Garage Makeovers Archives - Page 3 of 3

The key to better looking garage floors

December 21, 2010 by Rick Scully

The appearance of winter’s snow, slush and salt make unsightly garage floors a whole lot harder to ignore. Unfortunately, you can’t do much about the elements, but you can certainly improve the look of your garage floor with the right garage flooring solution.

The Polyguard Polyaspartic One Day Flooring System comes in a range of colours so you get to choose just how camouflaged winter’s debris becomes! You’ll be glad to know that this system also protects concrete floors from corrosive elements including the season’s biggest culprit – salt.

Modular Interlocking Floor Tiles are another great option that allow you to maintain a clean garage floor year-round without too much labour. Made from rugged and resilient PVC, this system is great for hiding existing unsightly stains and minor cracks in your concrete floor. When the tiles start to look a little grubby, simply hose off or power wash. You’ll have them squeaky clean in no time.

Both of these flooring options involve a pretty quick installation process that can be carried out any time of year. If you need a hand deciding which garage flooring solution is right for you, give us a call. We carry them both, and we’d be glad to answer any questions.

Is your garage ready for winter?

December 7, 2010 by Rick Scully

In September, I came across an article in The Globe & Mail that featured seven tips on how to prepare your property for winter. Back then I was in denial. I didn’t want to contemplate winter’s wrath, but the season is now officially upon us and I’m finally ready to share.

The maintenance suggestions were provided by Ontario-based home inspector Roger Frost. You’d be wise to apply at least half of them to your garage as well as your home. Got a few minutes? Check out the full article here. Pressed for time? Here are a few highlights:

Caulk windows on the outside, and check sills and frames for cracks.
Store patio furniture in a dry area to prevent rust and mildew. Remember, we’ve got garage storage solutions if you need them.
Service your furnace ASAP. If you wait until it’s freezing outside to discover a problem, you’ll end up paying high emergency service fees.
To prevent cracking and sagging, fill gaps in your home’s exterior, including your asphalt driveway, patio and wood deck.
Inspect the roof. Check flashing and shingles for potential water entry points.
Shut off water supply taps and lines from inside the home to prevent components from freezing.
Inspect your fireplace. Clean debris from the rain cap on your chimney and check for gaps and cracks.

If you have any questions regarding winter maintenance of your garage, feel free to drop us a line.

Custom garage cabinets: what a difference a makeover makes

July 20, 2010 by Rick Scully

In our last post we compared the average garage to an oversized junk drawer. Serving as a catch-all for every item that doesn’t have a proper place, many garages are so disorganized, homeowners have to park their cars elsewhere!

Ken was highly organized in every area of his life and home – with the exception of his garage. He, his wife and two teenage kids are runners, skiers and bikers. Due to their active lifestyle, their garage was a high-traffic area, but it wasn’t working well.

Tired of coming home to the chaos day after day, Ken engaged us to create and install custom cabinetry to optimize garage storage and organization. Following an initial consultation, we designed a plan, Ken and his wife selected colours and hardware, and we got to work.

Today, large custom cabinetry accommodates patio cushions off-season. A locker houses ski equipment while bikes hang safely out of the way. Tools reside in a functioning work bench area and, most importantly, the car still fits!

As the after shot below shows, cabinets are an aesthetically pleasing method of garage storage and organization.

Check out our selection of cabinets here.

Garage storage system or oversized junk drawer? You choose.

July 6, 2010 by Rick Scully

If you’re like most homeowners, you probably have a junk drawer in your kitchen that houses all the twisty ties, rubber bands and other miscellaneous items you can’t find a better home for.

Chances are you also have a junk drawer that houses sports equipment, gardening gear, tools, bicycles, camping equipment and more. Granted, this junk drawer is much larger than the first. It’s big enough to house a car, in fact. Yes, I’m talking about your garage.

While few would consider tossing an expensive piece of jewellery into a messy kitchen drawer, most of us park our second most expensive asset amid total chaos, and dangerous chaos at that. Poorly stored garden rakes, skis, bikes, and more not only put your car at risk of dings and dents; they put your family at risk of injury.

In our next post, we share how custom garage cabinets helped one family bring order to their over-sized junk drawer. If you’re interested in doing the same, check out our products soon because we’ve decided to cover the HST on the first 25 garage makeovers we book following the release of this post!

Garage TailorsGarage Applications – A Basement

May 29, 2008 by Rick Scully

Mandy R and her family had lived in Riverdale for over 30 years. Her son and daughter had both grown up, gone away to school, returned, one went to live in Chicago and the other went on to get his Masters degree at Western University. Each time one of the kids moved, they left behind all their previous furniture, their books, their CDs, DVDs, their notes, their clothes etc. etc. etc.

The basement was a junkman’s dream come true – and Mandy’s nightmare . She tried to sort everything out – throwing out what was appropriate, putting each kid’s personal possessions into marked boxes and trying to turn chaos into an organized calm. But in the end she had as much stuff boxed and piled up as she had started with.

Finally she called us in to see what she landed up with… We helped her sort everything out – put stuff in different piles:

The Keep pile
The Discard pile
The Junk pile and
The Charitable pile.

We organized the garage so that everything was visible and accessible. I’m not sure she’s ever going to let the kids into that basement!!!

She loves it and actually now even has space for her pottery wheel!

Garage TailorsGarage Applications – Locker

May 29, 2008 by Rick Scully

A Locker

Ellen G was desperate. Her son was a sports fanatic but an untidy – and in her words “smelly” – sportsman stemming from all the equipment that he used, including:

hockey sticks,
skates,
helmets, and
pads.

As well as football gear including:

yet another helmet,
more pads, and
another complete outfit.

He also kept

tennis rackets, and
basketballs

(Thank goodness the basketball hoop was outside the house).

Ellen G finally had to let her son use the spare room as “his locker” but the more space he had the more “stuff” he accumulated and the worse the mess got.

Finally Ellen G stand it no longer. She contacted us and within 3 days we had everything off the floors and on the walls – everything was visible and easy to have access to.

Although her son was at first furious with his mother for touching his stuff, when he saw how much more space he had – he had a change of heart without having to have a change of habits.

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