Archives June 2021

Progress has continued on the deck and three season room since construction initially started and the concrete was poured by Concrete Keith. Post covers are wrapped around the wood posts, and some of the composite fascia boards have were installed:

After that, the materials finally started arriving for the three season room.

With the materials in hand, construction was able to start. Thus far, the framing is largely done, and the roof is in place.

Over the next two weeks, the walls, windows, doors, siding, and electrical will be installed!

The theater rug and risers for the back row finally came after a couple of months of waiting, so I was able to get this project fully done. The risers make a dramatic difference in the viewing experience from the rear row of seats, and the rug brightens up the room and pairs well with the dark floors and walls.

As part of the massive deck and three season room construction project, I wanted to remove all of the existing pavers (including the walkway around the garage) and replace them with newly poured, stamped concrete. I was introduced to a contractor named Concrete Keith, and he and his team did a phenomenal job. First, they removed the pavers, along with bushes that were along the side of the house and were at the end of their life.

After that, they brought in dirt to change the slope of the hill so that water will run away from the house. Once that was done, they got to work pouring, stamping, and sealing the new concrete.

After the concrete was done, we brought in river rock to replace the rock that had been dug up along the side of the house. I also mulched along the other side of the walkway and put in a barrier between the grass and the mulch, and planted grass seed to replace some of the grass that had been torn up.

When I planned out the deck project, I hadn’t even considered what an amazing difference the new concrete would make. It’s truly transformed the side of the house, along with the upper and lower patios around the new deck!

Now that the landscaping situation at the Verona house is mostly under control for the summer, I’ve started tackling the lake house. I’m not trying to plant a lawn, but I wanted to beat back some of the ground cover, especially the poison ivy, that had taken over the areas around the house. The first step was to go crazy with a weed whacker, and then to blast everything with a combination of ground clear weed killer and anti poison ivy spray. Over a period of several weeks I did this multiple times, and it ended with the ground being mostly clear.

After that, I got to work laying down mulch around the walkways and planters, which both looks nice and also will hopefully help keep future ground cover growth at bay.

I took a break for a couple of weeks for a trip to Vegas and also worked on some other projects around the Verona house, but as we head into July I’m going to lay down more mulch and then plant some decorative bushes in the planters.

After several years with an entry level John Deere zero turn mower that proved to not be up to the task of dealing with the uneven terrain of my land, I went to the Middleton Power Center and upgraded to a new Ariens mower. It has a much more durable frame, along with a bigger deck and more power.

Thus far, I’ve moved the lawn with it three times and it’s been incredible.

My hope is that this one will last longer than the previous Deere did!