Get Your Custom Lake Home Ready for Summer
June is the perfect month to get your custom lake home set for the summer, particularly if your lake home is a summer home only. Here is a simple checklist to be sure you are ready to enjoy the lake when the weather warms up!
Get Your Custom Lake Home Ready for Summer 2022
If your lake home is a summer home, there are a few things you can do even before you return to the lake:
- Turn on any services you shut off over the winter, including electricity, water, and trash collection.
- Check the insurance policies on your lake home and boat. If you’ve purchased a new jet ski, boat, or wave runner, be sure you have new insurance for it and confirm your policies have been renewed for 2022.
- Check your boating registration and renew it if necessary. Watercraft licenses must be renewed every three years.
- In Wisconsin, you’ll need a fishing license if you’re 16+. Renew your license before you head out with your pole.
- If you have a service for putting in your pier, lifts, and boats, call a few weeks in advance to have this done.
Upon arriving at your summer lake home, take inventory and check the following:
- Check the furnace and put in a new filter.
- Check pipes, and turn on your water and water heater if they’ve been off.
- Test the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
- Test the batteries in motion sensor lights on the front door, deck, and on the way down to the lake. If you don’t already have motion sensors, consider adding them for extra safety.
Whether you’ll spend the entire summer or just the weekends at your lake home, be sure it’s stocked with the basics. Take a quick inventory of the space before heading to the store for replenishment, including:
- Go through the pantry and throw out any expired food.
- Run the refrigerator and freezer for several hours before stocking it with perishable items.
- Check that you’re stocked up on sunscreen and bug spray. Remember that sunscreen does expire! Throw out any outdated or old containers.
If you are part-time or year-round in your custom lake home, the following items will need to be taken care of.
Get Your Pier & Boats in the Water
Whether you have a service install your pier or you do it yourself, getting the pier and the boat lift in the lake is a top priority. Once your pier and boat lift are in the water, survey the items for maintenance issues so that you can anticipate the fix and get on it ahead of time instead of dealing with problems on a perfect sunny day. The sooner you can get your boats in the water, the sooner you can enjoy time on the lake!
Clean and Ready Lake Toys
Get all of your toys and recreational equipment out, cleaned, and ready to go! Kayaks, paddle boards, inflatable rafts, life preservers, yard games, etc. Check to make sure tubes are inflated and ready to use.
Prepare Your Outdoor Living Area
Replace any outdoor furniture that needs to be, clean off tables, chairs, and outdoor surfaces. Power wash the patio, deck, and pier so it’s clean and ready for enjoying.
Clean Up Your Garage and/or Boat House
With your lake toys and equipment and your outdoor furniture outside, you are already halfway to cleaning your garage. This is a great time to get re-organized and clean your garage and/or boat house. Install hooks, add shelves, or buy storage containers so that everything has its place when you put things away in the fall.
Clean Up Your Shoreline
Remove the debris that has washed up over the winter months and note any damage or erosion concerns. Rake out any weeds and clean up the area where you enjoy accessing the water.
Check Your Air Conditioning
Test your air conditioning system to ensure it is working properly. You may even want to schedule maintenance with your A/C provider before it gets hot to help avoid delays.
Inventory Linens & Supplies
When you have a lake home, it’s likely you will have guests this summer. Take inventory of your linens – lake towels, bath towels, bed sheets, blankets, etc. Replace anything that you need to, and freshen up your guest rooms with clean sheets, blankets, etc. Stock the bathrooms with towels, toilet paper and extra personal supplies.
Summer goes by much too quickly in Southeastern Wisconsin, so maximize your enjoyment and time outside by being prepared for the warm weather that will arrive. Follow these tips and get the work out of the way so that you are ready for fun all summer long.