10 Women Renovators Who Empower Us to Pick Up the Sledge Hammer

Not only can these HGTV hosts eloquently describe a design concept on camera and turn a client’s wish list into a dramatic dream home, but they also like to get their hands dirty. From demo days to final decor touches, these 10 badass women come armed with a bursting tool belt – and they aren’t afraid to use it.

Published March 4, 2019, Updated March 2, 2021, Updated March 8, 2022

Nikki Spracklin on coast of Atlantic Ocean

HGTV Canada

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Nikki Rocks on Rock Solid Builds

Nikki Spracklin may be new to HGTV Canada viewers but she sure has made a splash with her appearance on season one and now season 2 of Rock Solid Builds. Nikki’s journey from a stay-at-home parent to a tradesperson is nothing short of inspiring. She’s never stood down from the challenge of building jaw-dropping renovations on the rugged terrain of Newfoundland.

HGTV Canada

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Sam Pynn is at Home in a Workshop

While Save My Reno host Samantha Pynn may be a whiz with a glue gun she is also no stranger to a workshop and isn’t afraid to get in on some demo-action with her co-host Sebastian Clovis.

Host of HGTV's Home Town Erin Napier stands in a demolished house holding a sledgehammer

HGTV Canada

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Erin Napier

Lifting up people (and crumbling foundations) is Erin’s mission on Home Town, where she and her woodworking husband, Ben, rehab old homes in small-town Mississippi with the hopes of revitalizing their community. Trained as a graphic designer, it’s her artist’s eye that makes her a whiz at imagining interiors and putting that sledgehammer in just the right place.

HGTV

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Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine

This dynamic mother-daughter duo doesn’t wait around for others to do the work that needs doing – they step in, hammers raised, ready to take on the tough jobs. On Good Bones, they find derelict houses in neglected neighbourhoods and breathe new life back into them. Their relationship shows the power of women supporting women!

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Designer Sarah Keenleyside sits on an outdoor bench in a beautiful backyard on HGTV's Backyard Builds

HGTV Canada

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Sarah Keenleyside

Redesigning and renovating backyards is the name of the game on Backyard Builds. Enter Sarah Keenleyside, a seasoned designer who studied Environmental Design at OCADU and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty – as in literally digging in the dirt to get the project done on time and on budget.

Kortney Wilson uses a crowbar to demolish a windowsill on Master of Flip a show on HGTV

HGTV Canada

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Kortney Wilson

After relocating from Sudbury, ON to Nashville, TN in pursuit of a music career, this songbird found a different calling – flipping houses on Masters of Flip and Making it Home With Kortney and Kenny. A licensed relator and design pro, Kortney knows that if you want a job done, you sometimes have to do it yourself – even if it involves a crowbar and lot of dust.

Alison Victoria drills a hole in the wall on Windy City Rehab a renovation show on HGTV

HGTV Canada

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Alison Victoria

As an interior designer and host of HGTV’s Rock the Block, Alison’s signature renovation move is to recognize and restore unique historical features. During an HGTV panel discussion, Alison had this to say about her experiences working in a male-dominated field: “Some of my contractors are like, you know, ‘I’ve never been talked to like that.’ And I’m like, ‘Uh, do you mean you’ve never been talked to like that by a woman?'” Nailed it!

Christina Anstead put down tiles in a kitchen on a renovation project on HGTV show Flip or Flop

HGTV Canada

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Christina Anstead

No stranger to house flipping, Christina Anstead (formerly El Moussa) has filmed several seasons of Flip or Flop buying up rundown properties in LA and turning them into real estate gold. Whether it was cockroach infestations or kitchen demolitions, Christina was down to do what was needed to get top dollar. She’s also the host of Christina on the Coast.

Linda Phan and husband Drew Scott stand in a construction site hugging

HGTV Canada

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Linda Phan

In a true Canadian-fashion love story, Linda met her now-hubby Drew Scott at Toronto Fashion Week back in 2010. We got to see Linda’s fashionable flare and passion for crafting on Property Brothers at Home: Drew’s Honeymoon House, where she worked alongside her then-fiancé and brother-in-law Jonathan Scott renovating their mid-century LA home. We are looking forward to seeing more of Linda on upcoming episodes of Property Brothers!

Chip and Joanna Gaines stand in a demolished house on HGTV's Fixer Upper

HGTV.com

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Joanna Gaines

With five seasons of Fixer Upper filmed and more than 10 years running her construction company with husband and show co-host Chip Gaines, it should come as no surprise that Joanna has more than 100 home renovations under her (tool) belt. “I was actually a communications major and had never done design…but we found this little fixer-upper building and tackled that project together in the first year of marriage,” Joanna told Glamour.com. Now, Joanna breaks down (gender) barriers and smashes walls alongside the rest of the crew.