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Home
repairs are no longer a guy thing
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Day-to-day
maintenance isn't gender-specific. Nowhere is it written that
leaking faucets are a "guy thing" or wallpaper is "women's work."
Nowhere is this truer than among a fast-growing segment of
homeownership: single women.
As women find out all too
quickly when something goes wrong at home, their options are to hire
the work out or do it themselves. Apparently, more opt to roll up
their sleeves and dive in.
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"We talk to a lot more women
who want to know how to do their own repairs and projects around
their house," says Beth Boyd, a marketing manager for Lowe's Home
Improvement Warehouse. "They want the tools, they want the know-how,
and they want a degree of self-sufficiency."
The learning
curve for how-to skills is shorter than you might think, says Boyd.
She advises first-timers to try their hand at routine tasks before
inevitable repairs or emergencies arise.
This may be as
simple as tightening screws on cabinet doors, hammering in exposed
deck nails, filling nail holes in walls with spackle or oiling
squeaky hinges.
As skills -- and can-do confidence -- grow,
the decisions about personally making repairs or hiring
professionals can be made on a case-by-case basis. "Unless its
something that needs immediate attention, take the time to see if it
matches your skill-sets and abilities," says Boyd. True emergencies,
such as electrical, heating and cooling breakdowns are best left to
specialists.
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