How to Prepare Your Garage for the Fall

After a long summer of lawn mowing, weeding, biking, kayaking, and roller skating, it’s time to tuck many items away for the season and prepare for the fall.

Why Prepare Your Garage?

Getting your garage ready for seasonal changes is essential, and when you prep your garage in the fall you won’t have to do as much when winter rolls around.  After all, who wants to be out in the freezing cold trying to reorganize and winterize a garage?  Get ahead of the game by preparing your garage now.

Reorganize

It’s always a good idea to reorganize your garage every now and again, but the best time to do it is right before winter.  How many times have you had to venture out into the cold garage in the middle of winter in search of a tool or part?  Avoid the freezing weather and reorganize your garage right now, in the fall. Temperatures are going to drop before you know it, so make your life easier by moving things around while the weather is mild.  Prepare for the fall by reorganizing your tools, making ones you’ll use over the winter more accessible.  Place rakes, leaf blowers, snowblowers, shovels, and ice melt in an easily accessible location.

Downsize Your Garage’s Items

Part of the preparation for fall should include getting rid of anything you no longer need. It’s recommended that you try to move as many garage items out onto the driveway to get the best idea of inventory.  Create piles for donations and items to discard.  Take this opportunity to purge as many unwanted items as possible. This will also serve to cut down on pest invasions, as critters are attracted to clutter. Eliminating unnecessary items also makes additional room to maneuver your vehicles, snowblower, shovels, and other large tools.

Check Your Garage Floor

Now that you have everything out of your garage, examine the floor for chips and cracks.  Such problems can worsen over the winter. It’s common for garage floors to have cracks.  You can disregard any cracks that are less than 1/8 of an inch wide.  Any larger, and you’ll want to address them during the fall.  You’ll also want to keep your eyes out for cracks with one ledge higher than the other.  An easy way to test this is by grabbing two quarters, since they are approximately 1/8 of an inch thick.  If two quarters can’t fit within a crack on the floor, then you don’t need to worry about it. You can repair small cracks in the floor this fall by yourself with simple DIY products.  For larger cracks, you’ll want to call in a professional and possibly have the floor epoxied.

Winterize Summer Tools and Equipment

Now is the time to winterize the tools and equipment you’ve used all summer. Fall is ideal since many of them can be retired for the season.

Check Weather Stripping

The installation of weather stripping is a quick DIY project that doesn’t take long or cost much. Head to your local hardware or home improvement store and pick up new weather stripping , caulk, and if needed, a caulking gun.  Investigate the weather stripping around your entry doors, overhead doors, and garage windows and replace if necessary.  This will shield the garage against cold and drafts.  In turn, this will help with your overall energy usage and make your home more comfortable. It’s easiest to spot anything you’ve missed in the daylight.  Standing inside the garage and turn the lights off. Look around for any areas where light is shining through.

Check Your Garage Door and Opener

There’s nothing worse than dealing with garage door and opener problems during the winter, so it’s best to make sure everything is working beforehand.  Check to make sure the remote and wall switch are both functioning properly. Like your weather stripping, check the seal of the garage door to see if you can feel any drafts and if it makes a tight connection with the ground when closed.  If needed, replace the seal during the fall to prevent cold air and pest invasions in the winter. If you are interested in building a new garage, look no further. Danley’s Garages offers custom garage packages to suit your needs, regardless of size or style. You’ll get a new quality-built garage. Danley’s has been around since 1959. We’ve built over 100,000 garages and have been the #1 choice for Chicagoland homeowners. Speak to a product specialist and get a free quote today!