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Now that the cold weather is setting in, it’s time to make sure the garage is ready for winter if you haven’t already done so. There are ways we can make sure we’re not trying do minor repairs to our garage during the coldest days of winter. It’s time to run through this handy checklist to make sure the garage is ready.

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With a professional garage renovation, several of these items will likely have been addressed. If you’ve not had a garage storage solution and garage floor installed then a garage renovation specialist would address them for you so you could easily prepare your garage for winter. If it’s too late in the season, here’s what you can do to start addressing them today.

Insulate Exposed Water Pipes & Turn Off Exterior Faucets

Water is always the most challenging issue for any home. In the garage where it is cooler than the home, water pipes are much more exposed. They can run into issues during a colder winter where water might freeze and burst the pipes. Use some simple pipe insulation to make sure any exposed pipes are given a little extra protection from the elements.

If you have an exterior faucet inside the garage to water your front lawn, assure you have an inside valve to switch off water to this faucet. Protecting your water pipes means that you can avoid costly repairs to the home when spring finally arrives.

Store Spring and Summer Essentials Off the Ground

The garage floor is one of the coldest elements of the home. The garage collects water and salt which can be quite damaging for any of our garden tools, kids toys, sports equipment and much more. In a professional garage renovation, creating dedicated spaces to store family stuff on shelves, platforms, slatwall storage systems and in the overhead garage space means that everything will have a place.

Designing a way to have winter tools such as shovels, salt and snow blowers conveniently located during the winter months while storing away garden tools such as rakes, hoses, spades and lawn mowers and vice versa for summer are the keys to a professional garage storage system.

In the meantime, if it’s too late to get a garage storage renovation completed, there are a couple of ways to keep these belongs dry and free of salt damage. One way to do this is by installing some Swisstrax Ribtrax garage floor tiles. This will lift your belongings just enough so that water and salt will flow below the garage floor tiles instead of damaging household tools, kids bikes and toys or sports equipment. Or, a few bricks and a couple of pieces of plywood will be enough to keep your belongings off the floor for this coming winter.

Starting late February or early March, contact a garage renovation specialist to start a discussion to plan and develop a garage renovation project that your whole family will appreciate.

Repair and Clean It Periodically to Avoid Salt Damage

Many people still have concrete garage floors. As we’ve discussed in a recent garage floor blog, there are many ways in which concrete floors can be damaged by the winter weather. The main culprits are water and salt dragged into the garage by the vehicles we drive and the small boots walking into the home via the garage.

If you’ve got the time before the cold weather sets in to make repairs to the pitting or cracks in the concrete floor, the local big box stores will have some DIY solutions. The best solution for a garage floor is a polyaspartic garage floor coating. A garage renovation specialist will also prepare the concrete beforehand to make sure that your floor coating adheres properly instead of bubbling or lifting after one or a few years.

Of course, the Swisstrax Ribtrax garage tiles is a DIY install that you can complete any time so that you can improve the garage floor.

Replace Weather Stripping

Keep the garage warmer. It will be more pleasant when taking the garbage or recycle out to the garage or when someone needs to dig out seasonal decorations or when airing out hockey equipment.

The drafts from windows or a poorly sealed garage door will cause the garage to becoming cooler than it needs to be. Replacing the seals around windows and along the edges of the garage door will mean that your family will be more willing to make those quick visits to the garage to do chores or put their sports equipment away where they belong. And,it will protect many of your family belongings from premature wear and tear.

Prepare the Garage Door

Finally, make sure your garage door is ready for the winter. Lubricate the moving parts,check to make sure the cables do not require replacement, tighten up loose hardware, inspect and replace the rollers for the door and make sure the door balance hasn’t shifted with the seasons. If you find some or all of this daunting, you can easily contact your local garage door installer to help you do regular checkups and maintenance. It’s a good idea to make sure these annoying issues don’t crop up during the coldest days of the year.

Garage Maintenance and Storage

Having a well-designed and well maintained garage means that it will protect your family, your vehicles, your home and the many belongings we store in the garage from the damage of cold, water and salt of the typical winter season.

If you’re having a difficult time parking your vehicle in the garage, it may be time to get a garage renovation which will assure you can store your belongings safely in the garage while also being able to park each of your vehicles inside safely as well.

If this is a challenge for your family today, plan to speak to a garage renovation specialist in the early spring so you can design your garage to meet your family lifestyle needs all year long.

Even in late summer or early fall, avid gardeners are still keen on having slatwall organization systems installed in a typical garage renovation because they understand the value of fall gardening and the need to access garden tools well into November in the GTA. In fact, slatwall storage with its wide array of Camlock hooks, baskets and shelves make for the ideal way to make tools readily accessible and easy to swap out when the seasons demand it.

Taking our hint from Mother Nature, we see that she has many of its trees, shrubs and perennials shed leaves and drop seeds in the fall in order to facilitate a successful spring growth. Following the natural life cycle of these plants, fall gardeners will do several things throughout the fall months of September, October and November to ensure the best results in the following year.

Keep those Garden Tools on Your Slatwall Hooks

Fall is one of the best times to prepare the garden for the best results in spring. In fact, far greater success in the growing season comes from the things we do to prepare the yard during the fall. So, the question is what to do and what will we need to do a good job of preparing the yard and garden.

So, keep your tools on the garage wall organization system or if you don’t have one, then consult with one of our garage renovation specialists. Having a slatwall organization system allows people to adopt a strategy of swapping out tools between the seasons to maximize garage space. In this case, you might want to hang onto the garden tools just a little longer and wait a little longer to swap them out for snow removal type tools.

Fall is a Time to Seed the Garden

So, nature’s natural cycles means that many shrubs, trees and perennials drop seeds during the fall to incubate throughout the winter to develop into seedlings with the more welcoming spring conditions. Taking our hint from nature, here’s what we should consider seeding this fall:

Daylily, Hemerocallis spp.
Hosta, Hosta spp.
Daisy, Leucanthemum spp.
Lily, Lilium cvs.
Crabapple, Malus spp.
Peony and others, Paeonia lactiflora
Spruce, Picea spp.
Pine, Pinus spp.
Hawthorn, Crataegus spp.
Pinks, Dianthus spp.
Ash, Fraxinus spp.

So, spend some time planning your next garden starting this fall instead of waiting until spring. Prepare a list of plants you would like to see in the yard. Then, choose seeds which benefit from a fall planting.

Prepare your Fall Garden by Planting Seeds and Bulbs

Start this in September so there is time for seeds and bulbs for flowers which blossom in spring. Do it early to allow them to take hold before the frosts in November. Then they’ll be prepared to weather the winter and provide great blossoms and spring growth.

Also, if you have young trees or shrubs that need a new spot in the yard or garden, fall is the time to move them to their new location. Keep watering trees and shrubs until the ground freezes. Strong fall development means they’ll be hardy throughout the winter and into spring.

Clean the Garden and Yard

The best thing about fall gardening is that we can prepare the garden so that the ground is in much better shape in early spring. Here is a few things to do.

Fertilizing the lawn in fall helps to significantly reduce weeds. Also, pull out any existing weeds now before they seed. Doing these two activities in the fall will give your lawn a hefty head start in spring.

There’s debate as to raking leaves. Mother nature intended them to stay on the forest floors to provide protection to young seeds and plants throughout the winter. However, raking them, mulching them and then adding them back to your garden, compost and lawn are also good alternatives to feeding the lawn as well as the garden.

Adding compost or manure to the garden beds helps settle the mineral balance of the soil in time for a spring planting. If you have any annuals left from the current year, remove and compost them. Then, return the compost back to the garden beds. If there were any diseased plants trim the dying or disease sections. You’ll want to throw them out instead of putting these clippings back into the compost.

Take a look at perennials and the foliage. Cut back on excess foliage so there is less of a plant for your perennial to sustain over the winter. They’ll come back stronger in spring and less foliage means fewer pests will be hiding amongst the foliage during winter. Also, cut grass along the edges of your home so you don’t leave a place for rodents to build a home or nest beside or even inside your home.

For a more comprehensive list of things you can do to prepare your home during fall, consult the Landscape Ontario checklist.

Garage Renovations for All Seasons Landscaping

So, keep the hoe, rakes, trowels, clippers and garden gloves out and handy. If you’ve got one of our slatwall systems, you know you can even hang a lawn mower or a lawn fertilizer spreader. And, it won’t take long to swap out the various garden tools for the shovels, salt and snow blowers.

Just before the first frost hits the ground, you can be ready and organized quickly. If you’re interested in understanding how the slatwall storage systems we offer can help you stay organized and effective, ask for a complimentary in-home consultation today.

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Prepare Your Garage for Winter