Do you think women can make good handy'men'?

Question

I'm fairly sick and tired of being told I shouldn't do carpentry or drywall or the like because I'm a female. What are your opinions on the 'fairer' sex taking on any type of construction?

Answer 1

My husband and I renovate houses together. I usually leave the wiring to him but I can use a kango hammer, fill a 6 yards skip on my own in a day, do drywalling, plastering, channel out a wall, pretty much any job you want to take on. He enjoys the big woodwork but I do the detailed stuff.

We recently did a house in Spain where nobody does much DIY but women certainly don't, I did get some odd looks but they got used to me after a while.

If you want to do that stuff, go for it.

Answer 2

I know and have hired female handypersons to do work on my home several times. The work included: carpentry, replacing an entrance door and windows. In additon I prefer female painters for the interior work. I had drywall installed years ago in a rental building and the drywall contractor had a lady helper. She was good but did not attempt to do the ceiling due to the weight of the product.

They are very knowledgeable, do a good job and are better at keeping the place clean.

Go for it!

Answer 3

Of course women make good handymen. If I wasnt the handyman around this house, nothing would get done. Lots of women are in this position. I know how to drywall and do all kinds of carpentry. My ex husband was a carpenter and when we built a house, we did the drywalling together. Go ahead and take the courses.

Answer 4

As a female, you can do whatever it is you want to do. If you want to do something, learn all you can about it, and do it to the best of your ability. And if you want to do it badly enough, you'll be good at it. Take up carpentry, you'll do an excellent job.

But as for being a handyman.....you've got that beat already. You're a woman, and women can do anything.

"Fairer Sex"? HAHAHAHA!!! Women have strengths men couldn't even begin to possess.

Answer 5

the answer is yes. period. unless we are talking of anything that requires lifting heavy objects, the body or soul of a female is not worse qualified than that of a male. it is a matter of learning the procedure or getting the skill and both sexes can do this - with individual differencies, of course. like my bf is no handyman at all, i do all the stuff.

i need to let off the steam to. just two days ago i was buing an electric saw - of course the shop assistant said something like : this is not suitable for a woman - i replied : am not muscular enough to do it with a hand saw, that i need electricity to help me and that is exactly why i am buying the saw! well, he continued: cutting anything with any saw is not suitable for a woman and im going to cut my fingers off! this particular guy was a loss of time to talk to further, but my routine reply is: the reason why i live with somebody is not that i need a man to mend things at the house or cut things! i have had similar (heavier) saw borrowed and experienced no problem.

i hear the same as you ALL THE TIME. i am small. that makes things worse. i worked in a lab for some years, nobody can ever tell me i am clumsy with my hands! now i have my whole house substantially reconstructed (i mean , of course not my myself) so i spend a lot of time asking things and getting stuff in DIY shops and also doing things like wall panelling, floors, and many others - whenever i can do it and if DIY is cheaper. well i like making things, doiing things with my hands - like somebody paints pictures. and you have female sculptors, and that is hard work.

sometimes it is a matter of "learning how" - you know perfectly well that sometimes you (and me) are discouraged form jobs that are routinely done by not-actualy-much-scholarly workers. so in that case i reply " tis job doesnt require enormous physical strenght, so THAT is no problem. And i have seen it done by people that were apparently virtually illiterate. if those people learned how, i can too. Why u think otherwise?"

or i had workmen to scrape off the old paint and clean the wall. they did poor job. so i told them that they must remove that , that and that (loose plaster). They were trying to say it was ok (it wasnt, the supervisor saw it and also said it wasnt ok ) . in the end i said forget it, iĺl do it myself, because i want my house look nice. their foreman said something like he thinks i couldnt do it - so he saw it the next day done and i will do the rest of the house too, because i want to have it done properly: so which is better: paying them having to watch them if i want at least satisfactory job done or doing it well for free by myself.

i wish you good luck and if you have time pls let us know what you reply when somebody tells you: lady, that is a man´s job! i would sincerely want to know!

btw the word handyperson sounds weird to me. i recognize a handyman or a handywoman. but that is just an oppinion

Answer 6

absolutely!! i put in a complete kitchen including 6'x8' pantry and the plumbing and gas line...it was funny when the guy at the plumbing supply said, "oh honey, you best let a man put in this toilet for ya." i put in a 200 yard long gravity flow water line to the house. i built a bathroom out of a spare bedroom, and built a 12'x12' storage shed, not from a kit. women can do anything they put their minds to learning how to do...we might need some help lifting heavy things, but so do men sometimes...and a come-along is real handy for when nobody is around to help. i build tons of stuff...men drool when they see my power tools. lol i also used to do all the non-machining required work on my pick-up trucks and 4x4 bronco back in the day.

Answer 7

women have the same intelligence as men, but unfortunatly not the same strength. So for projects where strength, and stamina are needed, women must use their brains to work smarter not harder. Most dumb guys will bend over backwards to help a gal out, so this can be used to your advantage. Next don't be afraid to ask questions, arm yourself with knowledge. When it comes to construction related work gender does not determine your success, it's your motivation.

Answer 8

as a human being i belive in equity. but at the same time, i also bilive that there are some physical drawbacks of being "FEMALE". okk? it is just my view. coz im a full-time service holder and also i have huge responsibility at my house. i have to do each and evry thing in my house all manually. and belive me at the end of the day i become verrrrrry tired. im a girl of 25 years, have no child yet, im very energetic. but the reality is i face this problem. specially during my minstruation....dont ask me, i feel so much bad. this is just because i have a female body!

Answer 9

hell yes they do. I'm male and love to see women doing this stuff. only thing i dont like is when they get the 'tude' going. most women can't do some of the things men do. for me this just has to do with being able to carry/lift and hold things.. our bodies are just not made the same (if you havent noticed) have seen couple women with some nice arms but their in a different trade..lol.. only other hard part is working with a woman that has no clue and wants to learn (spouse) if your learning... sit back and watch then jump in. or wait to be asked to help and listen to what the other wants you to do.. dont just think you know.. if you have experience then go for it.. just dont step on the toes of the king.. hehe j/k

Answer 10

Absolutely! I am a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity in Orange County. Several years ago they started a project in which one of the houses was built primarily by women. It was so successful that that women have built two more houses to date. Go to the following link for more information:

http://www.habitatoc.org/build/women/