slatwall organization system Archives

Preparing Your Vehicle for Winter Driving

November 6, 2018 by Rick Scully

When it comes to winter, we want to get to our destination without mishaps. The best way to weather the cold and snowy days is to prepare the vehicle for safe winter driving. Here we’ll review a number of ways in which you can prepare for the potential mishaps of winter driving as well as things which make winter driving more pleasurable.

Red Cross "ready to go" preparedness kit

Garage Storage Solutions for Winter Driving

We should start that preparedness right at home. If you’ve had a garage renovation specialist plan out your storage space for you, you’ll have a space specifically designed to place your shovels, snow blower and road salt conveniently near the garage door where it is easily accessible.

In addition, a typical slatwall organization system would offer a place to store car or vehicle accessories such as winter grade antifreeze, winter / summer windshield wiper blades, fuel line antifreeze, WD40 and more. And, of course, a storage solution to store the change of winter or all-season tires. Tires can be stored on specialty tire rack or overhead platform which can easily handle 400 – 800 lbs worth of garage items when they have been installed properly into the walls and ceiling of a garage.

A Healthy Battery for a Dependable Start

Next, if your vehicle battery is on the older side, you might want to get it tested and make sure it is holding a strong charge. Batteries without enough CCA or cold cranking amps will not be able to turn over the engine on colder days. In the summer, a battery does not need to provide the same amount of charge to the system to start the vehicle but colder temperatures will require that higher CCA which the engine will need.

If your battery is older and may not be carrying the original CCA value, it may be time to replace this battery before that cold day of winter comes along. One thing to note is that some of the newer vehicles require the battery to run the vehicle’s computer so when the battery dies or needs to be replaced, it can affect the computer in the vehicle. Having a service professional help you out with the battery replacement should avoid any potential computer issues.

Install Winter Tires

What makes the winter tires so different from all-season tires is the rubber with which each tire is made. All season tires are made of a rubber which starts to freeze at a higher temperature than winter tires. Winter tires are made of a softer rubber and will maintain its malleability and ability to grip the road reliably even at colder temperatures.

To keep your family safe when driving everyone to school or work, install winter tires to keep your vehicle road worthy even on cold snowy days.

Winter Survival Kit

For longer trips and more rural locales, driving any distance where it may be difficult to find help quickly in case of an accident or getting stuck at the side of the road, it’s important to have a survival kit to be able to help yourself out of a situation or to be able to wait for help to arrive.

Here’s what should be part of the winter survival kit of your vehicle:

Emergency kit containing non-perishable food, blankets and first aid supplies
Windshield scraper and snow brush
Extra windshield washer fluid
Spare tire, wheel wrench and jack
Shovel and traction mat, sand or kitty litter
Fuel line antifreeze
Flares and matches or lighter
Tire chains and gloves
Flashlight and extra batteries
Battery jumper cables
Extra clothing and footwear
Sandbags for extra weight

Use Winter Windshield Washer

Windshield washer fluid for winter typically has a lower freezing mark and a few more cleaning features than the typical summer washer fluid. This helps make sure the vehicle’s windshield will maintain a clear and visible line of sight to the road and surroundings so drivers can drive safely navigate their vehicle on a snowy winter day. Switch to the winter windshield washer fluid for an improved winter drive.

Winter-Grade Engine Oil

Engine oils have a variety of viscosity. While some vehicles can operate well with a lower viscosity engine oil in the summer, the colder weather of winter means a lower viscosity oil may not be effective. It’s advisable to get a maintenance service of the vehicle before winter or at least, an oil change so that the correct engine oil is applied to your vehicle for the winter months.

Cell Phone Charging Kit

Almost all of us have a mobile phone. It’s also one of our most valuable tools for getting help when we’re having trouble. Once you have a good battery in the vehicle with a solid charge, you can use it to keep your cell phone operating to make calls or to be found by emergency search crews. If you don’t already have a cell phone charging kit in your vehicle, get one today. It will come in handy for a wide variety of emergencies including getting stuck during a heavy winter storm.

Top Up the Gas Tank

Throughout the year, it’s a good idea to always top up the gas tank when the needle hits the last quarter tank of gas so that you can maintain the engine’s lubrication. In the winter, it may be wise to top up the gas tank when the needle tips just below the half way mark. Winter storms can sometimes double or triple our travel time home. It means that we use much more gas for the same commute home or to work. Be sure to either have extra gas in a jerrycan inside the garage or keep the gas tank topped up above the half tank mark. You’ll be sure to make it home or to work without fear of running out of fuel.

Heated Seats

Many vehicles come with heated seats but a heating pad for the seat can be purchased at your local hardware store. For the longer drives home, a warm seat will keep your back from freezing up after sitting for long hours at the wheel in cold weather. It’s practical but it can also make the drive much more pleasant too, especially when the winter commutes tend to be longer and slower.

Preparing & Storing Accessories for Winter Driving

When it comes to being prepared, it also means we’ll need to store a few extra things in our garage to remain prepared. An organized and well-planned garage storage solution helps us plan for driving our vehicles throughout all four seasons of the year.

If you need help being prepared, contact one of our garage renovation specialists and we can plan a garage storage system which will meet not only the winter driving challenges but a wide variety of family lifestyle needs for the garage. And, whatever you do, drive safely this winter.

Ten Perennial Flowers for the Garden: Part 2 of 2

May 22, 2018 by Rick Scully

In the last blog, we discussed the first five of ten perennial plants to refresh the yard with colour. Of course, many of the hardy perennial plants can help when the landscape may include slopes or even somewhat difficult growing conditions which require hardier plants. Many of the flowering perennials are easy to grow and maintain, allowing us to balance the time we spend with our family in a variety of activities throughout the summer months and the time we’d like to spend in the garden.

With a little up front organizing and planning, garden tool storage as well as composting bin storage can be worked into the garage. The slatwall organization system of storage offers options for tools, lawn mowers and supplies for the gardener who needs easy access to both the front and back yard gardens and who wants to avoid taking up valuable landscape with a garden shed. A garage renovation makes it possible to offer convenient access to gardening tools and supplies. Of course, one of the most important steps in gardening is planning or choosing perennials based on the garden’s access to sun and the qualities of the soil. Here are the last five of the ten perennial flower choices that we would like to review.

Shasta daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum)

The sunny and sweet Shasta daisy is a classic perennial. The blooms on these daisies are larger and more robust than the wild roadside daisies. These flowers have white petals and deep yellow florets and they will blossom every year in late spring or early summer until early fall. They are 2 to 3 feet tall and grow in clumps which are 1 to 2 feet in width.

They love full sun and good soil with proper drainage so use your compost to enrich the garden bed for these flowers every year. And, after the first killing frost of the fall, cut back the stems to 1 to 2 inches for best results in the following season.

Phlox

These star shaped flowers grow in clusters creating great ground cover. The creeping phlox in particular enjoys shade and would work well around and under shrubs as ground cover. They are easy to grow and maintain like many of the perennials. It’s easiest to grow phlox from a cutting than from a seed.

Plant them in spring in moist compost rich soil. Different phlox want a variety of conditions. Border phlox like Carolina phlox, Meadow phlox, and Garden phlox want moist, well-drained soil as well as full to partial sun. Low, mounding phlox like Sand phlox and Chattahoochee don’t mind average to sandy soil which is well-drained with full sun. Woodland species like Blue phlox and Creeping phlox need moist, humus-rich or in other words, mature nutrient rich compost with full to partial sun.

Purple Coneflower

The purple coneflower is Echinacea and it is as sturdy as it is beautiful. The flowers have purple leaves and a cone at the centre where the seeds of the flower are found. The seeds in the cone attract both birds and butterflies to the garden. The flowers bloom in mid-summer and they are so hardy that they fare well in heat while being rather drought resistant.

They also repel deer so if you’ve got a vegetable garden nearby, it’s a handy flower to have around to keep your garden free of wildlife wandering through the vegetables and munching their way through a season of your hard work.

There are a variety of purple coneflower colours. The Robert Bloom has dark orange centers with bright crimson flower petals. The Tennessee coneflower has greenish-pink centers with dark mauve flower petals. The Finale White has creamy white flower heads with greenish-brown centers.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentr)

The bleeding heart flower appears in early spring as heart shaped pink and white flowers or just white flowers all strung along the arched stem of the plant. The foliage is a beautiful bluish green. The bleeding heart needs a cool shady spot in the garden with moist nutrient rich compost soil which drains well. They do well being planted in the spring or fall.

The heat of summer will cause the bleeding heart to wither away but there’s no need to cut away the dying foliage as the plant is taking this time to store away food reserves for the following year’s new growth of the flowers. Over time, the clump of bleeding heart flowers can become overwhelming and they can be separated with part of the clump planted elsewhere in the garden.

The bleeding heart plant grows from 1.5 to 4 feet tall.

Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum)

The cranesbill or hardy geranium is beautiful and easy to grow perennial with violet-blue petals typically. They are resistant to pests and disease and do well in a variety areas in a garden. The growing conditions include soil which is moist, well-drained and nutrient rich so top up your garden with compost each spring to keep the ground well suited to these plants. Some do well in full sun areas and they also do well in partial sun conditions as well.

And, the gardener’s reward is a perennial which produces a long bloom from spring until late fall. These flowers come in a variety of colours including purple, blue, white, and pink. The flowers have 5 petals which are from ½ to 1½ inch wide with the typical colour being violet-blue petals of a Rozanne variety. The geranium is often confused with the flowers called pelargoniums at the local garden centres. The pelargoniums are a ball shaped bundle of flowers and the garden centres often market these as geraniums. However, the pelargoniums are annuals and are not the hardy geraniums which are perennials.

Spring Garden Tool & Supply Storage

If you feel unprepared to store the variety of supplies and tools for your garden, consider a garage renovation to maximize your landscaping space while organizing your garage and yard space. Then, you can enjoy looking after an easy to maintain perennial garden. A complimentary in-home consultation with one of our garage renovation specialists can help you. Whether you need to care for perennials or you have other lifestyle activities which may end up using storage space in the garage, call on Garage Tailors Garage to help you plan and design the garage space.

The Spooky Garage for a Happy Halloween

October 17, 2017 by Rick Scully

It’s October and we all know it’s the month for Halloween. Our kids are busy planning out costumes. We’re busy locating treats at the supermarket to hand out at the front door. Then, digging out our scariest Halloween tricks to decorate the yard and front door for when other kids arrive. We change up our work schedules so we can leave the house early and have the kids go out before it gets too dark.

Not a lot of people are thinking about garage renovation at this time of year but there are some people who are decorating their garage interiors as well as exteriors to enjoy the merriment of Halloween. Here are some ways that we can make the most of the garage, the garage door and the storage renovations inside to create a fun or spooky Halloween experience for the neighbourhood kids.

Garage Door Halloween Cover

Sometimes, we’re the ones on the street who are just not that creative nor imaginative nor have a lot of time. If you enjoy Halloween or getting into the spirit of the neighbourhood, don’t let this stop you. By decorating our house or garage, we can add to the ambience and festivities of any holiday including Halloween.

So, here’s a great solution for even the most non-creative amongst us. These are Halloween garage door covers and with a little bit of lighting for effect, we can capture the spooky spirit of Halloween with the best of our neighbours.

Take a look at a few of these examples.

Create a Spooky or Not So Spooky Scene

Next, let’s get a little inspiration from some our neighbours from around the country and abroad. So, here’s a sampling of some great ways to decorate the front of the garage door. From a festive harvest theme to celebrate the season including Halloween to an animated monster mouth garage door sure to fascinate the imagination of young trick or treaters walking up the driveway for the first time.

Leverage the garage door for the motion to create the monster’s mouth. Or, just use the garage door as a backdrop to light a silhouetted theme in front. If you’ve got a little less time, create a giant spider web on the outside of the garage along with dangling spiders, bats and creepy crawlies.

Here are some imaginative custom garage designs that are sure to make you a fan favourite amongst young trick or treaters all along your street.

Use Lighting to Add Effects

Remember to add coloured lighting for effect. It can make a simple silhouetted theme come to life. And, as the night wears on, your Halloween decorations will continue to glow and entertain the entire neighbourhood.

Use anything from the sconces along the garage doorway to flood lights to smaller LED lights to add effect.

Create a Drive-way Theatre

If you’ve got a light coloured garage door or you hang a large painter’s drop cloth in front of the garage door, the drive way can become a fun place for the kids to gather after trick or treating to watch Halloween favourites.

To entertain the younger kids earlier on in the evening, try movies such as It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown or The Addams Family or Hotel Transylvania or Disney’s Hocus Pocus. Keep it family friendly and the whole neighbourhood will soon be enjoy a night at the movies with you and your family in your driveway.

Even if you are not a techie and you don’t own a projector, you can make your own movie projector with a smartphone and a shoebox. Check out these instructions on YouTube to create your own homemade projector as a project with your kids leading up to the big night. Add little bags of popcorn for each of the little ones and really boost the neighbourhood spirit for Halloween this year.

A Garage Renovation of the Spooky Halloween Kind

If Halloween is a cooler night this year, we can open up our garage to add a little protection from the weather. In addition, we can use our garage renovations to enhance the overall Halloween experience. For instance, get creative with the overhead Thule or bike lifts. By attaching ghosts and goblins to the lifts, you transform a motionless ghoul hanging from above into a floating ghost travelling through the air. Then, add a strong fan, a black backdrop and some lighting to make it even more convincing.

In addition, there’s always the numerous slatwall organization hooks to attach spiders, bats, webs, ghouls and other popular Halloween figures for completing the full spooky effect. Use the rakes, pitch forks and other tools hung up to add some realism to the gory Halloween figures. Your garage renovation design is the jumping off point to another year of fun this October 31^st if you add a touch of imagination and a little creativity.

Have a Boo-tiful Halloween Night!!

Garden Days are Here Again: Are You Ready?

April 18, 2017 by Rick Scully

Smells of fresh wet soil and the sight of green peeking out from the ground have arrived again. It’s spring! And, it’s time to start preparing the garden again. It’s time to dust off the garden tools and pick up seedlings as well as annuals from the local garden centre.

Not only are gardens relaxing for many home owners, but they add curb appeal and value to the home. The most avid gardeners among us have already been nurturing their own seeds since early March in anticipation of the big planting weekend in spring.

Get the Essential Garden Tools

It’s time to take inventory and make sure we’re ready for the season. Maybe, there was a tool or two that you could have used last season. Here’s a checklist of some of the essential garden tools that every horticulturalist to novice gardener should have available.

Garden Gloves with Nitrile Palms

The ideal garden gloves should be form fitting and thin enough so you can feel everything you’re touching. A nitrile coated palm makes the glove waterproof in the palm area and thin enough for dexterity and delicate handling of plants and soil.

Hand Trowel or Hori Hori Trowel

The hand trowel allows the gardener to get into small spaces and move soil around. The Japanese Hori Hori Trowel is a step up from the standard hand trowel by including a measure so that plants are placed at the correct depth into the soil. It also comes with a serrated edge along one side to cut roots in order to untangle a plant from its neighbours so it can be moved to another part of the garden.

The Spade

The spade is an essential tool for moving larger clumps of soil. It`s longer handle and square top allows the gardener to place their foot on the spade and break tougher ground. Some of the best spades will cut through roots to release larger plants for transplanting to other parts of the garden. There are different types of spades including border spades, digging spades and transplant spades but if this is your first spade, try owning a digging spade to start.

The Rake

Removing fallen leaves and other debris that have fallen onto the ground is a key task to maintain the health of a garden. A good rake will come in handy throughout the season and especially at the end of the season when it`s time to clean up after the trees in the yard.

The Garden Fork

The garden fork is an essential tool for turning over the soil in a garden. It mixes the nutrients in the soil making it a more suitable growing environment for plants. It also turns over any dead plant materials so this mulch will decay and provide additional nutrients to the garden.

The Hoe

The hoe is an old favourite. It’s used to shape the soil in the garden. It can be used to hill the soil around a row of plants while removing dead roots and weeds from the garden. At harvest time, the hoe is used to dig up root crops such as potatoes, carrots and other tubers.

The Long Hose with a Rain Wand

Water gives life to every garden. Using a long hose with a rain wand attachment makes it possible to water the garden in a way that simulates rain. The water arcs and drops onto the plant and soil gently like rain. Choose a good rain wand attachment head. It will allow you to adjust the pressure of the water to suit your garden.

The Wheelbarrow

Move heavy bags of compost and fertilizer using a wheelbarrow. A lot of people also use wheelbarrows to transport their garden tools and large trays of annuals to the correct spot in the garden. It’s a handy tool that will save your back.

When to Start Planting & Finding Your Frost-Free Date

So, now that the tools are ready, you can probably barely contain yourself from getting out to the garden to start working on it. How do you know when to start planting?

As soon as the ground is workable, it’s time to start planting. Test the soil by picking up a handful and give it a squeeze. It should fall apart easily. If it doesn’t, it’s a little too wet to work with. In the early days, you can turn soil and work with dormant perennials, shrubs and trees. In addition, cold drop vegetables such as peas, spinach and onions are workable at this time of year.

Use the Farmer’s Almanac to find your frost free date. This year, the frost free date is May 4^th around the Greater Toronto Area.

After this date, there are many annuals that you can plant because they can withstand a small frost or two. But, wait 2 to 3 weeks after your frost free date to be on the safe side for many of your plants. Discuss your planting intentions with your local garden centre and get advice. A lot depends on how the season progresses and occasionally, we can all be surprised by a sudden overnight frost.

If there’s an anticipated overnight frost, you can protect your garden. Dig out some old blankets or burlap sacs to cover your plants and give them some protection from the potential frost. Use bricks or rocks to secure the edges of your coverings. In the morning, remove the coverings, especially when the sun comes out. Avoid having your plants suffocate under the coverings on a warm sunny day.

Store Your Lawn & Garden Tools Easily and Safely

When using your garage wall for storing garden tools, you’ll want to move your winter tools to the back of the garage and the garden tools to the front near the garage door where it’s easier to access. Wall organization systems makes it easy to hang and store all your tools including wheelbarrows and even heavy lawn mowers. The camlock hooks plus proper mounting of your slatwall system are the secret to a well organized and secure wall storage system. Instead fighting through a shed full of stuff to dig out a single trowel or hand tool, it’s all visibly easy to find and use .

Besides protecting your best garden tools from rust and dampness, the garage wall organization system gives the gardener in the family peace of mind that tools won’t become bent or misshapen. Enjoy your gardening and cherish your gardening tools this spring with a little re-organization or small garage renovation project!

Prepare Your Garage for a Snowy Winter

January 12, 2017 by Rick Scully

Winter storms bring snow, ice, powerful winds or a combination. Roads and walkways become very dangerous. A little planning will help the whole family to get going on the morning of a snow flurry or winter storm. Having a few emergency supplies on-hand can save everyone a lot of discomfort and trouble when the storm hits.

During the many activities of summer, it’s easy for the garage to become a family dumping ground. Maybe you’ve even resorted to parking your vehicles outside, rather than vying for the parking space inside the garage over the multitudes of family belongings. Before winter arrives, here are some ways to prepare your garage and car.

Organize for Winter

When the seasons change, how we use our garage storage space often does as well. Gardening tools, golf clubs, and bicycles take a back seat to sleds and skis once the air turns crisp and cold. The lawn mower makes way for the snow blower, shovels and walkway salt.

Take a few minutes at the change of the season to reorganize your garage so that seasonal items are easily accessible. The last thing you want to do is wake up to a snowy drive, only to realize that you must first dig out the snow blower or shovels.

Switching winter tools to the front of the garage while moving summer sports equipment and gardening tools to the back of the garage or into overhead storage areas is one of the steps to preparing for winter. Using PVC slatwall which is durable and resistant to the changing temperatures and moisture of the four seasons is important to slatwall storage systems. Using slatwall with camlock hooks and baskets secures the shovels, sleds, winter tools, sports equipment, recycling bins and even lawn mowers and some snowblowers. A variety of home tools with a hole in the handle including those which seem bulkier, awkward and or even slightly weightier like lawn mowers and some snow blowers can often be placed on camlock hooks and removed just as easily from the slatwall hooks reliably and safely.

The beauty of slatwall is you can add or change the amount of storage you have over time by changing the shelving, basket and hook options. The flexibility of slatwall organization systems allow it to change with your family’s growing needs.

Prevent Ice and Snow from Collecting in Gutters and Downspouts

Snow and ice can wreak havoc on our homes and make getting out in the morning difficult. Some basics to protect the garage and home include a regular cleaning of gutters and downspouts. Removing debris from rain gutters is easy enough to do or get done, but if overlooked, it can result in severe water damage and ice damming in the winter. Pooled water can penetrate the edge of roofs, interior walls and ceilings of your home or garage, causing serious damage to the garage or house.

When the layer of snow on the roof melts due to the heat rising in the attic of your home, water pools along the edge of the roof, where the temperature is much cooler. There, it refreezes, causing ice dams—a mound of ice that starts along the eaves of the roof and spreads upward. This formation of ice, which often traps pools of water underneath it, can cause substantial damage to the exterior and interior of your home.

Protect Your Car from the Snowy Winter

The first step to protecting your car from winter’s blustery affects is parking your car in the garage. Not only will you be able to get out quickly in the morning, you won’t have to clean a mountain of snow off the windshield each morning before work. Parking the vehicle inside the garage not only protects the car from the elements but it also prevents vandalism as well as theft. It won’t take as long to start the car in the morning. By saving time each morning, you won’t be rushed during your commute, making travel safer for you and your loved ones.

By keeping a bag of sand or gravel in the trunk plus a shovel, you’ll be ready for all sorts of winter driving situations. In addition, it’s ideal to use winter tires on snowy roads. With the softer rubber used in winter tires, they provide better traction on snow and ice than the typical all season tires. To swap out all season tires for safer winter tires, you’ll need to store tires. A variety of tire storage racks and overhead storage options are available for use in the garage to store winter tires during the summer months and alternatively, the all-season tires in the winter.

To get the vehicle starting sooner in the mornings, a lot of people use an engine block heater. Park the vehicle in the garage on brutally cold days where there is access to an electrical outlet. Especially, if you get hit with a snow storm and need to get your child to school, a block heater helps make the morning routine run smoothly with less stress. It keeps the engine warm and ready to start while preventing damage to engine components that can occur when starting a cold engine at below freezing temperatures.

Ready for Winter Snow & Cold?

Preparation is key to protecting your garage and car from the winter elements. After looking after some of these basics, we seldom think about the garage floor. However, this important surface undergoes constant abuse. In the next blog, I’ll show you the importance of having a good garage floor, especially in the winter months.

Organize Sports Equipment in Your Garage in Three Easy Steps

August 9, 2016 by Rick Scully

Healthy living requires an active lifestyle. For many, competitive sports are the key to staying fit. Sports and other recreational pastimes provide much-needed exercise, boost mental acuity, foster a healthy sense of competition and bring busy families together. Whether your family enjoys bicycling, hockey, golf, softball or soccer, you likely have a large collection of sporting equipment which poses a storage dilemma.

For many families, the garage becomes the dumping ground for the family’s sports equipment. Basketballs, soccer balls and softballs roll around the garage. Bikes are dropped in the driveway or in the middle of the garage, getting run over or blocking access to the garage. Car doors get scratched or dented as little ones attempt to retrieve riding toys or as older children try to maneuver scooters and bikes through the garage. Bats, hockey sticks, skateboards and bicycles create a tripping hazard.

A garage cluttered with sporting goods is more than just an eyesore or an inconvenience. It can cause expensive damage to vehicles or dangerous injuries due to a fall. However, you can organize sports equipment in your garage in just three easy steps.

Clean Up Your Act

The first step is the hardest. Begin by cleaning out your garage. To create organization from chaos, start with a clean slate. As you remove items from your garage, use this time to purge. Donate or give away outdated or unused items. This includes items your children have outgrown or no longer use. Junk broken furniture, toys and sports equipment. Get rid of unnecessary duplicates. This leaves less to store.

Cleaning the garage may seem like an overwhelming task. However, it’s an ideal weekend project that goes quicker with a few helping hands. If the children help, they’ll have more of a stake in keeping the newly organized space clean.

Map Out the Space

Before returning everything to your garage, create a layout for storage. Establish task-specific storage zones. Create zones for sports equipment, automotive products, gardening supplies, garbage and recycling tools, etc.

Consider the space required to store items from each zone. Leave enough clearance for bicycles and the lawn mower when vehicles are parked inside the garage. Place each zone in the area most convenient for performing related tasks. For instance, in winter, shovels and salt should be placed near the garage door. Now that you have a clear idea of where everything should go, it’s time to create an organized system for storing sports equipment and other items.

If You Build It, They Will Organize

It may seem impossible to get kids to cooperate when it comes to organizing the sports equipment and putting it away neatly. However, once a simple, consistent organization system is in place, it’s easier for everyone—including kids—to put their things away. The key is creating a designated spot for everything.

There are a variety of organization systems available from peg board to storage bins and other DIY options. In an unfinished garage, the studs can provide a place to store hockey sticks, baseball bats and other sports equipment. These options may be ideal for storing some things, but abysmal for storing others. For unlimited flexibility and a more polished look while keeping items easily accessible, a garage wall organization system can’t be beat.

Slatwall consists of 1’X8’ PVC panels that are waterproof and mold resistant. The panels are slotted, for use with complementary hooks, baskets and shelves. Each panel is secured to the wall studs. The system is scalable, so start with one or two panels or opt for floor to ceiling installation. It’s up to you.

The real magic of this system is its flexibility. The slots accommodate countless storage configurations. Hang baskets for storing softballs or soccer balls. Install hooks for hanging sports bags or uniforms. Mount a shelf to hold cleats or helmets. If you’re a multisport family, and space allows, create sections for each sport or family member. When the season changes, it’s easy to rearrange the configuration to accommodate a different sport. Specialty hooks or shelves can be used to store bicycles, skateboards, skis and more.

A wall organization system is ideal for storing sports equipment. However, the corresponding baskets, hooks and shelves make it ideal for storing everything from gardening tools and lawn chemicals to automotive fluids and household chemicals. Once your wall organization system is installed, simply store each item you’ve elected to keep in a designated spot within its respective zone.

Sports equipment is essential for active families. Finding a way to keep it all organized can be an ongoing challenge. A wall organization system, with its sturdy, slotted wall panels and wide array of corresponding storage accessories, creates an organizational foundation on which you can build to meet the needs of your family’s busy lifestyle. This flexible organization system makes it easy to keep the family’s sports equipment organized in the garage.

Ready to organize your sports equipment in three easy steps? Request a consultation today.

Envision Your Garage Renovation at Avenue Décor Centre

February 9, 2016 by Rick Scully

A cramped, overflowing garage is easy to ignore during warm weather, when vehicles are often parked outside. During cold winter months, a disorganized garage with limited storage space is more than just a minor inconvenience.

It may impossible to fit one or both vehicles inside the garage. If you manage to squeeze the car in, it must compete with the snow blower, shovels and winter sports equipment, making it more likely to get scratched or dented.

Perhaps you’re determined to organize your garage this spring, to avoid the same headaches next winter. You want an organized space that reflects your lifestyle, works seamlessly with the rest of your home and provides adequate space to store the things you own. Yet, you’re not quite sure where to begin.

Whether you plan to make small changes or a do complete garage renovation, it can be difficult to visualize how new components will look in your space. However, a brand new showroom in Newmarket makes it easy to envision your dream garage and select elements that suit your unique needs.

Discover Avenue Décor Centre in Newmarket

The brainchild of builder Tony Torelli, Avenue Décor Centre is a 6,000 square foot showroom of renovated spaces ranging from stunning kitchens and baths to innovative garage organization solutions. Open to consumers, designers and contractors, Avenue Décor Centre works with top local contractors and designers to bring your home renovation ideas to life.

You’ll discover an endless array of fixtures and finishes for your home and garage that fit your needs and reflect your individual style. Walk through renovated spaces that integrate the latest, most innovative products for the home and garage. The fully-staffed space is open 10 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday; 9 AM to 5PM on Saturday; and Sunday by appointment.

The licensed, experienced experts who designed and renovated these elegant spaces are available for help with every stage of renovation, from planning and product selection to home consultation and renovation. Not sure what to expect from a garage renovation? Visit the Garage Tailors Garage display at Avenue Décor Centre.

Garage Renovation in Action

Our single-car garage display boasts plenty of organized storage space. Striking Contur cabinets in Carbon immediately demand your attention. This highly-flexible system provides a high-end look at an affordable price. Manufactured in Montreal, Canada, these durable cabinets are the perfect marriage of quality, form and function, wrapped in a sleek, European design.

These handsome cabinets are loaded with innovative engineering features. Expanded foam core in the door panels minimizes inadvertent dents. EZ-open finger pulls and spring-assisted door stays in upper cabinet doors and push-to-open/close feature on lower doors make the cabinets easily accessible. Most doors and drawers are lockable for added safety and security. Heavy-duty shelves and drawers provide ample storage for heavier items.

Overhead is a sturdy, U-shaped, custom-built platform. Overhead platforms provide the perfect place to store seasonal items, like holiday decorations or off-season sporting goods. The overhead shelf on display was made-to-measure. We also offer a range of prefabricated, steel platforms for overhead or back wall storage.

Need a place to store garden tools, bicycles, automotive goods and sporting equipment? A wall organization system, like SlatWall, is ideal. Displayed in gray, black and white, these prefabricated panels can be configured to any size. The slots in the panels accommodate corresponding accessories, including baskets, bins, shelves and hooks. Together they create a highly-configurable storage solution to fit your family’s unique lifestyle.

Even the floor gets an eye-catching finish. Our one-day polyspartic flooring system was applied, giving the garage floor a tough-as-nails coating similar in appearance to granite. Black, green and gray paint chips combine with silver sparkle to create this colour while also providing ample grip that makes the floor skid-free.

Polyaspartic flooring is available in a range of attractive colours and comes with the peace of mind of a ten-year warranty. For a finished look and to protect the walls around the perimeter of the floor, we installed a six-inch punched aluminum base.

Each Garage Tailors Garage renovation is specifically tailored to the space and the customer’s individual needs. Still, seeing cabinets, shelving, wall storage systems and garage flooring installed in a physical space makes it easier to visualize your dream garage renovation.

Visit the Avenue Décor Centre Garage Tailors Garage display at 17035 Yonge Street in Newmarket today and start planning your spring garage renovation project.

Enjoy Outdoor Winter Activities in Toronto

January 19, 2016 by Rick Scully

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.

Five Reasons You Wish You’d Tackled Those Garage Renovation Projects Last Year

January 7, 2016 by Rick Scully

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.

Protect Your Garage Door during Winter Weather

December 15, 2015 by Rick Scully

Harsh Canadian winters are tough on roads and automobiles. The weather can also wreak havoc on your garage door. Ice and snow builds up beneath the garage door, freezing it shut. Metal components contract and seize up in extreme temperatures. Old lubricating grease hardens when temperatures drop, gumming up the tracks. While some issues cause minor inconveniences, others can lead to expensive damage to your garage door or garage opener.

Whether your garage is unfinished or you’ve invested in a snazzy garage renovation, you want to protect your home and the items stored inside your garage. Not all of the consequences of brutal winter weather can be avoided. However, a few preventive steps will greatly reduce the likelihood you’ll return home to the aggravation of a frozen garage door.

Inspect Your Garage Door Regularly

Like many elements of your home and car, your garage door should be inspected regularly. From inside, with the garage door closed, do a monthly inspection of the door and its moving components. Examine rollers, pulley, cables and springs for damage or excessive wear. Confirm that the mounting hardware is securely fastened.

If you see evidence of damage to cables or torsion springs, do not try to adjust them yourself. This can cause injury to you or severe damage to the garage door. Instead, consult a garage door professional who can take care of trickier maintenance and repair issues for you. If you don’t know one, a good garage renovation specialist can likely recommend one for you.

Get the Gunk Out

The moving parts of your garage door require lubricant to slide against one another easily each time the garage door is opened or closed. The grease used to lubricate garage door parts can thicken over time. Debris also tends to collect in the tracks and on the rollers, interfering with movement.

When air temperature dips considerably, the old grease and debris caught in the tracks tends to harden. This clogs the tracks and prevents normal operation of your garage door. To remove built-up gunk, use a damp cloth to remove debris and grease that has built up inside the tracks or on other parts.

Lubricate Your Garage Door

Once you’ve cleared away the hardened grease, get a good grade of silicone lubricant made for use with garage doors. For smooth, trouble-free operation during the winter, and year-round, all the moving parts of your garage door must stay lubricated. Spray rollers, bushings and hinges liberally with the lubricant. Then spray between the sections of the garage door to prevent them from sticking together during icy weather. Do not spray the spring, the chain, the bottom of the chain rail or the track.

Check periodically to ensure that all components are lubricated and operating optimally. Reapply lubricant, as needed. However, be careful not to lube components too much. Too much lubrication can interfere with the alignment of the rollers and lead to a buildup of gunky grease again.

Keep your silicone lubricant and any other household items out of the reach of pets and small children. A locked storage cabinet or high garage shelving are ideal for storing such household items.

Clean and Examine Weather Stripping

The weather stripping beneath your garage door plays an important role. It prevents water, snow, ice and debris from entering your garage. Frequent use of the garage door puts wear and tear on the weather seal. When the weather stripping is compromised, water and dust can get into the garage and damage items stored there. Ice and snow will also build up beneath the garage door if the weather stripping is worn or damaged. If this happens, you could return home from a long day of work one wintry evening to discover that your garage door is frozen to the ground.

Maintain your weather stripping to protect your garage door and the opening mechanism, which can be damaged when you try to raise a garage door that has been frozen shut. First, take a rag and wipe down the seal, inside and out. Then, thoroughly examine the weather stripping. Check for cracks, wear and missing pieces. Test the seal to ensure it is keeping cold air and moisture outside.

If your garage door weather stripping has been damaged, replacing it is an easy fix. Purchase a good garage door seal and install it after removing the old one. If you’d rather not tackle the job yourself, a garage door professional can handle the job for you.

For added protection in the event that moisture does get inside the garage, store items inside your garage above ground whenever possible. A good slatwall organization system, garage storage cabinets and overhead garage storage racks will keep your belongings high and dry if water or ice gets inside.