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Before You Hire a Garage Renovation Expert

1 car garage, central Toronto - attic mezzanine overhead storage for 1.5 storey garage

The foundation for a successful renovation experience begins long before the workers show up on Day One of the project. Start your garage renovation off on the right foot by doing the following three things before you hire a garage renovation expert:

Honestly assess your needs and expectations. Look at how you currently use your garage. Now consider how you’d like to use it. Do you need space for specific sports equipment? Do you require a workbench? Are there items causing specific storage challenges, like a kayak or winter tires? Will an additional vehicle be parked in the garage in the near future? Discuss your needs with the garage organization or garage renovation expert. Any plan proposed should address your unique lifestyle needs.

Know your budget range. Before you meet with potential garage renovation specialists, decide how much you are willing to invest in your renovation. Come to the meeting with a low number (what you’d prefer to spend) and a high number (what you’re willing to spend to get your dream garage) in mind.

Purge. Your renovation should maximize the storage capabilities of your garage. However, even an organized garage will become cluttered again if you store too many items in it. Get rid of broken, outdated or useless items. Gift or donate duplicates, items the kids have outgrown or things you no longer use. The remaining items are those which merit space in your garage.

During the Renovation

ctech cabinets black finished polyaspartic floor coating stairs glass cabinet base upper slatwall organization long tools overhead bike rack

Once you’ve engaged the services of an experienced, trusted garage renovation expert, here are three strategies to make the renovation go off without a hitch:

Find a new home for your stuff. During the renovation process, the garage must be cleared of all of your belongings. Items might need to be temporarily relocated to the basement or a storage container. Discuss the issue with your contractor beforehand. Be clear on who will move the items and when they must be moved.

Find alternate parking for vehicles. The garage and driveway will be off limits while the renovation is in progress. If street parking isn’t an option, a neighbor might allow you to park your car in their driveway during the renovation process.

Keep children and pets away from work areas. Kids are wonderfully curious about the world. The beehive of activity and the whirr of power tools are enough to draw the attention of any curious child. However, tools and other materials used during a renovation can pose a danger to children and animals. For the safety of everyone, be sure to keep children and small pets away from the work area, even if the crew is off-site.

After the Renovation

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At the end of the project, the renovation crew walks away, leaving you to enjoy your clean, organized, renovated space with adequate storage for the things important to you and your family. Ideally, the credits roll, we fade to black and everyone lives happily ever after. On rare occasions there may be hiccups—small changes that need to be made. Don’t let this ruin your experience.

Continue honest communication with garage renovation expert. If something isn’t as expected, talk to your contractor about it. A good, reliable contractor will ensure that the job meets the expectations created from the outset. They use quality products, backed by a manufacturer’s warranty and they follow through on the project with outstanding service.

A well-organized garage serves as an extension to your home. Lay a solid foundation for the success of your garage renovation by honestly assessing your needs, knowing your budget and purging before you hire your renovation expert. During the renovation, relocate your belongings, keep the driveway clear of your vehicles and keep children and small pets away from the workspace. After the renovation, continue honest communication with your contractor about anything that doesn’t meet outlined expectations.

It’s a New Year, but if you’re still dealing with the same old problems with your garage, you’re probably wishing you’d tackled a few of those garage renovation projects last year. Before this year flies by as quickly as the last, here are five reasons to get a jumpstart on those projects now.

#1: You Can’t Get Your Car in the Garage

You have a shiny, new vehicle with all the toys. Unfortunately, there’s no room for your car or truck in the garage. The limited space in your garage is overrun with bicycles, sporting goods, broken furniture, lawn equipment, gardening tools and seasonal items.

Every morning you get up half an hour earlier and trudge out in the frigid temperatures to clean ice and snow off your vehicle. If you don’t, you’re forced to choose between rushing to work in dangerous winter driving conditions and arriving late to work.

Solution: You know it’s time to clean up your garage’s act, but you’re not quite sure where to begin. Consider making the big garage cleanup a fun family project. Store items neatly around the perimeter of the garage. Install a slatwall organization system with corresponding hooks, shelves and baskets to maximize vertical storage space. By freeing up floor space, you can park inside the garage and pamper your new vehicle or extend the life of an older one.

#2: You Can’t Find Anything in Your Garage

Your family has dubbed your garage the Bermuda Triangle because anything you store there seems to disappear. Finding your golf clubs and tennis rackets or the children’s hockey sticks and softball equipment is a chore. You own duplicate ratchet sets and gardening tools because it was easier to buy new ones than spend an entire afternoon hunting down the old ones.

Solution: Remove everything from your garage and create dedicated task zones. Group automotive supplies, garden supplies, tools and other similar items. Maximize storage in each zone with the corresponding baskets, hooks and shelves of a good wall organization system. Toss broken items and sell or giveaway duplicates. Everything will be easier to find, so you’ll spend less time on garage scavenger hunts during frosty winter weather.

#3: You Prefer to Store Your Belongings Out of Sight

Not everyone wants their items on display. You might prefer the clean, sleek look of hidden storage. Or perhaps you need to keep toxic household and automotive chemicals out of the reach of curious hands and paws.

Solution: Modular or custom garage cabinets provide safe, lockable storage space fitted perfectly to the length of the wall of the garage. Want to keep your items out of sight? Garage cabinets provide hidden storage. They can even be configured to hide plumbing or a central vacuum cleaner. Perhaps you only need to secure a few items, like valuable automotive tools or toxic household cleaners and antifreeze. A combination of open and closed garage storage is a perfect solution.

#4: Seasonal Items Have Taken Over Your Garage

Your approach to the holidays is go big or go home. But the other eleven months of the year you find yourself sharing space in the garage with Old St. Nick, Rudolph and a 20-foot tall inflatable snow man. Then there’s the seasonal sports equipment—kayaks, pool floats and winter sleds—to contend with, leaving little or no room for your vehicles.

Solution: Overhead storage racks transform dead space into viable storage for seasonal and oversized items. Strong metal storage racks or sturdy, made-to-measure wooden shelves take advantage of ceiling height and create additional space for items seldom used, like holiday decorations and seasonal sporting goods. Most overhead storage racks can be easily accessed with a step ladder. However, for ultimate accessibility, motorized overhead storage provides push-button access.

#5: Your Garage Floor is Cracked and Stained

Grease, oil, rust and a host of mystery stains mar the look of your garage floor. Even when it’s clean, it doesn’t quite look it. If your garage is older, there may be some chipping and cracking that occurred during settling of the concrete floor. You’ve scrubbed the floor repeatedly with minimal results.

Solution: Polyaspartic flooring improves the look of your garage floor. Applied in a single day, this flooring system is vastly superior to paint and comes with a 10-year warranty. Polyaspartic flooring is textured. It has a multidimensional look similar to granite and is available in a host of attractive colors, like Chocolate, Mountain Road, Moonlight and Sandy Beach. The texture provides added grip, reducing the hazard of slipping during rainy and snowy weather.

If parking in your garage or finding essential tools has become a struggle or you don’t like the look or layout of your garage, there are a number of garage renovation solutions. Slatwall, cabinets or overhead platforms can deliver the form and function you want in your garage. Don’t get caught in the same position next year. Pull out your to-do list and contact a garage renovation specialist by early spring to plan your garage renovation project.

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Do These Seven Things to Get the Best Results from Your Garage Renovation