight nail to finish carpentry to structural framing.

"Are you going to use framing in your historic Philadelphia rowhome? Probably not. But it's rewarding to see 20 women of all ages, races, and income levels bonding over getting a project done," Halloran said. "Whether the women are coming in with diamond rings or scraping together the money in hopes that it will be cheaper than hiring a contractor, we can at least enable them to have a better sense of what it takes to get the job done."

For some women, the workshop results in a new shelf in a bedroom closet. For others, it results in worthwhile hours spent volunteering with Habitat - or in a new career.

Carolyn Henry, a Princeton graduate with an art-history degree, got involved with Habitat while spending a year working with AmeriCorps. As an AmeriCorps volunteer, Henry, 30, was expected to learn basic construction skills and then translate them to women working with Habitat. She soon discovered that she loved the hands-on nature of construction work.

"Before I started learning about construction, I assumed that anyone who provided an answer about a home-repair project was probably right, and I'd believe them without questioning," said Henry, who lives in East Falls. "With a little bit of knowledge under my belt, I suddenly realized that their diagnoses weren't always correct."

Inspired by this realization, Henry decided to turn her construction hobby into a full-time career. She found work as a finish carpenter, doing detailed projects such as trim work, crown molding, and door and window framing. Unlike Habitat work sites, which boast a high percentage of female volunteers, Henry was frequently the only woman on site, and she found it challenging to walk into a supply store or to deal with clients who were accustomed to working with men. Henry stuck it out, working for two different contracting companies over a period of three years.

And then she got bored.

"I felt like it was time to run my own business," she said. "And so I launched out on my own, specializing in kitchens and bathrooms and trying to find a niche that was heavy on customer service and focused on making construction as easy as possible for the homeowner."

After nearly a year as a full-time contractor for Carolyn Henry Fine Carpentry L.L.C., she says she is in the fortunate position of being able to pick and choose her clients, and wants to focus on a combination design/build model, helping customers complete projects from the ground up.

"My favorite job is when you have to be smart about the design, make good choices about materials, and still have the end result come out looking really beautiful," she said. "I really only like finish work that comes out pretty - I'm very much a girl like that."

Monika Kruemmling, 35, also knows the value a woman can bring to construction work. A part-time electrician with her own company - Mighty Mo Electric in Germantown - Kruemmling's career change was driven by boredom with her office job. Seeking something new, she went back to school to become an electrician.

"I thought I would be happier working with my hands. A career in electrical work makes a lot of sense, as much of it is intellectual trouble-shooting," said Kruemmling, who has an English literature degree from Shippensburg University. "Electrical theory is as important as the actual mechanics of the job - we're kind of the nerds of the labor trade."

Kruemmling also understands the importance of good customer service. While maintaining her office job, she does electrical work on nights and weekends, relying on word-of-mouth referrals. She hopes to turn full time in the spring.

"Although people don't really expect an electrician to be a woman, the pros far outweigh the cons, in that other women seem excited to have an electrician not talk down to them," she said. "Being a woman and having a contractor come in the house can feel as though a dominating presence is telling you what to do in your own home. I make a point of never approaching a job that way," she said, "instead offering clients the information to make an informed decision for themselves."

Acquiring the knowledge to make an informed decision between doing your own home repair and hiring a contractor is often a crucial factor in saving time and money. Books such as Dare to Repair: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Fixing (Almost) Anything in the Home (HarperResource, 272 pages, $16.99), by Julie Sussman and Stephanie Glakas-Tenet, provide practical tips on how-to projects and are geared specifically toward women.

Sussman and Glakas-Tenet, who attribute their handiness to busy husbands, enjoyed an enthusiastic reception for Dare to Repair, and Sussman quickly followed up with Dare to Repair Your Car: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Maintenance, Safety, Minor Fix-Its, and Talking Shop (Harper Paperbacks, 352 pages, 2005) and Dare to Repair, Replace & Renovate: Do-It-Herself Projects to Make Your Home More Comfortable, More Beautiful & More Valuable (Harper Paperbacks, 256 pages, 2009). All three versions have proved popular for their Rosie-the-Riveter-style approach and practical applications to women's home repair.

Habitat for Humanity also reports an increased interest from not only women who are already involved, but also women who wish to become involved in home building and repair. In Philadelphia, nearly half of last year's almost 2,000 Habitat volunteers were women.

"Habitat has always been fairly women-friendly, but women have really expressed an increased interest in learning more about construction over the past several years," Halloran said. "Many of these women are interested because they want to be more useful on Habitat sites, but the classes have been extremely popular across the board. Single women aren't waiting to get married and have kids before buying houses anymore, so home-repair knowledge is becoming essential."

Originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on 12/04/09