A garage doesn’t necessarily get a lot of consideration. We simply treat it as a place to park our vehicle and dump everything that cannot be stored in the house. After a couple of years, your garage will be a source of chaos and it will be impossible to find anything in it. All this disorder can even attract a few critters and improper storage can actually be risky when it comes to hazardous material.
The first thing you should do is keeping the garage secure. You can start with re-organizing hazardous material such as chemicals, pesticides and paint. They can be fire hazards as well. These items should be kept out of reach from children and pets. It is better to store them on a high shelf or in a locked cupboard. You have to make sure your garage doors are also up to speed because improperly functioning doors can be a huge risk. You can either repair your existing door or invest in a newer safer model.
Now you can move on to the storage of other items. The main goal is to minimise risk in this space. Take your ladders for instance. Most of us lean them up against the wall but this position can be risky as it may tip over easily. It is better to store it leaning against the wall horizontally at the floor level. You can use hooks to store gardening tools. If you’re using extension cords, you should make sure that they are for outdoor use. This is because there could be a lot of moisture in the garage.
It should also be noted that the doors and windows in the garage should have good locks. The roller doors should be of high quality and security with features that ensure the safety of the occupants. There should be smoke detectors in the garage as there can be a lot of fire hazards in there. The batteries of the detectors have to be changed twice a year. It’s better to mark the edges of the stairs as well to ensure that people don’t trip over.
Sometimes we keep rugs under the car to catch any fluids that are leaking out of it. This has the potential to become a fire hazard. It is much safer to soak up the fluids using sawdust. To guarantee the protection of the floor, you can use mats or rubber tiles. You can maximise storage space by using proper shelving and hooks. You can also install a track system that will provide space for a range of items such as gardening hoses and other tools.
Remember to reuse and recycle when you’re going through the clutter. You should be careful when it comes to disposing of hazardous material. Some items can be recycled such as metal, paper, plastic and glass. You can give away what you don’t use to somebody else. Think of how you can reuse what you have. For example, you can reuse whatever old jars you have to store screws and small items. You can label them as well for easy use.