Hemmis' take on 'Makeover'

After appearing on the TV show "Monster House" seeking to win tools for her home-design business, carpenter Paige Hemmis got a call from the producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" asking her if she'd like to audition for the new show.

"Can I win tools?" she asked producers.

Uh, no.

But now she can buy her own tools, or better yet, make them. In lieu of hammers and wrenches, Hemmis got a five-year (and counting) TV gig, a lifetime full of amazing experiences and a popular platform to expand her brand into books and her TuffChix line of carpentry items for women.

"When I started in construction 10 years ago, there was nothing that fit women," Hemmis said. "Even if you buy a men's small, it still doesn't fit correctly.

"And especially with gloves, it's not safe if the gloves are loose. So I decided that since I couldn't find them in the marketplace, I would fill that need myself."

It was Hemmis' TuffChix gloves that brought the perpetually pink carpenter/designer to QVC last month, and while she was in town she stopped by the Daily News to talk TuffChix and "Extreme Makeover," which ends its fifth season Sunday with a two-hour finale from New Orleans. (Hemmis was supposed to redesign my office, but after one glance that idea went out the window.)

Q: As there are rotating designers, you're not on every week. Do you watch the show when you're not on?

A: I do and I can watch it as a fan. I don't know the family story. I wasn't there. And I end up crying. . . . Sometimes I was there and I still cry when I watch it.

Q: How has the show changed most since the beginning?

A: When we started we had no help, no volunteers, and you had to work all night long if you wanted to get something done. I would stay up typically two to three nights every single show. Now if I try to stay up one night my body revolts. There was a lot more fighting in the beginning . . . but whatever we were fighting about, we knew the family had been through hell and it just didn't seem right.

So with everyone now, their heads are in the right place, their hearts are in the right place and all the local people are only coming in for a week and that keeps our spirits up.

Q: Now that you have so many volunteers, do you actually still build stuff yourself?

A: I don't build the houses, but I still build all the stuff in my rooms. But here's the nice thing: I can build something and have someone else paint it or prime it. That's the kind of stuff we didn't have help with before. Or if I get called away - because we're filming a TV show and we're building a house . . .

Q: Do you have a favorite family?

A: I've got dozens that I still keep in contact with, but my favorite family was the Novak family in Ohio. It was a dad and his three little girls, and they had lost their mom on Mother's Day when she was 28 years old. These little girls broke my heart. I'm still friends with them today. I flew them all down to Disney World last year and I try to get out there to see them every few months.

Q: A favorite house?

A: My favorite house was in Port Deposit, Md., and it was built by Clark Turner Signature Homes, and it was so beautiful. It was 4,700 square feet and not only was there wainscoting on the walls - because with only four days to build the house, you typically don't get all that great work - but the entire house had crown molding, the entire house had ceiling features. The ceiling in the living room was in this herringbone brick that was in this great big arch - I don't even know how they did it, much less did it with quality.

Q: Do you ever fear the show is becoming too commercial with all the product placement?

A: What our editors want to create is this amazing story and ABC tells them you have to get this logo in and this logo and this logo because they're paying for it.

Everything on our show is donated, so typically if you see somebody's name they're not only donating but they're also buying ad time.

Q: With 400 hours of video condensed into a one-hour show, how do you come to terms with most of your hard work remaining unseen?

A: I remember my first episode, I was like, 'You didn't show me doing this and you didn't show me doing this and I stayed up for three nights' . . . and then you realize it's not about you and your projects, it's not a how-to show, it's about families and making their dreams come true. *