Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
While I wait for the next big lake house project (replacing the deck next spring), I’ve knocked out some smaller tasks that have been on my to-do list for awhile. First, I replaced the microwave in the upstairs kitchen, since the previous one had been destroyed by a power surge in one of the big … Continue reading Small Lake House Projects
Every year when summer ends and fall arrives, it means two things for me: football season, and a lot of maintenance tasks to make sure both houses are ready for winter. One of the first tasks is getting the boat out of the water for winter storage, along with taking the awning cover off of … Continue reading Fall and Winter Preparations
The last in a long line of projects to improve the waterfront at the lake house was to bring in a barge service to remove rocks, wood, and tree debris from both the beach and the water, to reshape the sand to be more usable, and to install more concrete steps to make it easier … Continue reading Beach Clean Up and Resurfacing
Over the past several years I’ve done numerous repair jobs on the last flight of stairs leading down towards the water, and I’ve also done a lot of work to keep the beach in good shape. It’s difficult work to do by myself though, especially without a barge to haul equipment and materials down to … Continue reading Stair Reconstruction
Along with my usual spring landscaping tasks, another thing I have to do every spring is open up the lake house, put the boat in the water, and set up the slip. This year was no different; I’d already done a lot of prep work at the lake house earlier in the year to remove … Continue reading Lake House Spring 2024
Last summer I was kept very busy clearing trees, repairing railing, and cleaning up the beach at the lake house after a number of storms the previous winter and during the summer itself caused a ton of damage. I was pretty happy with what I was able to do myself, but this year it’s time … Continue reading Tree Removal and Spring Beach Restoration Prep
After the grass I planted around the pool came in nicely, I turned my attention to the rest of the yard. There were quite a few bald patches of grass that needed some love, due to a combination of the drought this year and leftover damage from the pool construction the previous summer. After planting … Continue reading Fall Grass Planting and Cleanup
Shortly after returning from a trip to Barcelona, Southern Wisconsin was hit by a number of large storms, which included very high winds. Up at the lake house, this resulted in numerous downed trees, and left a lot of chaos. While it was disheartening to see some of the railing that I’d recently worked on … Continue reading Lake House Storm Damage and Railing Repair
After clearing the damage and breaking up all of the rocks, I was left with a pretty usable beach area at the lake house. However, the last approach from the end of the concrete stairs to the water involved a fairly steep, sandy hill. One option was to build additional stairs, but that would have … Continue reading Lake House Beach
Over the winter, a series of large sandstone and limestone boulders were dislodged from the bluff above the beach at the lake house, and they crushed the dock deck and the stairs leading down to the dock. It was pretty shocking when I first discovered it, but it shows the power of Mother Nature. Instead … Continue reading Lake House Stair Reconstruction
