Female Tradeswomen, Inspiring Women to DIY

The Trades and DIY has always been heavily associated with men.  The adverts we see on TV seem to generally portray a ‘Dad’ figure wondering around some giant homeware store, loaded down with an unseemly amount of tools and materials off to renovate or maintain the family home.  The modern cave man.

We live a world where there are now more stay at home Dad’s than ever before and woman are taking more responsibility in the work place.  Female independence is greater than it’s ever been in the history of time.  Interestingly service industries such as Plumbers, Electricians and Builders are the new ‘yuppie’ demographic.  A good tradesman can make more money than a Lawyer these days.  However even though women are dominating the work place, there are still far greater amounts of men working the ‘trades’.

So why are so few women swinging a hammer?

Nearly a third of all UK adults (29%) say they would prefer to get a female ‘tradeswomen’ to do their building work, plumbing or repair a boiler if given the choice.  There is an element of feeling safer with a female and general thoughts were that female ‘tradies’ would have greater attention to detail, be more punctual and have a greater ability to multi-task than their male counterparts.

This year LTID aims to inspire more women to invest their time into DIY.  To build, fix, create things and learn new skills.  I’d love to influence women to save money, get houses looking great with new ideas, and most importantly build on inner confidence and happiness. 

My own renovation is now in full swing after a very busy festive period.  Keep an eye on LTID and watch me turn an old village doctors surgery into a family home.  Let me inspire you to maintain your home, save money and learn new skills. 

Sunday DIY

Following the video, work started on the what was once a patients waiting room now moving towards an open plan kitchen living area. 

Firstly, I prepared the walls for painting. 

Being that it was an old waiting room, posters must have been stuck on the walls with sellotape.  Using a glass scrapper and gently scratching the walls, I removed the tape and stickiness with ease.

Using Polycell Filla I filled all the holes and cracks on the walls.  Using my finger, I pushed the paste into the holes.  Smoothing off (again no tools required just a finger) and leaving it to dry.

As I’m painting over an emulsion-based wall already I don’t need to use a wall primer nor undercoat.  I did however rub all the walls with finely coursed sandpaper grit, to get rid of any flaws or bumps and to slightly abrase the surface.  Also I gently sanded the polycell filla areas (once dry) to create a new smooth surface.  Sanding allows the paint to glue itself well to the wall.
 

I picked Dulux Vinyl Matt Light Reflective paint.  Being that this room is north facing with a tall ceiling and Velux roof windows, I wanted the room to be as light as possible.  More on this type of paint to follow.