Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
After spending much of last summer working on landscaping improvements at the lake house, this summer I’ll be focused on landscaping at the main house. It’s still not warm enough to do much planting yet, so much of my work has involved ripping out certain plants that will be replaced. A lot of planters close … Continue reading Spring Landscape Beginnings
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been replacing rotting planks and rebuilding landings on the stairway down to the lake at the lake house. Before that, I had to clear away a ton of dirt and sand than had slid off the cliff face over the past two years. This was a lot of work, … Continue reading Rebuilding Lake House Stairway Landings
As with every spring, there was a lot of yard work to do at the Verona house to get it ready for spring and summer. I had to replant grass seed in certain areas, replant annual flowers, plant bushes and arbor vida, fertilize the yard, mow, put bark in the planters, and prune the trees. … Continue reading Landscaping at the Verona House
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
This spring, I have a variety of projects on deck. I’m having more crown molding installed at the house in Verona. The first crown molding project went so well, I’m now expanding the scope to all of the rooms upstairs, which I think will look excellent. Next, I’m going to have the lake house power … Continue reading Upcoming Spring Projects
We got even more snow this past week in Wisconsin, and this morning after the storm broke and the sun came out, our yard looked particularly beautiful. Definitely more beautiful than when the house ran out of LP over the weekend and we woke up to 50 degree temperatures inside… Continue reading A Winter Wonderland
Now that it’s fall and winter will be here sooner than we think, there are many minor tasks to complete at both the main house and the lake house before winter. Here is a list of tasks I’ve been working on: Re-Stain Deck Floor Fertilize Yard Hot Tub Water and Chemicals Guest House Water Pressure … Continue reading Winterizing
