Before she began working for Habitat for Humanity, the biggest thing Mary Hoggard ever built was a box for Valentines in grade school.

But Thursday, Hoggard, who is participating in Women Build, learned to use power tools with about 15 other women who, together, are going to build a house on their own for Habitat in May.

No men are allowed on the site, but for training purposes the group was counseled Thursday night by Joe Esparza, a Lowe's employee. The home-improvement center is sponsoring Women Build, and the training classes are being held at the store on Zafarano Drive.

"I wanted to take advantage of these events to hone my skills and get better on the job site," Hoggard said.

Esparza, a stocky man with a mustache who carries two knives in his belt loops and wears his carpenter's pen in his baseball cap, told the women stories about his grandfather and dazzled them with his ability to remove crooked nails from wood. All the while, Hoggard sat in her seat, asking Esparza for the names of the tools and then writing the terminology in her notebook: circular saw, mitering, cat's paw.

"This here is what they call a cat's paw," Esparza said, slipping the tool into a ring on his jeans.

The clinics will continue through March, April and May to get the women prepared to build a home on their own, which they will begin May 10. The rest of the clinics include framing walls and roofs, installing drywall, finishing interior paint and trim, and landscaping.

The clinics are free but limited to 15 people, and participants must register with Habitat for Humanity. All of the women in the clinic are planning to help build the house this spring. The home will be built for Maria Terrazas in Oshara Village. Terrazas works at a nursing home and supports her retired parents and 7-year-old nephew, whom she adopted, according to a release from Habitat. The women will build the home Wednesdays through Saturdays starting in May and continue through August.

Women Build is a national Habitat for Humanity program that seeks to bring women from all walks of life together and then teach them construction skills that will help them be a solution to poverty and lack of housing.

Dorothy Winkler said the idea of a bunch of women building a home together is cool and said she hopes to pick up useful skills in Women Build.

"I wanted to learn how to build stuff," she said. "And how to be more handy. I'm a single mom and own my own home — another reason why I wanted to learn how to use tools."

As he led the class, Esparza joked and told the women that his grandfather's standard for a good builder was the ability to hammer a nail in with three hits. For their purposes, he told the women to hold the hammer further down on the handle, not up close to the head, because they could get more power that way. He gave other advice such as, "measure twice, cut once."

Esparza turned his hat backward as he began his demonstrations on the saws and admitted that he prefers wearing "cool" looking safety goggles, which look more like sunglasses.

"Does it help to wear your hat backward when you cut?" Hoggard teased him.

"Yes, ma'am, it does," he said.

If you are interested in joining Women Build, contact Devin Peterson at Santa Fe Habitat for Humanity, 986-5880 or devin@santafehabitat.org.

Contact Natalie Storey at 986-3026 or nstorey@sfnewmexican.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Clinics on building basics for Women Build
Who: Habitat for Humanity, Lowe's
Where: Lowe's home-improvement center, 3458 Zafarano Drive
When: 6:30 to 8 p.m. March 27, April 10, April 24, May 8
Cost: Free