Drywalling, re-flooring, plumbing, levelling, finishing a deck... to me, the list sounds like a whole lot of, "Hey, how many handy guys do we know?"
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Journeywoman carpenter Ayla Kempton is currently working on a Habitat for Humanity project in the Whitehorse subdivision of Whistlebend. That project incorporates the initiative called Women Build, encouraging women to volunteer to get hands-on in co
To me, and many women (and men) like me, the idea of home renos is strictly for the professionals.
But according to journeywoman carpenter Ayla Kempton, there's hope. She's certain that even the most ill-equipped of us can learn to do our own home renovations.
As a contractor for the Habitat for Humanity organization, Kempton works with many volunteers onsite, teaching them the basics of carpentry. Currently, she is working on a duplex in Whistlebend, to be occupied by two families.
"This particular one is called a women's build, so we're trying to gear it to have more women on site," Kempton says.
Having worked in a male-dominated industry since the age of 13, Kempton feels it's important for more girls and women to get involved in the trade, though she adds that of course, men also welcome to volunteer, too.
She explains that even the greenest volunteers can be put to good use on the site, and that they will learn techniques for use around their own homes.
"You'll glean a huge amount of skills just to be able to do stuff around your own place," she says. "We teach everything; if you're starting just moving material, we'll teach you how to do it properly so you don't injure yourself ... so you get the proper manner to do everything."
Kempton adds that a lot of people don't do home renos themselves because they're inexperienced and it takes longer and can be expensive when you don't know what you're doing.
"If [people] can come and even hang with us for the day, they'll gain a lot of experience, like where to find stuff and what tools to use, what is a better tool, how they can save on money and tricks of the trade," she says.
Besides picking up some professional carpentry lessons, Kempton believes there are other, more spiritual benefits for volunteers.
"It's intimidating for a lot of people when they first come [to volunteer]," she says. "[But] by the first couple hours, they feel like they belong, and by the end of the day they're attached. So that's super rewarding, and watching people who've never held any tools evolve and feel more confident – when they leave the site they're just happy. All their stress is gone, it's phenomenal."
The gratification Kempton feels from her work with volunteers is part of what makes her want to teach. As a member of the board of Yukon Women in Trades and Technology, she teaches an after-school program for female youth called Cool Tools. The program is run out of the Yukon College, which also has a close relationship with Habitat for Humanity, and frequently sends trades classes to work on building sites.
In fact, the first house Kempton herself ever built was for Habitat for Humanity, completed while she was attending a pre-employment course at the college.
Kempton wants to share her positive experiences in the industry with other young women, citing many long-term benefits beyond manual skills.
"Having the youth coming through our program, they glean a huge amount of experience and confidence... they'll gravitate to this stuff and not feel overwhelmed," she says.
As for the rest of us who missed the boat on early trades education, Kempton recommends volunteering to work on one of the Habitat for Humanity jobsites. The opportunity to gain some hands-on experience will have direct applications to your own home. For example, if you've got plans to install a new, dual-flush toilet, ask the Habitat for Humanity organization about volunteering to be involved when the bathrooms are worked on at one of their projects.
"It doesn't hurt to ask, and it will relieve a lot of stress to just ask and get a quick little lesson," says Kempton, "Doing your own renos saves money really, if we can give you a hand planning it, that can relieve so much stress and you can just get it done."
For more information about the opportunities for women – and men – to volunteer on a Habitat for Humanity home-building project, go towww.HabitatYukon.org.
Willow Gamberg is a former What’s Up Yukon intern who writes about music and other arts-related topics.