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Whenever they show garages on TV shows or movies, they are always neatly organized with everything in it's proper place. However, those of us who actually own a garage know that it almost never looks like this (the almost part being no more than 2-3 days after our annual cleaning and organizing spree), and that in reality our garage is stuffed with all kinds of junk, most of which we never use, laying amidst piles of boxes, storage bins, toolboxes and oil spills from the last time we tried to work on the car.

Every time we begin looking for something that we just know is in the garage, we ask ourselves why we don't organize better. Well, I'm going to show you how to do just that, with the help of a few special racks and organizers that are designed to make the garage an easy to navigate and fun to work in space.

My dad tells a story about organizing his garage. He moved everything out into the driveway, and begin to sweep up the floor. Pretty soon a car stopped and one of his neighbors got out, and began walking around the driveway, picking up stuff and looking at it. My dad wondered if maybe his neighbor suspected him of stealing tools, and was looking to see if there was anything of his in the pile. Pretty soon another car stopped – this time with a total stranger inside – and proceeded to look around the stuff that my dad had removed from the garage. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and walked out and asked what in the world they were doing. In response, the neighbor picked up my dad's favorite toolbox and said, “I'll give you $20 bucks for this”. They thought he was having a yard sale.

You too may have to chase your neighbors off with a big stick if you want to organize your garage, because the first thing I'm going to recommend is moving everything out. This is for a couple of reason. First you can separate items that need to be in the garage, from those that should really be in storage. Also, you can find the tools that you thought were gone forever, that had dropped behind the benches or water heater. Third, this will give you a chance to do some cleaning up in the garage, with a broom, or hose or possibly some insect repellant or traps if you have problems there.

Okay, so the first thing that I recommend doing is some pegboards for your walls. These are some of the most useful devices ever invented, allowing you to place pretty much any tool on them, taking up zero floor space and putting all of the tools you use often in plain view so that you can find something within seconds. Pegboards come with a variety of hooks, shelves, bins and pegs so that you can arrange exactly how you want, with whichever tools you prefer to put up there. The beauty of pegboards is that you can have all of your crescent wrenches from smallest to largest, next to all of your screwdrivers, socket wrenches and extensions and never have to examine the tiny little writing each time you need a certain size, because you will be able to select from the row of tools which one you need correct almost every time.

Have you got bikes? Do the kid's bikes lay out in the yard and collect rust, while the adult bikes are stowed in a back corner with a thick layer of dust on them? If you ever wanted to go for a family bike ride would you be able to get your bikes out and go, or would you spend an hour or more trying to move stuff around to get to your bikes? Well, hanging bikes racks are a common solution and one again that requires absolutely no floor space. You can hang all of you bikes up on the ceiling of the garage and get them down whenever you want them with no trouble. Also, your kids will have a place to put their bikes when they are finished with them, even though it may take you or an older child to fit them on the racks. Bike racks are also great for getting camping gear off of the ground and hanging from the ceiling, leaving more floor space.

If you have a lot of tools such as shovels, garden tools or post hole diggers you may want to consider a tool rack. Most people keep their tools in one or more corners, and generally have to tumble the tangled stack of them to get a specific tool out. With a tool rack, the tools hang between the rubber holders, or on hooks to make them easy to remove and place on the wall. One tool rack will generally hold a couple of shovels, a post hole digger, a weed eater, a push broom, pitchfork, regular broom and even a leaf blower.

The last thing I'll recommend is a series of storage cabinets for things like WD-40, zip ties, oil cans, hazardous materials or tools that just don't fit in the toolbox. Toolboxes are great for storing tools, but they don't do so well when storing liquids or aerosol cans. More than once I've opened a toolbox to find that WD-40 has slimed up my favorite wrenches.

So, once you have the pegboards in place, and the storage cabinets laid out where you want them, empty your toolboxes and determine what will go on the wall, what will go in a storage cabinet, and what will actually go back to the toolboxes. Then you can move your toolboxes in. Next, install some bike racks and mount what you can on the ceiling, especially stuff like camping gear that you only use once or twice per year. Finally, place your tools on the pegboards and arrange them however works best for you.

Finally, make a rule that everything should go back to its place. There is no reason to throw a wrench on the toolbench when the peg it hangs on is just a few more feet away. If you hang your tools up in their proper place you'll always be able to find them. Good luck with your organizing!

How To Organize Your Garage is a post from: Garage Savers

If you really want to clean the years of grime, dirt and other liquids that make up the surface of your garage you'll need specialized proprietary cleaners and solvents that you can get at most hardware stores. You may also need a pressure washer or a rented floor scrubber with brushes to prepare your floor for painting. Make sure when you get your scrubber that you get detergent for it as well.

Before you buy anything at all, however, you want to test your garage floor's moisture. Put a plastic bag on the ground and tape it down on all edges. Then, leave it for 24 hours. After the twenty four hours have passed pick the bag up and see if there is any moisture underneath. If there is, then the water moisture will prevent any paints or epoxies from bonding to the concrete. You will have to consult with a professional to learn how to solve this problem before you paint.

Use either an Epoxy or one of the new formulas that they are coming out with. Don't use alkyd or modified alkyd paints on the concrete. One Epoxy is Epoxy Shield, which is a mixture of epoxy and acrylic resins. Another alternative is staining your masonry, much as you do with your woodwork. Many states in the southern part of the United States use this method.

We're going to talk about the epoxy method here, recommended because it works well and because it makes the floor of your garage look brilliantly shiny just like the floor of an auto show room. Epoxy is  great because it is durable and the coating lasts for a long time. Plus it is resistant to grease and oil, and other stuff that paint wouldn't be able to stand up to.  There are a wide variety of colors available.

You're going to spend the entire first day cleaning the floor. You'll need to get rid of all of the oil spots, degreasing the floor and scrubbing it. Also vacuum and rinse it several times. You need to make sure that everything is gone from the floor. You'll then spend the second day filling the cracks that are in the floor and you'll put down the first epoxy coat. A couple of other things to remember is that if you have just barely laid down your concrete slab you need to wait 30-60 days before you are able to paint it. This will give the concrete a chance to cure and dry completely, otherwise you will waste your time painting.  Also, if paint is already on the concrete remove it completely, since the epoxy could soften the paint and not let your epoxy bond. One more thing before you begin.  Make sure you do this when the temperature is around 60 degrees or more.

Let's talk about what type of epoxy to use. There are three separate types of epoxy, 100 percent solid epoxy, solvent based and water based. There is a clear choice in our opinion since the solid epoxy paints are expensive and hard to work with since they harden almost right away, while the solvent based are extremely hazardous. You have to use a respirator, because the fumes and vapors are extremely dangerous. If you use this type you'll need to take special precautions for airing out the space, as well as keeping pets, kids and neighbors away.

If you don't want to deal with the issues mentioned you can go with a water based epoxy. There are two parts that you mix up just before applying it, containing 40 to 60 percent solids. There aren't any fumes for you to breath with this mixture and you can generally find this type of epoxy at stores like home depot and the like. Get yourself gloves and boots and proper protection and you'll be ready for the first day of applying epoxy.

Okay, so you should have already cleaned the floor thoroughly. On day two you'll put the first coat down on your garage floor. First fill in the cracks and holes with an epoxy filler and use a putty knife (plastic works best) to scrape off the excess and level. Then let your crack fill-ins dry for about four hours. You can mix the epoxy in the meantime. Start with a easy pace, and begin painting. It should take an hour or less to paint a standard size two-car garage.

Next, let the coat dry overnight, or more if the label says to, and add something for non-skid to the second mix of epoxy. This will keep you from slipping if snow of other moisture gets into your garage. Now coat your garage with the second coat, and let it dry for another sixteen to twenty hours before allowing anyone to walk on it.

Those are the basic steps, but of course you'll want to consult with a professional if you have questions or problems.  You may even want to hire a professional to do the initial cleaning to make sure it gets done right. Good luck with all your painting projects.

How To Paint Your Garage Floor is a post from: Garage Savers

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