sporting equipment Archives

Five Ways to Maximize Garage Storage

May 27, 2014 by Rick Scully

There are a few basic steps that will help you create a neat, organized garage. Last time we discussed the first step, creating related zones in your garage. We discovered why it makes sense to create separate zones for auto accessories, household supplies, garden tools, garbage and recycling bins, tools and workstations and sporting equipment. Now let’s discuss how to keep the items in each zone neat and organized by using a variety of tools and accessories designed just for this purpose.

Slatwall – The Key to Getting Everything Off of Your Garage Floor

Maybe you’ve never heard of slatwall, but you’ve probably seen it in your local retail store. It wasn’t the item being sold. However, it was likely used as the base for the baskets and hooks that held merchandise. Slatwall (also called slotwall and slat board) isn’t limited to use by retailers anymore. It is frequently used in garages as a hanging system that enables homeowners to get everything off of the garage floor.

Slatwall comes in panels which are installed on the walls of the garage. The grooves in the slatwall hold hooks, baskets and other organizational products and give the homeowner the freedom to easily move these items as needed.

Your local big-box store might sell a basic slatwall system. However, slatwall sold there is typically composed of MDF. It doesn’t have the durability and weight-bearing capacity of sturdier, PVC-based slatwall available to professional garage renovation specialists and other contractors.

Getting professional-grade slatwall installed provides the base for organization in each zone of your garage.

Baskets and Hooks

Once professional-grade slatwall panels are installed on your garage walls, corresponding baskets and hooks can be inserted into the grooves. These baskets and hooks will provide wall storage for everything ranging from garden tools and sports equipment to snow shovels and bicycles.

Just think of all of the possibilities!

Rather than the garage being a dumping ground for everyone’s in-line skates or softball equipment, each item can be hung neatly in its designated spot. You won’t spend half an hour searching for your snow brush when the first snow of winter hits unexpectedly. Instead, you can walk right over to the automotive zone in your garage and take the snow brush of its hook.

Best of all, since the hooks and baskets can be easily moved, you can adjust the configuration to better accommodate the items you’re storing at various times of the year.

Shelving

Slatwall can also accommodate shelving. Like the corresponding baskets and hooks, the shelving used with slatwall can also be relocated at any time. This provides endless possibilities for storage on your garage walls.

Shelving can be particularly useful when it comes to storing window washing fluid, automotive fluids, household chemicals or flower pots. Create shelves high on the wall to store items that should be kept out of the reach of pets and children. Create low shelves for items that should be easily accessible to children.

Overhead Storage Solutions

One area frequently overlooked for garage storage is the space overhead. However, with a bit of imagination and essential expertise, the overhead space in your garage can safely store household items that aren’t frequently accessed, like seasonal tires, holiday decorations or roof racks used for carrying luggage or sporting equipment. Bicycles, kayaks, leftover wood or siding and other large, bulky items can also be stored overhead with the right custom solutions.

Overhead storage solutions can be tricky to handle on your own. A variety of factors must be considered: height, clearance and weight-bearing capacity, to name a few. If you aren’t completely confident about designing and installing heavy overhead storage solutions, contract a professional garage renovation specialist to handle a job of this magnitude instead.

Custom-built Storage Solutions

You can purchase any number of pre-built storage cabinets, workbenches and overhead shelves for your garage at your local big-box store. However, you’re limited to the sizes and configurations that they have available. If you have unique challenges in your garage, like curved walls or odd spaces, you might find it difficult to incorporate pre-made storage cabinets into your space. However, a garage renovation specialist can assess your space and custom-build cabinetry and workbenches to perfectly fit your lifestyle as well as the unique spaces of your garage.

An organized, functional garage is only a few steps away. Start by creating related storage zones. Then, give everything a specified place within its zone. And finally, be sure to return items to their designated spaces after each use.

Want the gorgeous garage, but don’t quite have the time to make it happen? Contact a professional garage renovation specialist to explore the possibilities.

7 Reasons You Need to Organize Your Garage

December 3, 2013 by Rick Scully

Everyone is familiar with the chaos and clutter found in a typical home garage. Sadly, too many people accept a cluttered garage as normal and simply put up with it. Have you ever stopped to consider how life-changing an organized garage could be?

A good place to understand the benefits of organizing your garage is with a clear definition of organize. Organize means to transform chaos into order. Literally, organize can be defined as the process of turning a messy, chaotic or unordered space into a structured coherent layout, often with specific grouping arrangements. You will see that there are 7 reasons you want to consider in organizing your garage.

1. Safety of Your Family

The primary reason to organize your garage is the safety of you and your family. Especially for families with children, an organized garage keeps dangerous tools and chemicals safely out of harm’s way. Additionally, by using carefully planned storage solutions you won’t risk the hazard of random objects falling upon you or your kids.

2. Cleanliness

A second reason to properly organize your garage is cleanliness. Cleanliness shows up in two ways. First, an organized garage is more visually appealing because it just looks cleaner overall. One issued related to cleanliness you need to be aware of concerns bare concrete floors. An unfinished concrete floor is prone to releasing concrete dust, especially as vehicles and heavy equipment like lawn mowers are moved in and out of the garage. This concrete dust can be especially bothersome to those who are prone to allergies. Note that concrete dust is not so much of an issue if there is a floor covering product installed. Secondly, an organized garage is easier to keep clean.

3. Protect Your Vehicle

Not surprisingly, the third reason to organize your garage is protection. By freeing up the clutter in your garage, you can store your vehicles, your sporting equipment and other valuables safely inside the garage where they belong. Look at it this way, is it better to store a couple hundred dollars worth of various clutter in and around your garage floor or are you better off parking that $45,000 car inside where its protected from the weather, from vandals or even theft?

4. Have More Quality Time

You will not be surprised to learn that the fourth reason for organizing your garage is your own time. There are only twenty four hours available each day. How much of that time do you want to spend scrounging around looking for stuff in your garage? It is so easy to discount a few minutes here and a few minutes there. However, if you ever took a moment and added up all of that extra time you spend desperately searching for something in your garage or worse added up the time you spend going to the store and getting something that you later learn you already owned, you would probably be shocked and dismayed.

5. Peace of Mind

Along the same theme, a fifth reason for organizing your garage is your own peace of mind. You may have heard about or read studies that suggest that clutter creates a low level stress every time you see it. Consciously or not, each and every time you walk through your cluttered garage you experience a mild level of stress. You know having an uncluttered space is more appealing yet a quick glance at most garages is enough to cause many people to give up in frustration. The task just looks too overwhelming to even consider. Of course, the best solution is to go ahead and make a decision to organize that garage space. The amazing fact is that once your garage space is organized you may well find yourself organizing other spaces in and around your home.

6. Save Money

A sixth and perhaps even more motivating reason to organize your garage is to consider how much money you will end up saving. For example, have you ever found yourself heading off to one of those big box stores to pick up a lawn tool only to discover later that you already had one of those tools buried under a pile of debris? Or what about those lawn and garden chemicals that may be scattered around your garage? Have you ever found yourself with more than one container? Have you ever factored in the time and money you spend driving back and forth to end up getting something you already have right there in your garage? Obviously, you wouldn’t have this expense if everything was stored in a logical organized way. So add up the cost of all those duplicate tools and supplies, add in the cost of the gas to go to the store and back and finally add in your time that you spend either scrounging around looking for your stuff or going back and forth to the store and the point is crystal clear; an organized garage is a huge money saver.

7. Gain More Living Space

Finally, the seventh reason you want to organize your garage is that it will free up more space. It is all about making your space work. By properly organizing and structuring your garage storage needs you will end up with more available space. This will allow you to put more stuff in the garage that you may currently have stored in various locations around the home such as your basement. For example, consider a growing family. By optimizing the storage space in the garage, this family could free up enough space in the basement to construct another room. In other words, by taking the simple step of organizing their garage, this growing family actually created more living space.

As you can see organizing your garage has many more benefits than you might have considered. In many cases, setting up an organized garage could be a life changing event.

Easy bicycle storage

June 8, 2011 by Rick Scully

With the rising prices at the gas pumps these days, there’s even more reason to pump up the bicycle tires and get out for a ride. But what’s the best way to store the family bikes in the garage?

You’ll want to make sure even the kids have easy access to their bikes without worrying about them scratching the car or the bike – two wheels don’t come cheap these days either.

Overhead storage makes use of unused space higher up in the garage without using that precious floor space. These systems use pulleys or motors that are easy enough for even a child to operate.

Wall-mounted bike storage racks are another option that also saves some floor space. They are easy to install and some come with shelves to store helmets and other bike-related stuff.

There are also floor stands that make it easy to just roll and lock your bike into place after your ride.

Before you make your decision on bike storage, get advice your local bicycle shop about the best way to store your particular model of bike. Some high performance bikes don’t like being hung by the wheel or at certain points on the frame.

Still competing with the car for space in the garage? Give us a call.

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