A garage is one of the best multi-functional places on every property. It isn’t just a place to safely keep your car and bike. When correctly designed, it makes an excellent storage space for various things, including Christmas decorations, ski gear, fishing equipment, etc.
You can even convert the garage into a workshop to hone your woodworking skills. Or you could use it as a place to carry out handiwork, such as repairing or redesigning household appliances and electrical equipment.
Irrespective of how you use your garage, there will come a point when you’d want to remodel it. Perhaps you’d like to add more storage cabinets and upgrade your workbench. Or you might want to improve its aesthetics and better utilize the available space.
As with any home improvement project, remodeling your garage isn’t a cakewalk. It requires thorough planning and tremendous hard work. Also, you’ll have to select high-quality and durable materials, including storage shelves, cabinets, and paint.
In this blog, we’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes you need to watch out for when remodeling your garage. Let’s take a look.
1. Treating It As A DIY Renovation Project
Here’s the thing – remodeling a garage isn’t as simple as applying a fresh coat of paint on the walls. From installing new doors and windows to changing the electrical wiring – it involves various complex tasks. Also, depending on the extent of the project, you might have to re-construct certain sections of the garage.
Unless you’ve got the combined skills of a handyman, electrician, carpenter, mason, and painter, it’s wiser to avoid the DIY route. Instead, you should recruit a professional garage remodeling company that has the necessary tools, resources, and manpower to complete the project.
Make sure you recruit a reputed and trustworthy remodeling company. Check their website and ask for a few references before hiring them. Evaluate their online reviews and find out whether they’ve worked on similar projects. Also, ask them about the duration and type of warranty they provide on their services.
2. Starting Without a Plan
You can’t just dive into a remodeling project without a plan. Otherwise, you’ll likely end up with mediocre results and a garage that’s far from what you’d expected to build. Worse still, you might even consider abandoning the project mid-way.
That’s why it is always a good idea to devise a concrete plan before you start rebuilding the garage. If you’ve sought professional help, chances are your vendor will provide you with a timeline of the project.
Make sure you coordinate with them to handle various tasks, such as making alternate storage arrangements for the equipment, tools, and other knick-knacks you’ve been keeping in the garage. Also, you need to figure out where you’re going to keep your car and other vehicles while the garage is being worked upon.
The key is to ensure that not having access to your garage for a few weeks won’t disrupt routine life in your household. This is also a good time to check with your vendor and find out whether they’ve designed a floorplan for the garage. A robust floor plan will come in handy for optimizing storage space, as well as ensuring that the garage serves all purposes it’s intended for.
3. Ignoring the Floors
If you’re remodeling your garage for the first time, it’s natural to focus all your attention on the walls, shelves, cabinets, and other superficial elements. However, in this process, you might be ignoring one of the most crucial aspects of your garage, i.e. the flooring.
The quality of flooring in your garage plays a key role in determining its longevity and usability. That’s why you should make it a point to use high-quality garage floor paint. While you’ll find various types of garage floor paint options, epoxy floor paint is the ideal choice because of its strength and durability. It’s resistant to stains and doesn’t chip as easily.
In addition to the type of floor paint, it’s also crucial to select a reliable and trusted supplier. If you’re looking for top-notch garage floor paint, you can check out the options available at Promain Paints (https://www.promain.co.uk/floor-paints-and-coatings/garage-floor-paint.html).
4. Not Optimizing Storage Space
One of the main reasons you’re remodeling your garage is to create more storage space. However, if you restrict yourself to simple cabinets, you’re likely not going to utilize the entire available space. Instead, you should look for ways to install shelves in obscure corners that can’t be used for any other purpose. Also, you should explore options to utilize overhead storage.
What strategy would you use to remodel your garage? Share your suggestions in the comments section below.