Renovating Woman was an epiphany born out of a necessary, though unexpected, divorce and the resulting wonderful life-changing reinvention I underwent, courtesy of a house with a thousand issues and a piggy bank a few dimes short of a dollar.
I learned to fix things whose names I did not know, make a dollar out of fifty cents and become the self-sufficient diva millions of women morph into when life throws them a series of neck-snapping curves. The experience has been an amazing high. I'm still making discoveries about the care of house and self and intoxicated by what I find, putting me in great danger of being pulled over and charged with DWR (Driving While Renovating).
I am no home repair expert. I am merely a writer, observer, former journalist and curious soul who circumstances turned into a serial home improver and accidental repair maven. I feel compelled to share what I learn to help my sister sisters out (and you poor guys who are conditioned to believe you have to know it all. Such pressure!).
I got the house in the divorce. It was not the best part of the deal. The Ex ended up in a condo with a concierge in the lobby and I got a whiny, white elephant that didn't see a contractor it didn't want to have. Still, the house turned out to be a wonderful university campus of sorts. As I fixed it up I learned a lot of great stuff. Much of it was based in common sense but I didn't know that before I was forced to face repairs with no money and no experience. I thought one was born with the fix-it gene.
These days I live in a condo which is not without its own set of issues. The discoveries I make about living indoors whether it is an old detached Victorian, or new colonial, or townhouse or condo, I share in how-to segments on television, in books, home improvement workshops and Renovating Woman magazine.
Renovating Woman made her debut first as 90-second weekly home repair commentaries on radio in Baltimore. It served as the title of my first home repair book, Renovating Woman: A Guide to Home Repair, Maintenance and Real Men, published by Simon &Schuster in 1997 and now out of print. I self published two other books "How to Hire a Contractor," and "When a Woman Takes An Ax to a Wall" both available through this website.
I am a mother of an adult son and daughter and grandmom of a girl and two boys. I roller skate, bike, row, dance and do the couch potato. One of the most empowering moments in my life occurred when I took my own advice, pushed past a concrete block of fear and launched this website.
Here's to women and their resilient spirits who successfully face their fears and make their lives soar.
Home Improvement Licensing States Licensing Boards
| AL | Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors |
| AK | Alaska General and Mechanical Construction Contractor Registration |
| AZ | Arizona Registration of Contractors |
| AR | Arkansas Contractors' Licensing Board |
| CA | California State License Board - General Building, General Engineering and Speciality Contractors |
| CT | Connecticut Occupational Licensing Division - Home Improvement Contractor Registration |
| DE | Delaware Division of Revenue - General Contractors |
| FL | Florida Construction Industry Licensing board - Residential Contractors, Roofing Contractors, Plumbing Contractors |
| GA | Georgia Construction Industry Licensing Board - General Contractors |
| HI | Hawaii Contractors' License Board |
| IN | Indiana Division of Labor - General Contractor Registration |
| LA | Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors |
| MD | Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation - Home Improvement Commission |
| MA | Massachusetts Board of Building Regulation and Standards - Home Improvement Contractor Registration |
| MI | Michigan Board of Residential Builders and Maintenance and Alteration Contractors |
| MN | Minnesota Department of Commerce Licensing Unit - Residential Contractors and Residential Remodelers |
| NV | Nevada State Contractors Board |
| NJ | New Jersey Department of Banking Division of Consumer complaints - Home Repair Contractors |
| NM | New Mexico Construction Industries Division - General Contractors |
| NC | North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors |
| OR | Oregon Construction Contractors' Board |
| RI | Building Contractors Registration Board |
| SC | South Carolina Licensing Board |
| TN | Tennessee Home Improvement Commission |
| WV | West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board |
Source: Professional and Occupational Licensing Directory 2nd Ed (1996)
If your state is not listed, check with the state's attorney general's office and/or Better Business Bureau division to determine if there are licensing requirements and oversight and formal remedies for homeowner/contractor disputes. If it is listed, call the agency to be certain the licensing and oversight regulations are not limited to new home builders and construction workers but includes the category known as home improvement contractor.
Owning a home is the great American Dream but when the garbage disposal goes up or the furnace breaks down that dream house can turn into a nightmare on your street. How does this work? How do you fix that? Do I need to hire someone? Can I fix it myself?
The questions are many and our goal at Renovating Woman is to help you bulk up on answers and demystify the workings of the place you call home. We have a lot of handy tools in our toolkit designed to help you out.
Subscribe to Renovating Woman and access step-by-step instructions on a multitude of fixes from repairing a hole in the wall the right way, to laying tile, selecting flooring, finding the best places for architectural treasures, and more.
Our periodic Do-it-HERself workshops and annual "Because…We Can™" daylong workshop conference is an opportunity to get hands on repair experience, learn how to use the latest tools, meet other do-it-herselfers, swap tales and forge great partnerships.
Opt in to our free weekly newsletter and get news you can use from safety tips to household hints and useful facts and stats reflecting the power of women in the home improvement marketplace.
And when you need advice, whether it's replacing outdated plumbing or dating the plumber, just Ask Allegra. You'll get answers to both — and then some!
