Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
This past weekend, I truly started the stair reconstruction project. Most of the beginning of the project was demolition: removing bad railing that needed to be replaced, angle grinding pieces of metal sticking up out of the ground, and ripping out rotting boards. After that, I had to fix the posts on the final staircase, … Continue reading Starting the Stair Reconstruction
Now that the trees have been cleared, and the outhouse and boulders have been removed, I can turn my attention to the stair reconstruction, which I had started planning awhile ago. I had to change my plans a little bit though, as the bid I got from the one contractor who would quote the deal … Continue reading Lake House Stairs Update
After removing the trees from the hill at the lake house, the last two things that needed to be done prior to stair reconstruction were to remove the old outhouse and remove two large boulders that had fallen onto the stairs over the past two winters. The outhouse was kind of a funny conversation piece, … Continue reading Outhouse and Boulder Removal
Over the past several weeks, I’ve removed roughly 25 trees from the hill leading down to the lake from the lake house. It’s massively improved the view of the water from the house, and has also opened up the walk down to the lake, making it less claustrophobic and buggy. I bought a Ryobi electric … Continue reading Tree Removal Complete
In order to improve the view of the lake from the house, I’m planning on thinning out some of the smaller trees on the bluff overlooking the lake. None of the big pines will go, but some of the opportunists will go. This will also make the pathway down to the lake easier and less … Continue reading Lake House Tree Removal
Over the winter, some of the stairs closest to the lake were hit by falling rocks and tree branches and took a lot of damage. This has led me to make the decision to have them rebuilt this year. Here is the current state of affairs… Finding a contractor has been a little difficult, but … Continue reading Lake Stair Reconstruction Plan
Over the past two weeks, I painted the lake house and shed, and stained both decks. It’s a massive improvement from what it looked like before! After having the house and decks power washed, I started with staining the front ramp and porch. I moved on to the back deck, and worked until I ran … Continue reading Lake House Painting
Over the past few weeks, I knocked out a variety of small projects at the lake house. I brought in some professional plumbers to resolve some water pressure and drainage issues in the basement that were affecting the dish washer and downstairs kitchen sink. While there, I had them install a hose faucet, since the … Continue reading Lake House Plumbing and Ducting Updates
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
It’s been untold years since the lake House was last painted, and the exterior had accumulated a lot of dirt, cobwebs, and other mess from being a house in the woods. Given that, it is in dire need of repainting. Before I do that, I had it professionally power washed, and the results are pretty … Continue reading Lake House Power Washing
