Working Through Your Garage
Because your garage is a non-climate-controlled space, you'll want to be very careful about storing items there. Certain items, such as bikes, garden tools, and lawnmowers, are hearty enough to hold up in the garage.
Other items — including anything made of cloth or paper — should not be stored in the garage because of the possibility of mold and damage. Ideally, you want to store less in your garage so that the few things you do store there will be readily accessible.
As you begin work on your garage, plan a strategy that will work for you. If you'll be working with your family or friends, create incentives — such as pizza at the end of the day — to help the work go more smoothly. Also, begin early in the day so that you do not end up working in the dark. Begin near the garage door and work toward your home.
If your garage feels chaotic, know that you are not alone. Nearly 50 percent of American homeowners who were surveyed admitted that their garage was disorganized, according to the National Association of Professional Home Organizers. One-third of this group added that their garage was the messiest place in their home.
The first step in organizing your garage is to remove every item and place it on the lawn or sidewalk. Ideally, you'll enlist the help of your family for this task, as it can be quite daunting. It can, however, be tackled alone as well; just be sure to bring a cordless radio and to pick a nice day for working so that the work becomes a bit more pleasant.
As you place items on the lawn, separate them into piles by category. Be sure to create two additional piles, one for “throw away” and the other for “give away.” When you come across items that have been destroyed because of the elements — moldy furniture, for example, or rusty tools or soggy books — don't deliberate. Just toss them into the garbage. Your work will go faster if you can eliminate as much clutter as possible up-front.
Because the garage can be overwhelming, it can be tempting to get angry at yourself or others when the project goes awry. Keep the words of Julie Morgenstern, professional organizer, in mind: “Go easy on yourself and others when trying to organize these difficult spaces. Everyone in the family is learning a valuable new skill, and it takes time.”
Although it is usually best to wait to purchase storage until you know exactly what you'll need, you might be wise to purchase at least a few inexpensive plastic bins (or even garbage cans) to store your items in while you're sorting.
Depending on the scope of your garage, cleaning it out could take a few days at least, so you'd be wise to invest in a little portable storage to make things easier as you work. These bins might ultimately become a useful component of your overall storage scheme.
A Good Cleaning
After you've had a chance to pull all of the items out of your garage, you'll want to sweep out your garage and give it a good cleaning. Pull down cobwebs, wash windows, and possibly even hose down the floor. Do whatever it takes to make you feel good about your garage. If you'll be parking your car there after you've organized your storage, remember that you may start using it several times a day. You don't want to be inhaling dust, bugs, and mold every time you exit and enter your car.
If you must fit two cars into a small garage, try this: Hang two tennis balls from fishing wire, each located to brush the center of your windshield as you pull in. This will help you get each car into the proper spot and prevent you from hitting anything that is stored along the back wall of your garage.
If there are grease spots, you'll want to try to get them up immediately. Concrete floors are porous and the stains can become permanent if you don't tackle them quickly. Although people often neglect the garage floor, spots under your car can provide useful information for troubleshooting problems with your car.
If you're leaking oil, you'll want to have your car checked, for example. If you're leaking antifreeze, you'll want to get that leak fixed so that your car doesn't overheat! Consider those spots on the garage floor important tools in diagnosing problems with your car, and try to keep a clean slate so that you can stay on top of potential hazards.
The eHow website offers these tips for removing oil stains from your garage or driveway. You may be able to get the oil up with just one or a few of the steps, but if the stain is really bad, you may have to try all of the remedies.
Pour cola over the oily areas and let it seep overnight. The following morning, lather some dishwashing liquid in a bucket. Rinse the cola with the soapy water and then hose it off.
Next, add baking soda, cornmeal or sawdust to the oily spots. If you're working with a dry stain, wet it so that you'll have a pasty texture when the absorbent powder is added. Then scrub with a brush or broom.
Add automatic dishwasher detergent to the spot. You do not need to rise off the baking soda or sawdust. Leave this mixture on the floor for several minutes and then pour boiling water over the area. Scrub with a stiff brush and rinse.
If none of these simpler remedies work, purchase a commercial concrete cleaner or grease solvent. Carefully follow the instructions on the container.
Follow each remedy by hosing down the area and letting the area air dry.
To prevent oil spots in the future, you can seal your garage floor. This will make it much easier to keep clean and will prevent future stains. If you choose to paint the floor, the sealant can function as a primer.
If you do paint, why not use a bold color that you love? You can afford to take color risks in the garage. Also, by adding a color you enjoy to the garage, you may find that it is easier to keep it clean. Dark, dingy spaces provide little inspiration for the ongoing work of organizing and maintaining a space.
eHow offers the following tips for sealing your garage floor:
Scrub the floor with a concrete cleaner and degreaser. If the floor has stains, leave the cleaner on for up to 30 minutes before scrubbing. Rinse well.
When the floor is dry, put the sealer in a paint tray. Use a paint roller to roll the sealer onto the floor. Slowly work your way out of the garage. Though you want to use a generous amount of sealant, make sure that you remove all puddles. Keep in mind that sealant can also leave stains and that you want to keep your garage door open and run a fan for ventilation.
Do not apply a second coat of sealant, but do wash your tools quickly in a bucket of warm, soapy water.
As you clean out your garage, you'll also want to make sure that your drains are functioning well. You'll want to clean them out by hand in the fall and spring, and you may need to bring in a plumber to unclog them if a problem becomes serious. If your garage is attached to your home, a clog could cause flooding, so you'll want to attend to these drains even when they are just becoming slow, but still function. A slow drain can quickly become a completely clogged drain.
Make sure that all of your garage drains are clear and functioning well. Hosing off the floor will also give you the opportunity to check on the drain efficiency. If they're draining slowly or not at all, you'll want to declog them before you put anything back into your garage.
As you clean your garage and survey the items that have been stored there, take note of any signs of damage done by weather or pests.
If there have been pests in your garage, you'll want to greatly reduce the number of items stored in your garage until you're able to identify the problem and solve it. Take note of which items attract pests and which ones suffer damage from the elements, and find a new home for these types of things.
Pest-Proofing Your Garage
You are most likely to encounter evidence of pests in garages that haven't been properly sealed. The garage door is a point of entry for many little critters. The best way to check whether your garage door is sealing properly is to lie on the floor inside and look for light filtering in. Over several years, the rubber seal on the bottom of an automatic garage door does wear out, so you'll want to check the seal periodically.
Pay special attention to the corners of the rubber seal on the bottom of your garage door. Be aware that if you have gaps even the size of a sixteenth of an inch, spiders and insects will be able to enter. Pencil-sized gaps (about a quarter-inch tall) will accommodate mice. If you have half-inch gaps, rats can squeeze their way in.
The best way to seal your garage door is to have it fitted with a rubber seal. Keep in mind that these seals do not wear well through the winter and can break down over time, so you may periodically need to replace them.
If your garage is connected to your home, make sure that any openings where wires or pipes enter are properly sealed as well. If the cracks are small enough, you can seal them with a caulking gun.
If your garage shows any evidence of weather damage, you'll want to try to identify the source of the problem so that you can reduce expensive structural damage to your garage — a leaky roof, for example, is a problem that will only get worse over the years. Although you probably won't want to tackle these larger issues while you're organizing, make a note on your to-do list to contact a professional mason or roofer as soon as you've gotten your garage put back together.
Storage Solutions
An orderly garage.
After you've organized your belongings into categories, you'll want to begin to plan storage for the items you'll keep there.
Keep your garage empty, and drive your car into it. Then take a piece of chalk and outline your car on the floor. Make sure you open the doors of your car to ensure that you leave ample clearance to get in and out of your vehicle(s). Finally, measure the remaining space to determine which types of storage might work for you.
Hazards in the Garage
If you do store dangerous tools and chemicals in your garage, you may want to purchase storage that locks to keep children away from these hazards. You'll also want to install both a smoke detector and a carbon-monoxide detector in your garage and check them every six months to ensure they remain operational.
Work with your children to create a mini parking lot on the garage floor. You can use paint or heavy-duty tape to create “lanes” or “stalls” for these items. Not only will your items have specific homes in the garage, your children will know where they are and be able to put away their own bikes, scooters, and sports equipment.
If you add shelves to your garage, you'll want to keep in mind that items stored on shelves can attract children, so you'll want be careful to prevent little climbers from trying to scale the shelves.
You can bolt shelves to the wall, and if you have a large storage component, you can make it extra safe by storing the heaviest things on the bottom and the lighter ones near the top. If you store a ladder in your garage, be sure to hang it horizontally to discourage children from climbing on it.
As you consider the best way to store items in your garage, think in terms of durable, hardy storage solutions, such as metal shelving and bins. For sports items, you might invest in a tension-mount storage rack. This will ease the strain on your bike's tires. If you store garden tools in your garage, you can purchase an upright tool organizer, or mount yard implements (shovels, rakes, and brooms) directly to the wall.
Because you won't spend much time in your garage admiring the aesthetics, focus on function alone when purchasing storage units for your garage.
Avoid clutter and find your tools easily by installing wall racks in your garage.
