Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
When the new deck was put in last summer (and then subsequently repaired after storm damage), the crew who built it recommended to wait to stain it until this spring, to give the treated lumber time to dry out. I agreed with their suggestion, and was very happy with the result when they came back … Continue reading Lake House Deck Staining
In early August, Lake Wisconsin got hit multiple weekends in a row by very severe thunderstorms with extremely high winds. Unfortunately, the second one was bad enough that it decided to send a massive pine tree straight through the new deck and part of the lake house roof! Thankfully, Acuity Insurance sprung into action. Between … Continue reading Storm Damage
After two years of dealing with the beach restoration and stair reconstruction, the beach and the new concrete steps at the bottom of the stairwell have held up well enough that I had Deano Dock & Lift reinstall the floating dock. Now we have the best of both worlds: a clear beach for swimming and … Continue reading The Dock is Back!
Since buying it in 2017, I’ve remodeled almost every aspect of the lake house. The last major piece that needed to be done was the deck, which was clearly past the end of its life and was getting close to becoming a safety issue. This spring, I worked with the same construction company that rebuilt … Continue reading Lake House Deck
Now that warm weather is once again on the horizon, I’ve started working my way through the usual spring landscaping tasks. Before things were consistently warm enough to start planting and working on the lawn, I cleaned out the ditches alongside Range Trail, which accumulate trash and other debris during the winter. I then spent … Continue reading Spring Landscaping 2025, Part 1
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
As is the case every spring, once the snow melts and the ground thaws there is a lot to do to get the house ready for spring and summer. Here was my initial list at the start of spring: Those tasks kept me busy for quite a few weekend! I was very happy with how … Continue reading Spring Landscaping + Pool 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
