No man needed

THERE are now 200 good reasons why women don't need a man about the house. But before you start shouting "Is that all?" in a sexist manner, let's make one thing clear: this is not a man-bashing article, this is all about nail-bashing.

Women don't need men to do their DIY any more because they are doing it for themselves - a trend highlighted in Alison Jenkins' new duo of books 100 Things You Don't Need A Man For! and - you guessed it - 100 More Things You Don't Need A Man For!

"There aren't many things a girl can't handle," she said. "My question to any woman who thinks she can't do DIY is: how do you know unless you've tried?

"On the whole, DIY is not rocket science. Most general tasks around the home or in the garden are pretty straightforward. A bit of common sense and patience are all that's required, along with proper advice."

Jane Walton, B&Q's painting and decorating expert at its Hull Road store in York, agreed that patience was a virtue when it came to DIY.

"There is no point in rushing," she said. "Women are the same as men in this respect. They approach a job like a bull in a china shop. My advice is always to think about what you want to achieve, study your options and have a practice run. It doesn't matter if a paint effect looks terrible on a piece of old wallpaper, but it's another story entirely if it looks terrible right across your living room wall."

A recent survey by Black & Decker revealed that almost 40 per cent of DIY products and around 15 per cent of power tools are now bought by women.

Jane, who has been in the trade for 17 years, said she had noticed a definite upturn in women's interest in DIY in recent years - particularly since Changing Rooms and the subsequent plethora of painting and prettifying programmes hit our TV screens.

"Sometimes I cringe when I watch those programmes," she said. "I see them doing something outlandish and I just know that I will have people in the following day asking for the products. Sometimes I have to do some emergency research on the internet so I know what the new technique is and how to do it.

"Women in particular can be very ambitious when it comes to DIY. They don't always want to start slowly with a job that's relatively easy - they want to jump straight in with a power tool in each hand."

If you have the ambition but not the skill, B&Q runs a series of women's DIY workshops during the summer. They cover everything from painting techniques and paper-hanging to using power tools without chopping off a vital piece of your anatomy.

"The ladies' club is purposefully hands-on," said Jane. "We all get our aprons on and our hands dirty."

The workshops are free, you don't have to book a place and you don't have to attend all the sessions, just the ones you are interested in. All you have to do is register your interest at the Hull Road store.

So women are brimming with confidence and ideas when it comes to DIY, but how are the men coping? Are they worried that they might become redundant?

"I think men are quite happy to let women do their bit," said Jane, who is B&Q's only female painting and decorating expert in what is still a male-dominated trade. "I don't think they are too keen to hand over their power tools, but they are more than willing to let us to the decorating."

Updated: 09:42 Tuesday, April 20, 2004