Making a home better

This group of women seeks to prove its mettle not just by undertaking a project, but by televising it.
By MARK WASHBURN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bearing hardware and lumber, the delivery men come unwary, unaware, not knowing the secret of 704 E. 36th St., and they do a foolish thing.
They look over Jeanene Glander's shoulder and ask, "Is the general contractor here?"
They look at Carrie Galuski and ask: "Is your dad here?"
The secret of 704 E. 36th is that Glander, Galuski and four other women are defying sex stereotypes and taking a century-old house in Charlotte's historic NoDa district, front stoop to chimney top, from drooping eyesore to showhouse.
Their efforts are being captured for a 60-episode TV series, "Homemakers," which began last month on Turner South.
Glander and Kristin Wells are the primary hosts, leading viewers through renovations that start with demolition and will end with high-end design and furnishings.
Tough project
The house they're restoring was built in 1905 as a family dwelling, but it deteriorated over the years and was eventually turned into a boarding house. It was vacant, had fire damage in the kitchen and was a candidate for demolition when it was bought for $200,000 for the series.
Off came the roof, out came the plumbing, down came the walls and up went 40 new concrete foundation piers for support. Aside from lugging in a new staircase and an occasional hand, the work is all being done by women.
Executive producer Cecil Stokes says finding women for the specialty work, including plumbing, has not been difficult.
"The biggest surprise is there are women for every specialty in renovating a house," he says. "And they know what they're doing."
Women are increasingly moving into the male-dominated construction trades and most of the subcontractors were available in the Charlotte area, though he did have to reach to Richmond to find a female chimney sweep.
And female contractors, he has found, are not unlike their male counterparts. "People in the construction industry don't always conform to timetables," he says diplomatically.
Oops
There have been unexpected twists in making "Homemakers."
Like the day they came to work and found that someone had broken in and stolen a new door.
Or the treasures found hidden in the walls -- an old pocketbook, an old wallet, an old driver's license from the 1970s, an old newspaper.
Or the news that carpenter Robin Williams got when taping began in December: pregnacy.
"They won't let me lift anything heavy," says Williams, who came to UNCC 12 years ago from Michigan to pursue a nursing degree before following her heart and becoming a carpenter. "They take things out of my hand."
And the deliveries keep coming and the deliverers keep looking for a man.
"It's nice to surprise them back with confidence," says Galuski, 27, who has a master's degree in architecture and has built Habitat houses in Mexico, but in her pigtails can easily pass for a high-school junior.
"People are people. Why shouldn't we have an interest in building?"