GARAGE A GREAT PLACE FOR THAT EXTRA SPACE
Know what you want to build and what you want to store before putting it all together
I love my garage — it’s my place to get away from it all. Some people have their yoga room, for me, it’s my garage. Whenever I’m able to arrange some free time off the job site and spend some time at home, you can usually find me working or relaxing in my happy place.
Garages are practical additions to most homes offering a storage space for cars, tools and other household items. For those of you lucky enough to have a big enough space, your garage can also include a workshop or a spot to hang out and have a few cold ones.
ATTACHED VERSUS DETACHED GARAGES
For those of us lucky enough to have the extra space, a detached garage can provide a great oasis from your main home. And your limitations on how big you can build only depend on the size of your property.
With attached garages, it’s important to consider how the space will affect the rest of your structure. Your biggest concern should be about fumes, especially if you use your garage to park your car. Your garage must be sealed to prevent fumes, exhaust, and carbon monoxide from seeping into the house.
I like sealing the garage with spray foam — especially if you have a room above the space. The spray foam creates a thermal break to keep the room above from getting too cold, and spray foam has the added benefit of creating a barrier that stops those dangerous fumes, like carbon monoxide, from getting into your home.
You might not realize, but an attached garage can be a major source of heat loss for the rest of your home. Think about it: you’ve got that big garage door, and it can allow a lot of cold air to sneak through. Solving this is simple enough. Apply some tube-shaped stripping to the bottom of the door. When the door is shut properly, the stripping compresses against the floor of the garage, creating a seal to keep air out.
GARAGE FLOORING
Your garage will face a lot of traffic over the years, so you want to make sure the floors can handle anything you throw at them. When my son redid his home garage, he covered the floors with a polyurea coating. The polyurea offers a lot of advantages over a more traditional flooring style in your garage.
It’s got a high scratch resistance, so any dropped tools won’t damage the floor. And it’s got a high heat tolerance, meaning you won’t get that “hot-tire pickup” when you park your car in the garage, causing the coating to peel up underneath your tires.
When your tires see use, they start to get warm (or even hot, depending on your speed) and slightly expand. When they rest on an inferior epoxy coating, the heat transfers to the coating, and when the tires cool and contract, they can literally pull some epoxies right up off the floor. Even if you don’t go with a polyurea floor, stay away from the cheaper, water-based epoxy kits, which are usually the biggest culprit for “hot-tire pickup.”
IS YOUR GARAGE SECURE?
Your garage can be home for a lot of the valuables that don’t fit in your home. While you’ve probably already taken steps to protect your home from intruders, have you given that same thought to your garage?
For attached garages, treat the service door that allows access to your garage as you would any other exterior door. Have a good, strong deadbolt and strike plate; and keep the door locked at all times.
Tools aren’t cheap, and they can make an easy target for a quick smash-and-grab from burglars. Does your garage have windows? Cover them with a translucent film to allow the light in, but keep your tools out of sight.
Installing motion-detecting lighting around your garage (and the rest of the home) can also be a good deterrent against thieves, and provide some safety for navigating around your home after dark.
You may not use your garage as an oasis like I do, but there’s no reason it can’t be designed to be smart, safe, and secure.