On any given day this summer, you're as likely to find Rhonda Morgan repainting the exterior of the 2,300-square-foot home she built as you are to find her baby-sitting the grandkids.

And when I write "home she built," I mean with her own two hands.

Morgan didn't set out to build her own house. In 1998 she hired a contractor, but with only the foundation and part of the structure completed, they parted ways. After receiving other bids from other professionals to complete the job that were higher than her original budget, Morgan decided to have a go at it herself.

"I knew nothing about (building a house), so I went to the library."

Morgan studied, talked to tradesmen and solicited help from friends. Except for the work done by the original contractor and hanging the drywall, Morgan did it all. In 2001, she completed her three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Wimberley.

Building a house is "really not that hard," she says, but confesses that some of the wiring was difficult to master and that the fun part definitely came at the finish, when she "gave the house a face" using color and tile.

Morgan is at the extreme end of the trend of female homeowners who are tackling everything from maintenance to construction. A national survey commissioned by Lowe's last year found that 49 percent of female home-

owners consider themselves intermediate level do-it-yourselfers. More than three-quarters own hand and power tools. And a 2003 study by Forrester Research found that 45 percent of customers at both Lowe's and Home Depot were women.

For many of these women, tackling projects themselves rather than hiring a professional was a necessity.

When Karen Owens bought her house in Austin's Southwood neighborhood in 2003, she knew she was buying a fixer-upper, and she also knew that she was going to need to be the primary fixer.

"That is what I can afford," says Owens, who does diagnostic testing for students in special education for Austin Independent School District. "Quite honestly, the primary reason at the beginning of all this was that I was doing it on a strict budget, and it was much cheaper."

Morgan estimates that she saved between $80,000 to $100,000 by completing her home without a contractor. And the projects that Owens has taken on in the past four years, from refinishing hardwood floors to remodeling the bathroom, have probably added up to more than $10,000 in savings.

A 2006 study from the National Association of Realtors found that more than a fifth of all new homes are being bought by unmarried women. Naturally, with an increase in single women paying mortgages, there is also going to be an increase in single women who have to deal with a leak under the kitchen sink.

While unmarried women's home-buying numbers are increasing, their incomes still lag behind married couples and single men, and that makes self-reliance a financially smart move.

Julie Nelson, with the Nelson Project of Keller Williams Realty, works with many women buyers. "My clients aren't timid. They are typically not afraid to get their hands dirty, to tear a wall down or tear some tile out."

And, she points out, a lot of first-time buyers don't have cash.

"Once they purchase a house, their budget is really slim. ... What you are willing to fix yourself with some elbow grease and the help of friends —, that is just pennies on the dollar for what it would cost to hire that out."

Nelson says that the ability to get over the "blah" factor of seeing a house that needs some work might allow a buyer to purchase in a neighborhood where the majority of homes are out of her price range.

"Let's say someone wants to spend 240 (thousand dollars) in North Hyde Park," Nelson says. "There aren't a lot of those left. The nicest houses in that area are going to be in the 400s. So I prepare the buyer ahead of time that they are going to be seeing some houses that need a lot of work. Their first response is 'blah.' "

But some clients are willing to buy a house in less-than-stellar condition to satisfy their neighborhood and price criteria.

The payoffs

"There is a great sense of accomplishment that comes with starting and finishing a project and having something that works when you are done," Owens says.

And in building a house, Morgan got back more than a place to live.

"It gave me a lot more self-confidence," she says. And her self-confidence extends beyond home improvement: "Just because I don't have the knowledge about something now, doesn't mean I can't get the knowledge."

But learning any new skill is challenging. When Owens began installing a hardwood floor in her bedroom, she thought the project would be done in a weekend. Instead, it took all of her spare time for two weekends and every evening in between. And that didn't include sanding or applying finish.

"There are days when I have been tremendously frustrated and overwhelmed, when I am tired of living in the middle of a construction site," Owens says, noting that the first three years after purchasing her house, the majority of her free time was spent improving it.

But she accepts the frustration and then continues to work. "It helps to ask for help, and have friends come over to offer moral support, or beer."

Morgan also admits there were some stressful days while building her home. "You sit down and cry. You quit for the day, and then you say, 'You are not going to beat me.' You have a non-defeatist attitude."

Morgan thinks that success comes with not giving up, even when times get tough. "I found that I can depend on myself a lot more than I can depend on other people because I am true to myself."

Not having to always depend on contractors is another perk cited by women taking on home improvement projects.

Sara Warner, a real estate agent with Home-City, remodeled the kitchen of her 1948 Austin Heights house with $500 and the help of friends. "I had help with demolition, but I did the rebuild myself."

In the process, she learned how to hang drywall by reading about it online.

"There is a certain satisfaction in having built that wall by myself. It was very difficult, for a lay person, to cut the holes for the plumbing and maneuver it over these pipes, and you just have to eyeball it and hope that it works out right, and then taping and floating it and making it smooth. It was very satisfying."

Warner also confides that she is a perfectionist, which she thinks might motivate her to do a better job in her own house than what some contractors might do.

Owens echoes that sentiment. "I feel like when there are contractors here, I have to monitor every single step of what they are doing to make sure it gets done correctly, so at that point why not just do it yourself?"

Tool favorites

The acquisition of tools, whether rented, borrowed or bought, comes with home improvement projects. And most women do-it-yourselfers end up with favorites.

"I love stripping paint with a heat gun. It's my favorite thing to do. It's really meditative," says Owens, who has refinished wood trim and doors that were painted over so many times in the past 55 years that the thick accumulation of surface coats had to be removed.

For Warner, it's her block sander, which allows her to make drywall sleek and flawless. "I love making the drywall smooth. That is probably my favorite part."

And in Morgan's case, her power tools have allowed for artistic expression.

The jigsaw "is a lot of fun. I can make toys with it, or little letters and hearts and paint on them to decorate the kids' rooms," she says, speaking of her grandchildren.

The rising number of women who are do-it-yourselfers hasn't been lost on retailers. Both Lowe's and Home Depot have made changes to attract female customers. Lowe's has tried to make stores more inviting to women by increasing lighting and having clear product displays. Home Depot has been offering "Do-It-Herself" workshops since 2003.

A few companies even sell tools specifically geared toward women.

Tomboy Tools launched in 2000 and claims to be growing faster than Pampered Chef. The company has brought the Tupperware Party into the new millennium with their Tool Parties, where women come together to learn from how-to demonstrations covering such topics as drywall repair, basic plumbing and proper power tool use. And of course, each Tool Party provides the opportunity to buy "the best tools made for women today."

Instructional entertainment for the female do-it-yourselfer is also big. Discovery Home Channel's "Toolbelt Diva" is hosted by Norma Vally, who tells her viewers (while double-fisting power tools), "Ladies, helplessness is out, power is in!"