Hardin Home: Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
Home Improvement Projects at a Country Home in Verona, WI
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
After several years with an entry level John Deere zero turn mower that proved to not be up to the task of dealing with the uneven terrain of my land, I went to the Middleton Power Center and upgraded to a new Ariens mower. It has a much more durable frame, along with a bigger … Continue reading New Zero Turn Mower
After two previous rounds of installing built-in bookcases in the library, I spent the past several weeks installing and building the remaining bookcases. This installation was the most complicated, since it involved 5 bookcases and I’d need to do some framing work to make the wall they were anchoring to a flat surface due to … Continue reading Final Library Bookcase Installation
Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I was able to get a lot of work done on the new built in bookcases for the library. This first phase was essentially a proof of concept; before I ordered all of the bookcases I wanted to order two to verify fit and also to verify my plan to … Continue reading Initial Library Progress
In addition to interior design improvements, painting, and flooring, my other summer project at the lake house has been constructing a fixed deck platform down by the dock. The motivation for the project was to have a place to sit down by the water, with easy access to the beach, that is less volatile and … Continue reading Lake House Dock Deck
This past week, construction began on the new oak staircases at the Verona house. I’m replacing the old carpet stairs with new oak stairs, stained to match the hardwood floors. It’s a long, tedious process to cut the stair treads and risers exactly right, but it slowly began to take shape. First, the previous stairs … Continue reading Staircase Construction
The shelves in the garage that I had used to store paint, as well as the shelves in the guest house garage that I had used to store gardening tools, were all in general disrepair and sagging from the weight of everything stored on them. I invested in some much stronger steel shelves, as well … Continue reading New Garage and Shed Shelving
When I was cleaning up brush and removing bushes from around the front of the house as part of my overall spring landscaping efforts, I noticed that a significant amount of moss, dirt, and general grime had built up on the front of the house, especially the roof and around the windows above the front … Continue reading Power Washing
One small project I’d had on my to-do list for a long time had been replacing the front door of the house. The original door had been there since before I bought the house, and was pretty simple. In addition to this door, I also took the opportunity to replace the front door of the … Continue reading New Doors
When I originally remodeled the smaller walk-in closet in the master suite in the house to be a powder room for my wife, I redid all of the furniture but didn’t touch the lighting. It still had old fluorescent closet lighting along with a cheap floor lamp, and it had been a low priority to-do … Continue reading Powder Room Lighting
