Fall is already here, which means that Winter is right around the corner. You may wish you could put off switching over to Daylight Saving Time and saying goodbye to the late-day sun, but winter is coming all the same. You also really shouldn’t put off taking a few simple steps to get your garage ready for the cold weather. Regular use of your garage during the summer months means it’s probably time to do some fall cleaning. Nobody wants to find some creepy critters who’ve gotten cozy inside your garage while you’re looking for a rake or a snowblower!
Don’t Wait; Do It Today
Prefab metal garages are built to handle anything Mother Nature can throw at them, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t show them some TLC from time to time. At Metal Garage Central, we get it. With the holidays now right around the corner, the last thing you may be thinking about is your garage. However, it’s worth taking the time to take a few proactive steps now. You don’t want to find yourself in any of these situations:
- Searching for your decorations in the bitter cold for hours because everything’s a mess.
- Shoveling the snow off your driveway because your snowblower is broken, and you didn’t know it because you weren’t able to find it ahead of time!
- Running into spider webs or mouse nests, because all the present clutter made for some great homes for creepy critters!
Getting Started
By now, you hopefully understand that there are some things you should do with your metal garage before winter arrives, but where to start? Below are six helpful steps to help you prepare for the colder seasons. If you’ll go ahead and knock these items out now, you’ll save yourself some potential headaches and trouble down the road:
- Clean It Out
- Make It Neat & Organized
- Use the Entire Space
- Insulate It
- Make Sure Your Equipment Is in Good Condition
- Upgrade Your Space
This might be the most obvious step to take. Before you start tidying up, we suggest going through the contents of your garage. There’s bound to be some stuff you’ve stashed around, that really just needs to go. Save yourself some hassle by going through these items first. Once you’ve purged what you don’t need to keep, now it’s time to start cleaning. Getting rid of dirt and tracked-in debris will also help to keep out some unwanted critters.
Once everything is clean, now you can start organizing. You might be tempted to just stack up against your boxes and call it good, but it’s worth the extra effort to actually label everything clearly – that way it will be easy to find what you need when you need it. The last thing you want is to spend hours looking for some particular Christmas decorations when it’s below freezing outside!
If you’re finding it a challenge to get your garage floor space organized … look to the walls. How much shelving and wall-hanging storage are you currently using if any? Adding some shelving and hooks can get more of your stuff up and off the floor, which can create a lot more breathing room inside your garage. Plus, stuff you keep off the ground is much less likely to be threatened by moisture or pests. Beyond that, keep looking for creative, effective ways to organize. If there are items you don’t use regularly, can they be kept in a neat stack with other items? And this point bears repeating – be sure to LABEL EVERYTHING. It only takes a second, and it will save you a ton of time and effort when you’re trying to locate a needed item!
If you’re like most people, your steel garage is your catch-all place. Anything that doesn’t have an obvious place in your home can end up in your garage. Since you’re likely to be spending a lot of time in there anyway, it would be a good idea to have some insulation installed in your garage before all the cold weather really sets in. Insulation will help keep warm air inside and colder air outside through the winter. Plus, added insulation will keep your building cooler in the summer, as well. And if you use any heating or air conditioning in your garage, this simple step will help lower your power bills, too.
While packing away your pool toys and summer decorations are important, don’t forget about your small machinery and engines. Before you tuck away your mower and weed eater, make sure everything is working properly, receives proper maintenance, and is in tip-top shape. Better to leave these things in good condition now, rather than having to work harder to try and resurrect them from the dead when Spring rolls around next year. And now that you’ve pulled out your leaf blower and snowblower, now’s the perfect time to make sure they’re ready to go for the season.
What should you do if you’ve cleaned out your entire garage, gotten rid of all the things you don’t need, and organized everything perfectly – but still don’t have enough room? That’s a sure sign that it’s time for a building upgrade. Let’s face it, families grow, we accumulate more stuff, and our garages really need to be able to grow with us. Stick-built garages aren’t easy to expand or remodel, but the process of expanding or revamping a steel garage is much simpler and more practical to facilitate.
The Most Important Tip: Call Metal Garage Central Today
By following the simple suggestions in this blog, you’ll be all set for the colder weather before it gets here. But what if your current garage isn’t delivering everything you need? Or what if you don’t have an external garage at all? The most important tip we can offer is to make sure you have the best quality metal garage you can get. If that’s what you’re looking for, give us a call at Metal Garage Central. We partner with only the best steel building manufacturers across America, and we can make sure you get the exact steel structure you need. Plus, we deliver & install for no extra charge! What are you waiting for? Give us a call at (980) 321-9898 today!