Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
One of the main uses I’d envisioned for the new three season room was watching sports with all of the windows open, so we could have fresh air and the feeling of being outside will being shielded from the sun and the rain. The challenge to this is that all of the walls for fully … Continue reading Three Season Room TV Cabinet
When all of the Lake Wisconsin flooding happened last year, I installed a security camera system at the lake house that would allow me to remotely keep tabs on the dock, boat lift, and boat. I went with an inexpensive wired security system, which worked well but broke over the winter when a tree branch … Continue reading Ring Security Camera
For a long time, I’ve wanted to replace the thermostat that controls HVAC for the top two floors of the house. My wife hated the old one, and it was clunky with no ability to control via my phone. I took advantage of a Black Friday deal for a Nest Learning Thermostat at the Home … Continue reading Nest
Several weeks ago when I was in Dallas, I received word from my realtor that the boat lift (and the boat) at the lake house was in danger of being swept away due to flooding on Lake Wisconsin and the Wisconsin River. After following up for more information, I was eventually able to get ahold … Continue reading Boat Lift Fiasco
Another spring project I am working on is resolving the internet access issues that have plagued the guest house. I have tried a variety of wifi range extenders that have worked with varying degrees of success, but all have been inconsistent. To permanently solve the problem, I am going to run underground ethernet cable from … Continue reading Underground Ethernet
One of the many home automation technologies that I use in my houses is Samsung SmartThings. It supports a wide array of sensors, integrated well with Alexa and Arlo, and provides a slick phone UI with the ability to manage multiple homes. For a long time, I’ve used the SmartThings Leak Sensor to monitor for … Continue reading SmartThings Smoke Alarm
As noted in many previous posts, I have a ton of smart devices throughout my houses, all tied together by a plethora of Amazon Echoes. Today, as described in detail in a post on Gizmodo, Amazon rolled out a ton of new Echo devices. I’m excited to see how I can incorporate them into my … Continue reading So Many New Echoes!
How many do you have? Even with apps that act as multi-brand hubs, I’ve still ended up with so many: Continue reading So Many Home Automation Apps
As the weather has continued to warm, I have started making small landscaping and other exterior improvements, as well as power washing the garage and the front porch. First, I replaced the arbor vidae on the Range Trail side of the wall, since the previous ones had died over the winter: After that, I planted … Continue reading Spring Landscaping
One of the primary goals of my initial home automation installation was to install smart light switches that would allow me to turn lights on and off with my voice. While it is cool to be able to walk into a room and say “Alexa, turn on the living room,” the real power comes when … Continue reading Choosing the Right Smart Switch
Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI 