garage floor Archives - Page 2 of 2

Protection where Garage Walls meet Garage Floors

April 2, 2013 by Rick Scully

Achieving a really finished look that makes the garage an extension of the rest of your home means thinking about the interior design just as you would any other room. Instead of thinking about the wall, floor or organization as their own projects, think of the wall treatment as part of a whole design especially where the wall meets the floor.

Polyaspartic Coated Wall Base & Floor

treating cement block garage walls & cement garage floors - before

BEFORE – right garage wall

AFTER – left garage wall

You can design the space simply by finishing the floors, adding some slatwall, baskets, racks, and hooks. Or you can transform your garage into a room that your family will enjoy using by designing a stunning space with cabinets, a workbench, or even a second level. Whichever route you choose, an important consideration will be where your floor meets the wall. You wouldn’t think of laying carpet or hardwood in your house and not finishing it with a baseboard. The same is true for the garage. And depending on the type of flooring and walls you have, baseboards provide protection from dust, dirt and water seeping behind the drywall or slatwall.

When you’re choosing a baseboard, look first to what is on the walls and the floors. Wall protection is essential in garages where the drywall goes right down to the floor. Water can seep into the drywall at the bottom of the wall and cause crumbling over time.

If your garage floor is PVC tiling, you can use 6-inch vinyl baseboards. The baseboard is glued to the wall and will protect against any water that may seep into the drywall, or under the tiles and create mildew.

Polyaspartic flooring is always a great choice for any garage, but especially those with drywall that extends down to the floor. You can go with the standard 6-inch vinyl baseboard, or we can create a baseboard from 3/4″ plywood and then apply the polyaspartic flooring and continue it up over the wood to create a neat and unified baseboard.

Drywall higher up can also be damaged from, spray from hoses, moisture from damp weather, or water dripping from skis, toboggans and tools. A wainscoting treatment protects against this and looks great too.

Punched Aluminum Wainscoting
Where Garage Wall meets Garage Floor

punched aluminum wainscotting - wall covering meets polyaspartic coated floor

Punched aluminum wainscoting provides a modern industrial look that also provides great protection for the drywall. It can be used with any type of flooring. The walls are protected and the wall/floor joint is caulked to prevent any water seepage. Car enthusiasts love it because they can wash the car or spray down the aluminum and floors after using the garage as a workshop without fear of water damage to the garage or home. It also protects walls from damage when the car doors swing open inside the garage.

Now, most garage floors are not level but sloped to allow water run off in the correct direction. Another advantage of using a wainscoting is the top can be leveled to the eye rather than follow the slope of the floor.

When using an epoxy flooring, it’s best to install a simple vinyl baseboard. The product is too thin and will run if you try and apply it to a baseboard or a wall. It’s another reason why we recommend using polyaspartic flooring. For the small cost premium, it gives you so many advantages.

The big decisions are important when designing your garage, but it’s the small details, such as baseboards and wainscoting, that really complete the look.

Spring Purging

February 5, 2013 by Rick Scully

Spring Purge

For many people, hanging onto the memories & sentiments of kids sporting equipment, science projects and bedroom furniture or pieces of wood from recently completed renovations is comforting. You just never know when you might need a piece of wood for a home project or an extra roll of insulation.

Purge before Adding Storage

2 car garage willowdale showcase - garage door, clutter, painted garage floor, slatwall organizer, shelving, drywall finished walls, drywall finished ceilings

2 car garage willowdale showcase - garage cabinets, overhead platform storage, tire storage, seasonal storage, flatscreen tv, work station, polyaspartic garage flooring

Why bother getting rid of perfectly good things when you can always store things in the garage? But wouldn’t you like to be able to park both your cars inside during the winter, or not have to worry about your kids taking out their bikes and scratching the car doors? Maybe it’s time to purge.

Start with a manageable task. Just charging ahead and trying to tidy everything up sets you up for disappointment. Take a good long look at all the stuff living in your garage and divide it up into what you need and what you no longer use. Old bikes, skiis and other household items may be useful and valuable to other people so give them away. Give away online via freecycle, donate items to a charity, prepare for a garage sale or just leave things at the curb. It’s almost guaranteed someone will scoop them up.

The next step is to review what you need to store in the garage and organize it into groups by category. Decide how often items are accessed as well as their use & placement within the garage. For example, holiday decorations can be placed into a sealed plastic storage bin instead of a cardboard box in the corner of the garage. For seasonal items, the best place for them is off the floor and above in overhead storage where you will only be accessing them occasionally or once a year. If you don’t create a well thought plan for storage locations of items, you’re likely to resort to old habits and pile them up in the corner.

Creating designated storage areas in the garage is the key to good organization. Unlike your kitchen, which already has specific places such as a pantry for food or drawers for cutlery, a garage usually starts as a bare room with walls & doors. Create specific zones for items so they can be found when you need to use them, or stored safely away when you don’t. Imagine the ease of knowing where to look and finding your weed remover when you need it, or no longer tripping over your son’s skates on the garage floor. Clearing the clutter and a bit of organizing can do wonders for your state of mind. Start by deciding how you want to use your space, then transforming it to suit those needs.

Gardening equipment such as rakes, hoes and spades can be stored in one zone and can be hung from hooks. Shovels and ice breakers can also be hung on the wall. Sports equipment, such as hockey sticks and pucks can be placed on hooks or in baskets. And while you’re re-arranging your space, garbage and recycling bins placed near the entrance to the house makes for convenient access.

A happy consequence of purging the garage and getting it organized for spring is a sense of freedom or heavy weight finally being lifted. I’ve helped many people transform cluttered garages, where there wasn’t room to park the family car, into garages with the space to store family belongings, to become a workshop and to park the full number of vehicles intended. When the garage is no longer a dumping ground for things without a home, it becomes a functional living space and frees up room for tools, sports equipment, seasonal decorations and garbage and recycling bins. I can show you garage storage solutions and fabulous products to transform your garage into the envy of your neighbours.

My clients say they feel happier and uplifted when they are finally free of the shackles of a cluttered and dangerous garage. Organizing allows them to concentrate on things that really matter and to stop stressing about the mess hidden behind the garage door. If you’re interested in discovering your garage’s potential, start by purging.

Garage Organization Ideas: Tips on Storage of Large Items

November 3, 2011 by Rick Scully

So far, we’ve discussed the motivation to clean out the garage and how to get started. Now that the clutter is out of the garage, garbage has been taken away and non-essentials donated or sold, we’re left organizing everything we want to keep.

Our main goal is to create a space for everything so it can be found easily. In order to accomplish this, we have to maximize all the space available – walls, floor and even the ceiling.

It makes sense to think about the large items first. Tires take up a lot of space. There may be one extra set or two, but either way, they can occupy a lot of real estate.

Depending on the height of the garage, a storage system can be set up overhead to hold them. However, not everybody is comfortable pulling four forty pound tires down, so the floor is an option. In this case, I recommend storing them along the back wall or in a corner as that’s often dead space.

Other large items are garbage and recycling bins. Because they’re used so frequently, they need a spot where they can be securely stored but easily accessed. Depending on the size of your garage, they may be at the back of the garage under a shelf or by the side at the front.

Large tools such as rakes and snow shovels can be hung on the wall. Something as simple as 2×4 pieces of lumber affixed to your walls will work. Just add long nails or screws and you’ll be able to hang most tools. You may also consider a wall organizer which gives you more storage and will hold heavier items as well, including your lawn mower!

Did you know that more people decorate their homes for Halloween than for Christmas? Even though the box of decorations is only used for one month a year, it makes sense to clearly label the container and have it within easy reach.

There are shelving systems available for these boxes as well as cleaning products, tools that can’t be hung and anything else you want to store in your garage.

If you need help organizing your garage, please check out our products page for ideas. We are always available to come to your home for a no cost or obligation estimate. We can take care of everything from the removal of junk, hazardous chemicals and reusable items, to the storage of items that need to remain. Let us know what you need, or want, and together work out how we can help you.

Easy Spring Cleaning in your Organized Garage

April 5, 2011 by Rick Scully

At this time of year, many of us think about giving our homes a spring clean but what about the garage?

For months, you’ve been driving salt and slush into this outdoor space, so the floor is the first thing to tackle in the garage.

Dirt stuck in cracks in the garage floor will never come out, that’s why it’s important to have a quality floor coating. In a previous post we talked about choosing flooring options. Garage Tailors Garage uses a polyaspartic flooring system that will resist cracks and abrasions for years to come and is 4x more durable than epoxy flooring. And, this flooring is easy to maintain too.

Here’s how to maintain your polyaspartic flooring system:

Use a strong bristle broom to sweep away all loose debris and dust
Fill a bucket with hot water and add a few drops of dishwashing detergent, preferably one that contains a de-greaser, such as Palmolive
Pour the solution on to the garage floor and scrub with your broom. For more aggressive spots such as oil, use a little Varsol and scrub thoughly.
Rinse the floor thoroughly with clean water and remove excess water with a sponge-head mop or shop vac.

With a little TLC, a floor from Garage Tailors Garage will look like new each spring.

If you need more help getting your garage ready for spring and summer, give us a call.

Make Way for Spring in Your Garage

March 22, 2011 by Rick Scully

In our last post we talked about pre-planning for the season ahead. In keeping with that theme, let’s give some thought to your garage. It’s finally time (or almost time) to lay snow shovels and snow blowers to rest for another nine months, along with ice scrapers, bags of salt, skis and snowboards. Where are you going to store them? Your garage, of course, but let’s not close the subject there.

If you thoughtlessly dump winter items onto the floor of your garage, you’ll not only have a harder time manoeuvring your way around your vehicle; you may also risk damaging this valuable possession. (Skis and shovels stacked in the corner aren’t as steady as you may think.) What’s more, you won’t have an easy time accessing garden hoses, planters, lawn mowers and the other items that you’ll wish to have readily available come spring.

The solution: garage organization. With the right garage cabinets and wall organizers in place, you can almost completely eliminate clutter from your floor, freeing up space that will allow you to utilize your garage to the max this spring. If you need a hand getting organized, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d be happy to talk to you about a custom garage storage solution.

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.

Build a Strong Foundation & Organize from the Ground Up in the Garage

May 22, 2010 by Rick Scully

So, we’ve looked at how if left untreated, the garage floor will develop cracks and corrosion which will encourage you to ignore the space and will demotivate you from maintaining an organized garage.

Plus an untreated, uncovered garage floor is just down right ugly. You’ve worked hard to coordinate the whole house – time to bring the garage into the picture and make it beautiful.

So, what can you do? Easy.

Coat the floor with a polyaspartic garage floor coating.
This better-than-epoxy low VOC option creates a strong seal that resists cracks and corrosion, stops dust from rising and adds a decorative touch to the space. (Low VOCs mean breathing easier in and around the house.)
Lay floating PVC garage flooring tiles.
Tell the world that you take good care of the biggest room in the, with a solution that many of our clients have chosen.

Once you get the floor cleared and covered, you’ll likely find yourself driven to organize and beautify the rest of the space. Stay tuned! We’ve got more tips coming up!

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