Waukon native looks to turn hobby into a business with the opening of Muddy Water Restoration, Inc.
Muddy Waters Restoration, Inc. receives First Dollar Visit ... Muddy Waters Restoration, Inc., newly opened at 507 Eighth Avenue NW in Waukon, recently received a First Dollar Visit from the Waukon Chamber of Commerce. Pictured above at the First Dollar presentation, are, left to right, Trevor and Lucy Harwood of Muddy Waters Restoration, Inc. and Waukon Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stephanie Dugan. Submitted photo.
A Waukon area native has returned to her hometown and is now working to try and turn a hobby of hers into a profitable business. Lucy (Barrett) Harwood recently opened up Muddy Water Restoration, Inc., a boat restoration business that specializes in using marine grade products to make custom covers, upholstery and flooring unique to the design needs of the customers she serves.
Born and raised in the Waukon area, the former Lucy Barrett graduated from Waukon High School in 2001 and then moved to New Mexico for 12 years. Shortly after her son was born in 2006, she moved back to her native Waukon. The year 2017 has been a busy one for her, as she not only started the process toward opening her own business in May of this year, traveled to Ohio for training in her newfound specialty this summer and opened the doors to Muddy Water Restoration, Inc. August 1, but she also got married to Trevor Harwood in September of this year.
Harwood said she first got the idea of restoring boats when she bought a 1985 Crestliner that needed some restoration work, but after searching near where she lived she couldn’t find anyone within a two-hour drive to do the custom and marine grade work on the boat’s canvas or upholstery within the next year’s time. Having moved back to Waukon, where she is located close to the Mississippi River and the numerous boat owners in the area, it seemed like a promising fit to offer a service she struggled so hard to find for herself.
During this past summer, Harwood traveled to Port Clinton, OH to receive formal canvas and upholstery training at Northcoast Marine. Having overcome the initial challenges of starting up her own business while still maintaining another full-time job, and also planning her own wedding, Harwood is now looking to the future and her plans for expanding her business hours beyond the current evening times she has set. She also hopes to be able to mobilize the equipment she uses in her new line of work in order to be able to travel to complete jobs easier.
Although she specializes in marine products, Harwood wants everyone to know that she is certainly not limited to just boat seats and covers. “We can make custom covers for barbecue grills, awnings and patio furniture,” she stated. “As far as upholstery, we are not at this time doing automotive seats, but if you need a snowmobile or golf cart seat, we got you covered.”
Harwood also encouraged anyone who may be seeking to repair or replace anything along the lines of covers or upholstery should give her a call to see what kind of help she may be able to offer. She can be reached at 563-203-3013 or at 563-217-3000, and she encourages people to call her to set up an appointment outside her current business hours of 5-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, including varied hours on weekends. Muddy Water Restoration, Inc. is located at 507 Eighth Avenue NW in Waukon.
