Does your garage need a makeover?

Tuesday, May 19, 2015 @ 12:00 AM
Posted By: Patty Bevan

Is a major garage makeover on your spring home maintenance checklist? If you have ever drooled over Jay Leno's "Big Dog Garage" or secretly imagined your garage converted to an amazing additional room, complete with a big screen TV, bar fridge and comfy chairs, you might be excited to hear that smaller improvements can make a huge difference. Many house hunters include a garage on their list of must-haves. So often this space intended to protect your vehicles from the elements becomes a storage facility for everything from Christmas decorations to gardening supplies, kids toys, power tools and more. If your garage is being used to store these items, you might want to consider cleaning things up a bit to protect your belongings, and the floor is a great place to start. Decluttering is a must! How many of us still have boxes stored in the garage from when you moved in? If you must keep some things, finally go through those boxes and make a decision as to whether to keep it, give it to a second-hand shop or throw it away. Buy shelving to organize your things. Make sure the shelving is off the floor so you can easily clean underneath them. Buy clear storage bins so you can easily find things again. If hanging shelves along the ceiling, just make sure it doesn't interfere with your garage door's operation and that it's secure! If you haven't painted the walls, use an exterior acrylic latex paint - it's thicker, tougher and mildew-resistant. When it comes to flooring, a standard concrete floor is functional but it doesn't have much of a wow factor. The first step is deciding how you would like to cover the concrete. The most affordable option is a coating, which is available in two options – paint or epoxy. Paint works well to cover stains and is offered in just about every shade of the rainbow. Epoxy is more aesthetically pleasing, with a wide range of eye-catching finishes available. Another option for covering your garage floor is tiles. They will generally run you about $2.50 - $3.50 per square foot. Rigid plastic tiles should be made of 100 percent PVC and are usually ¼ inch thick and capable of standing up to the spills you may encounter in a garage – oil, chemicals and grease included. They are fairly easy to install. The second option is interlocking flexible floor tiles. One advantage of these tiles over the rigid option is they are much more comfortable to stand on for long period of time. They are also available in a wide range of colours and patterns, but they won't handle spills as well. Just from these simple updates, you'll be breathing new life into that garage in no time!

Category: Real Estate

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