For many of us, having our own space to work on our cars or bikes is a primary concern when choosing a house. You want somewhere that you can store tyres, tools, equipment and even the odd vehicle or two, but how can you maximise the benefit of your own garage? Does it need to resemble a Formula 1 garage to get the best from it?
Most people know how to maximise their floor space, but a garage is so much more than a flat floor – the walls and roof space (depending on the type of garage) often get overlooked, so this is everything you need to know about getting your garage clean and organised.
Good flooring
If you’ve ever seen a professional workshop, you’ll notice that above anything else, they all have one thing in common – a sealed floor. And don’t be misled, a ‘sealed’ floor could be anything from a coating of floor paint through to a professionally applied resin coating. It’s the first thing you should be looking at when preparing your workspace.
Sealing the floor gives a number of benefits – it’s much easier to keep clean, even in the event of oil spillages, it stops the natural dust from a concrete floor contaminating parts. Also, it makes it easier to find dropped items and, needless to say, gives it a professional look.
Storage ideas
If you’re in the position to spend literally thousands of pounds on a professional tool storage system (note that it isn’t a ‘toolbox’) then great, but for the rest of us, this may not be the case.
It doesn’t have to be all about tool storage – stored tyres, equipment, aerosol cans (you name it!) can all be tidied away, in a specific place which is easily located. Not only will it make it easier to find things, declutter your garage and make it look tidy, but it will also keep the equipment safe and secure.
Roof space
Some garages are built in a similar style to a home, meaning that they have a separate roof space for storing… stuff. But even with a flat roof, you can still maximise the benefit by attaching hooks and equipment holders to the ceiling, which gives you a whole new dimension to storing.
Looking for a place to store your tyres after season? Attach them to the ceiling, even using something like a cargo net strung up (or for those on a budget – a hammock!).
Racking and shelving
Attaching shelving to your wall is one solution, but a free-standing rack or shelving unit has the added bonus of being moveable to suit your layout needs. Unless your garage is particularly warm, dry and cosy, we’d advise that you pick a metal racking – wooden ones can rot quite easily.
Also, many racking units are modular, so you can keep on adding at a pace that you need, rather than trying to estimate your exact requirements first time.
Walls and boards
Depending on the style or construction of your garage, you may find that boarding the walls is another great way to get organised – the boards can be easily fixed to, painted and insulated, giving you the perfect solution to getting your garage organised and clean. It’s certainly not a cheap fix, but it will make a huge difference to your comfort levels when working late at night or in the middle of a winter.
There is another upside to it: with boards you can follow different wall decor ideas of your choice. When you go for light colours, it will add an extra element of brightness and make your garage appear larger.
Garage lighting
Last but not least is the lighting. One 60W bulb hanging from a central fixture is fine if you’re just storing items in the garage, but to make it in to a useable workshop, you’ll need to upgrade the lighting.
There are hundreds of solutions available, but for us, the use of modern LED strip lights (the modern-day equivalent of fluorescent tubes) has to be the way forward – brighter, more reliable and of course, cheaper to run. The added bonus being that you won’t need to upgrade your electricity supply to the garage.
Organising your garage
There are many different ways of getting your workshop organised and much of it depends on budget and construction. These simple fixes, however, can make the difference between a cold, damp garage and a workshop that you’ll be happy to spend time in.
Think about the type of work that you want to do and plan it from there – if it’s just general handyman duties, you’ll need a range of equipment and work benches, whereas a home mechanic might need more emphasis on parts racks. Whatever it is, a clean and organised garage is just the starting point.