Garage Organization

Your Workshop-Garage Heater

Your workshop-garage heater

Why do you need a heater for your remodeled garage? The answer for this question is pretty obvious: one of the
major disadvantages of using your garage as a workshop or a home office is that it wasn’t meant for that. The
garage is the special place reserved for your car, the garage is the room where you keep your lawn and garden
accessories.

If you start using this space for other projects that you have, you need to deal with one of the major
inconveniences, that is warmth. During the summer you don’t have to worry too much about this but during cold
seasons you might find some difficulties in continuing your project because of the very low temperature.

You can find many ways to warm up your workshop-garage. You can try one of the porcelain heaters; they
work great and can warm up a good area but they are not meant to warm a large space for a long time.

Another solution for you would be to use a kerosene heater. These heaters are easy to turn on, most of them
have an electric starter. It should have a thermostat to be able to regulate the temperature also they have a specific
scent, they do function on kerosene! So if you think you cannot handle this smell, a kerosene heater wouldn’t be a
good choice for you. They are quite dangerous for your children, if they have access to the garage and you would
definitely want to ventilate very well the garage!

A very good and popular choice nowadays is a gas heater. Of course you have to hire a professional to install it. You
can find a gas heater suited to your budget for remodeling the garage. There are many models and almost all of them
are fairly inexpensive. The main advantage of a gas heater is that it gives you a consistently warm
environment. They are available in both manual and thermostatic control types. You would probably prefer a
model that has a thermostat, even though its price is a little higher than the price of a manual temperature
control model. The only thing that you have to do is to set it on a desired temperature and leave it to do its job.

There are two types of gas heaters: vented and vent less. The vent less unit uses air from the room and the vented
model has a system that vents directly out of the garage. The disadvantage of the vent less model is that you have
to keep the room vented at all times because the unit uses the air from the room where it has been installed. The
main advantage for the both types of gas heaters is that they have a pretty low running cost compared to the
kerosene and electric heaters.

Remember that if you choose to install a more advanced heating system like a gas heater, you must ask for a professional’s help.(word count

Garage Materialism Is Growing

Garage materialism is growing

Ever since the first suburbs were built, the garage became a measure of the financial prosperity of a
family. At first there was one, then two, but now four garages are becoming the newest form of decadence in
home building. A real estate agent would say that people have a log of gear and items these days so there
is a huge demand for a place to store them. These garages, in some instances, may be larger than many apartments,
housing more cars than ever. The third and maybe fourth family car is a necessity for families where kids
stay home longer and the restrictions on street parking are one of the factors that point towards building larger
garages.

Moreover, every man has his love for the “toys” such as boats, jet skis, motorcycles, bikes, power tools
and workbenches and these “toys” need storage. A look into a three or four car garage may reveal tools,
bikes, sporting gear, a workshop and a 25-foot boat. This visual degradation of the suburban landscape is an
aspect of materialism that won’t stop turning any time soon.

Not everybody likes this trend. Some home builders spend the extra time and money on architectural plans
that can split these huge expanses of square footage into opposite sides of the house. A problem that appears
here is the problem of the house’s design after this transformation. The most aesthetical are the back-
loading garages but they require the use of the backyard space for turning radiuses. Side-loading garages need
wider home sites but can make the front of the house look enormous. With the current rising costs for
land, in many areas this is not feasible in the long run. This is a sign of a mega-materialism, that is: if one is
good five is better so more and more people understand only one thing: that a garage is not good unless it is as
big as a basketball court.

When will it stop?
Are we going to have the house attached to a garage ten times bigger than the house? Maybe it would be better
for everyone to think twice before making such a commitment when buying a house attached to the garage. Maybe it
would be better if people would care about the simpler and more basic things in life than owning a four car
garage.

Planning Your Ideal Garage

What would your dream garage look like? Some people want to have it fitted for the car, others dream for a really nice workshop, a laundry room, a gym or a rehearsal studio for their own musical band. Some other people only want it to expand their living space and improve their lifestyle.

Read more...

Garage Rubber Flooring

If you are considering remodeling you garage you might
consider choosing a rubber flooring for your garage. This
is an inexpensive option for general purpose flooring:
most common uses include parking vehicles on the
rubber flooring, converting the garage space into a play
area or into a workout room.

Parking your car on a recycled rubber matting is the
least common use for this product because of two major
inconveniences: recycled rubber tire products have very
little resistance to petroleum products so an oil leak could
seriously damage the floor; the melting point of this type
of flooring is relatively low, in extreme circumstances the
heat from the tires can be sufficient to melt the tires into
the mat.

If planning to remodel for your garage and you
also have changing the flooring in mind, it is important to
know the primary function that you need your floor to
fulfill. If you are going to convert your garage into a dog-
house, the rubber flooring would provide insulation
against extreme temperatures of the cement as well as an
extra cushioning. Also you must consider the ease of
maintenance for this type of flooring. For a home theater,
a rubber flooring is desired to reduce the noise
transmission.

Organizing Your Garage

The garage is that one place where we all seem to love to be
disorganized, however the sooner you get organized, the sooner
you can make better use of that space. Organizing your garage
can be a tiresome task for many homeowners. When you think
about organizing your garage you should keep in mind that this
activity means to find a designated place for everything while
keeping your goods available for everyday use. The following
five steps compromise a simple system for garage organization.

Sort your garage items.
First of all sort and categorize all the items in your garage, for
this you should empty your garage and start sorting everything
into categories. Separate the tools from sporting equipment,
electric tools, etc. You will realize how much stuff you have
and only then you will be able to determine the best ways to
organize and store everything. Misplaced items in your garage
should be returned to their proper place. Also you should sort
the things that should be in the garage from the things that
should actually be in the basement, attic or better, sold at a
garage sale. Remember to recycle everything that you decide to
throw away.

Separate seasonal items and equipment.
A special rack should be installed to hang lawn maintenance
tools and to keep them accessible yet out of the way. If it is
near winter place snow related tools like snow blowers, ice
scrapers, snow shovels and also skis, snowboards and sleds
grouped together. Also the items for warm seasons should be
stored in a special cabinet. Near the beginning of every season
you should plan this activity and rotate the cold and warm
items places in the cabinet. For the other sporting equipment,
shelves and drawers should be designed.

Additional shelving and cabinets.
While organizing you should consider adding additional
garage storage space to help you maintain the organization.
Shelves and cabinets should be mounted on the walls. The
basic principle is to store the items that you use on a regular
basis in a way that makes them accessible every time you need
them.

Create efficient working area.
Installing a bench or a table would be a good choice if you use
your garage as a workshop. A sturdy tool chest and a pegboard
are great in storing your tools and keeping them easily
accessible.

Relocate trash and recycling bins nearby the garage.
To easily dispose unwanted items from your garage a good
idea is to relocate the trash and recycling bins near to your
garage entrance. This way you won’t be tempted to keep
certain items because the trash bins are too far away.

Now would be the time to hire a handyman to have cabinets,
closets and shelves built right into your garage. Invest in some
good storage units as described before and start organizing,
sorting and storing.