hockey equipment Archives - Garage Tailors

When you live in a region known for long, cold winters, you can either hide out inside until the snow melts or learn to love all that the great outdoors has to offer during winter in Toronto. Whether you’re the adventurous type or prefer to be a spectator to the winter fun, Toronto has something to offer.

Perhaps you dread winter sports because kids and pets track snow, salt and grime onto floors and carpeting. Avoid the mess in the house by making your garage the launch pad for all winter activities. Maximize winter fun by first making sure everyone stays safe.

Colonel Sam Smith Park Ice Trail & Skating — Skaters at Colonel Sam Smith Park Ice Trail.

Attend to Safety First

While there are lots of fun things to do in the Greater Toronto Area during winter, it’s important to put safety first. That means wearing proper gear like helmets, mouth guards, and knee and elbow pads during sports like hockey or snowboarding. However, keeping yourself and others safe during snowy, icy winter weather begins by making sure the driveway and sidewalks outside of your home and garage are properly maintained.

Per Toronto Municipal Code 719-2, property owners have twelve hours after the snowfall, rain or hail ends to remove snow and ice from sidewalks surrounding their property. If the removal of snow or ice leaves the surface slippery, the property owner must put down sand, salt or ashes to cover the surface. Failing to comply with this code could lead to fines or slip-and-fall lawsuits, so stay vigilant about preventing ice and snow from building on sidewalks, driveways and around your garage.

Storing Winter Equipment and Gear

Create a zone in your garage where winter weather supplies and equipment are kept. The snow blower will likely fit best along a back wall, so it won’t interfere with parking your vehicles in the garage. However, shovels, salt and ashes should be stored near the garage door for convenient access.

A slatwall organization system, like slatwall, with its corresponding shelves, hooks and baskets, is ideal for storing winter weather items near the garage door. Garage storage cabinets offer another excellent option for storage.

A good wall organization system will allow you to easily configure hooks, baskets and shelves to accommodate your storage needs during the changing seasons. Hockey sticks, pucks, ice skates and other winter sports equipment can be accommodated during winter. Larger items, like skis, snowboards, sleds and toboggans can be stored using specialty hooks and shelves or on larger, made-to-measure shelving or platforms. When spring arrives, the wall organization system can be reconfigured to store summer sporting goods.

Toronto Outdoor Winter Activities

Now that you’re prepared for winter fun with the family, let’s look at a few fun outdoor winter activities:

Ice skating: Enjoy free ice skating at Harbourfront Centre’s scenic Natrel Rink, set on the shoreline of Lake Ontario. Skating is free and rental skates and helmets are available. New to ice skating? Child and adult skating lessons are available. Turn the fun up a notch with another free event, DJ Skate Nights on Saturday nights through February 20^th.
Tobogganing: Ready to head down the slopes? Grab your sled (makeshift or store-bought) and head for one of the various toboggan hills located in neighbourhoods all over the Greater Toronto Area. See the downtown skyline from Riverdale Park East or check out Christie Pits Park where the hills come in different sizes to accommodate daredevils and more reserved sled enthusiasts.
Snowshoeing on Toronto Islands: Who says the beach is only a summertime destination? Enjoy the peace and quiet of the Toronto Islands without the busy summer crowds. Snowshoe or cross-country ski, then build a snowman with the kids.
Icefest on February 21 – 22: Head over to Bloor-Yorkville for the 2016 Icefest. This year’s theme is Frozen in Time. See magnificent ice sculptures inspired by Ancient Egypt and check out live ice carving competitions.
Bonus: Winterlicious on January 29 – Feb 11, 2016: This isn’t an outdoor event, but after all that ice skating and tobogganing, you’ll work up an appetite. Winterlicious offers a great opportunity to sample some of Toronto’s finest cuisine without breaking the bank. Try prix fixe, 3-course meals at more than 200 restaurants all over the city or take a cooking class during this yummy winter event.

Regardless of which Toronto outdoor winter activity you and your family enjoy, your garage can serve as the perfect launch and landing pad for your adventures. An organized garage with a wall organization system, cabinets or bins for specific sports or individual family members makes it easy to store and retrieve everyone’s gear. When you return home, you can clean toys, skis and sleds so they’ll be ready for the next adventure.

If your garage can’t accommodate all of your winter adventures, discover how a few renovations can make winter safe for you and your neighbours while making it easy to enjoy all the fun of the season. With a little help from Garage Tailors Garage, planning and renovation during the spring and summer months can improve the layout and function of even the smallest of garages.

In the great Canadian tradition of celebrating winter, sports equipment that lets you face the elements for pure fun is crucial. From toboggans and skis to snowshoes, snowboards and skates, there’s a range of winter toys that can enhance your family life when you’re surrounded by snow and ice.

The types and amounts of equipment families have stowed away generally depends on their children’s ages. When kids are little, toboggans, sleds, crazy carpets and flying saucers are in abundance. As they get a little older, skis become the most common.

Creating a proper storage solution for your skis, boots and poles is a simple way to protect your investment. The better you take care of them, the longer they’ll last. You could store your skis in the house but if they’re not properly dried out, you might end up with wet carpets or slippery floors. If they are hung on hooks inside the garage, drips won’t matter. Wherever you decide to put them, the best reason to have a designated space is so you won’t have to look around to find everything when the snow beckons.

Hockey gear is another type of sports equipment that can be found in abundance in many households. Ideally, if you insist on bringing your hockey equipment into the house, the ripened under armour, long johns, socks and jerseys would immediately find their way into the washing machine while the pads, pants and gloves would dry out on a laundry rack. But since late-night ice times are very common, most of the time after the game is over, the sweaty gear gets taken inside the house and dumped in the basement. Admit it, you’ve done it at least once.

There is a middle ground. As long as you take your under gear inside, skates, sticks, helmets and pads can be dried out in the garage so the musk doesn’t infiltrate the house and potentially aggravate your housemates. True, your gear will be cooler when you put it into the bag, but by the time you arrive at the rink, it’s more than likely warmed up. And if you’re playing on a year-round league, for three seasons it’s not even a factor.

One family I worked with didn’t want their young boys bringing their hockey gear into the house. The optimal solution was to build a locker in the garage for them to hang their skates, pants, gloves and pads using a combination of baskets, shelves and hooks mounted to an end wall. All the washable stuff went inside with the kids for proper clean up.

Winter is an amazing time of the year. An organized garage where you can protect your car from the elements, while also accessing everything you need to play in the snow, makes it that much better.

Depending on your budget, needs and taste, I can recommend the perfect cabinets and garage storage systems to accommodate all the athletes in your house. Our suppliers Hercke, Onex and CTECH offer higher quality and more adaptable products than the typical garage cabinets found in big box stores. Or if you’d like to discuss a custom storage system for your family’s specific activities which can be a better fit as well as cost effective, I can assist you with a solution to make it easy for everyone to use your garage in a way that fits the lifestyle.

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Enjoy Outdoor Winter Activities in Toronto

Attend to Safety First

Storing Winter Equipment and Gear

Toronto Outdoor Winter Activities

Winter Toy Storage

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