Women Knock Down `Do-It-Yourself' Wall

Catherine Reynolds makes needlepoint pillows and a mean cherry pie. She can also gut a kitchen, knock out a wall and build a patio.

"Some projects are difficult," the 38-year-old schoolteacher said, "but it's not rocket science."

Reynolds -- who is remodeling her fourth home -- and other women are strapping on tool belts, plugging in power saws and tackling projects head-on. It's not just because men are bonding with their Barcaloungers. In many American homes, the man of the house doesn't exist.

Unmarried women bought 21% of all homes sold last year, or 1.76 million properties, according to the National Assn. of Realtors. That's up from 14% a decade ago. (Single men, by comparison, accounted for 9% of the market last year.)

It's a noteworthy change, given that as recently as the early 1970s, it was tough for a single woman to secure a mortgage.

Start-up entrepreneurs and big businesses alike -- including Home Depot, Ace Hardware and Lowe's -- have taken notice and are working to tap that buying power with enticements such as "do-it-herself" workshops and tools made for smaller hands. One industry group found that women accounted for more than 40% of home improvement product sales.

Reynolds' tool collection was skimpy when she started buying property in 1996: pliers, a couple of screwdrivers and her grandfather's hammer, which she kept tucked away in a closet. Her first home, in Denver, was a "surface remodel" -- changing flooring, window coverings and countertops.

Her second Denver home, which she bought for $132,000, was more of a challenge. She ripped out walls, replaced the wood floor and gutted the kitchen. It sold for $210,000 after 2 1/2 days on the market.

Reynolds, who is single and has since moved to Austin, Texas, says she feels free to buy and remodel at will. Her students are learning from her example.

"When I go to school with paint under my fingernails or chalk in my hair, they understand," she said.

So would a lot of other women.

Divorce pitched Allegra Bennett into the world of home improvement 15 years ago.

When her husband moved out, it was their house that had "a breakdown," Bennett said. Although the Baltimore resident considered herself a "home repair ignoramus," she couldn't stomach paying handymen $75 "just to show up." So she became a "serial fixer."

Now, she is the publisher of Renovating Woman, a do-it-herself magazine.