10 Garage Maintenance Tasks You Should Tackle This Spring

We feel like we are pretty safe in saying that spring has finally arrived in Greater Vancouver, even though it has been pretty wet so far. At least the snow is finished, and with cherry blossoms exploding everywhere and warmer weather even on cloudy days, it’s hard to be too bothered by the rain.

Of course, spring also means “spring cleaning.” It’s a tradition the origin of which is difficult to pinpoint. Nevertheless, it’s a smart thing to do when you own a home (no matter how big or small). Since we are experts in all things garage, and since this part of the house probably gets the least amount of attention, we thought it would be timely to draw attention to some spring cleaning maintenance tasks for the garage. By spending a little extra time at this time of year, you can save yourself hassle, grief and even more time the rest of the year.

1) Tidy up. Why do people spring clean the living areas of their home but neglect the garage? Spring is a great time to tackle the garage, too. Purge the space of items you don’t use or need anymore and take the time to organize everything else. Check out these spring garage cleaning tips from one of our previous posts: https://tailoredlivingvancouver.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/spring-cleaning-and-organizing-in-the-garage-is-easier-this-year/

2) Sweep and clean your entire garage floor. This is super important, because you probably dragged in all kinds of dirt, gravel and muck over the winter which isn’t good for your floors or for your vehicle’s tires.

3) Inspect your garage door. Are all of its parts in good working order or does anything need to be replaced? Give its moving parts (tracks, springs, hinges, rollers, etc.) a cleaning if needed by gently brushing away dirt and grease clumps with a soft-bristled brush and then lubricate them with a garage door lubricant.

4) Remove winter window coverings, if you have any.

5) Remove and replace worn weather stripping.

Optional and Periodic Garage Maintenance Tasks:

1) Patch holes and cracks in your garage floor.

2) Re-coat/re-seal your garage floor. The frequency with which you’ll need to do this depends on what your floor is made of and what kind of sealant (if any) is already on it. If it’s time for a new sealant, check out our exclusive PremierOne® Garage Floor Coatings. Depending on what type you choose, our coatings are guaranteed to last for a specific length of time, meaning you don’t have to reseal year after year.

3) Repair dents and nicks in drywall and repaint.

4) Have your garage door professionally inspected and make any repairs or parts replacements that are needed.

5) Conduct a full-out purging and re-organize your garage. Maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve tackled the clutter in your garage. Or, maybe you’ve been doing regular tidying up, but the accumulation of stuff has outpaced your ability to keep on top of being organized. Whatever your reasons, sometimes a garage interior reorganization is necessary in order to maintain your own sanity and keep clutter and accumulation under control.

If clutter is an ongoing problem in your garage, maybe it’s time for a complete garage storage overhaul. Tailored Living has hundreds of solutions and a plan that’s made just for you and the space that you have to work with. It doesn’t matter if your garage is small… Tailored Living can design solutions that perfectly fit the space you do have.

Help… This Crazy Winter Is Killing My Garage Floor!

Who would have predicted that Greater Vancouver would have the kind of winter it did this year? Not that snow is an impossibility here, but the sheer volume we received from North and West Vancouver all the way into the Chilliwack area has been unexpected and out-of-the-ordinary, to say the least. All kinds of old snowfall records were dashed to pieces this year with all of the white stuff that has fallen since December of 2016 until now.

Since it’s now officially spring, our fingers are crossed that we’ll soon see some signs of spring emerging. However, more snow is not out of the question, and even if it doesn’t snow again, we’re in for a wet spring this year. That being said, your garage floor may be taking an extra-hard beating in 2017, so we thought it would be a good idea to revisit some of the excellent garage flooring options that Tailored Living offers, which are ideal for life on the Wet West Coast, and how they will protect your cement foundation from all of this moisture.

PremierOne® Floor Coatings: The PremierOne® formula is exclusive to Tailored Living. In other words, you won’t be able to find this product anywhere else. We can’t tell you about the top-secret ingredients in this amazing product, but we can tell you what they will do for your floor: create a continuous, non-porous surface, filling all of those microscopic holes in your concrete and sealing them tight. The process begins with one of our professional installers who will machine-prep the surface of your garage floor. This is a critical part of the installation process because it removes any contaminants (oil spots, stains, dirt, etc.) that might prevent the coating from bonding fully to the concrete.

After machining, the coating is applied right away so that it is able to sink right into the pores in the concrete, forming a seal that will act as a total barrier between your floor and any stuff that might end up on it, including water, mud and anything else that might get dragged in on your tires. In fact, the exclusive epoxy resin forms a bond that is twice as thick as other floor coatings and which is resistant to spills of all types, like oil, paint and household chemicals. Simply wipe away spills with a soft, dry cloth. No water is typically needed to clean up. Any dry debris can be easily swept away with a soft broom, or, even better, a dust mop (to prevent scratches).

Our PremierOne® Floor Coatings are available in a variety of colors and styles including solid colors (six different ones to choose from) and our most popular Decorative Textures. PremierOne® Decorative Texture coatings come in 18 standard chip color blends. You also have the option of blending colors to create your own custom, one-of-a-kind design floor. You can also choose between ¼ chips or 1/8 inch chips. This seemingly small difference in chip size can actually make a dramatic difference in the appearance,  giving you a garage floor with a truly custom look and feel.

PremierTrax Tiles: These easy-installation, no-glue garage floor tiles are semi-permanent and removable. Each tile is made from and 8 percent rubber in a polypropylene mix, making them extremely durable yet also flexible. Not only that, but they are actually ergonomically healthier on feet and knees. Tiles feature an open-weave design which traps dirt and debris. Simply hose away to remove.

Tiles are designed to interlock with one another, so installation is literally as easy as building with Lego. Our professionals can usually install your entire floor in a matter of hours, and you can drive, work or play on your floor as soon as it’s finished. Our PremierTrax tiles come in 18 colors from earth tones to primary colors to bright and contemporary hues. One of the best things about this is that you can choose to create a floor that is one or two colors, or use several colors and create geometric patterns that are totally unique to your home and to whatever suits your garage space. Best of all, these tiles are so well-engineered that we are confident in backing them with a guarantee for as long as you own your home.

Of course, accidents do happen. In the event that a tile does become damaged (say by accidentally dropping a running saw onto the floor), all you have to do is swap out the damaged tile(s) for a brand new one and lock it in place. It is one of the most practical and cost-efficient flooring solutions on the planet, and you can use it in other places too, not just the garage. We have clients who have had PremierTrax installed on decks and patios (it’s totally weather-resistant), in playrooms, bedrooms, rec rooms and basements.

When it comes to water (which is why we are blogging on this topic in the first place), the channels in each tile serve to funnel moisture away from the garage floor’s surface, keeping it dry and safe. You don’t have to worry about skidding or puddles of water collecting on the floor.

Again, cleaning involves simply hosing down the floor periodically. How frequently you’ll need to do this depends on how heavily-used your garage is and what kinds of activities typically go on inside. Aiming for two to four times a year is probably sufficient for most home owners purposes.

Here at Tailored Living, Coquitlam, we truly hope that winter is over too. We’re ready for some spring. We’re also ready to help you solve your garage flooring problems. Spring is a great time to install a new floor, and you’ll be ready not only for the rest of this year’s rainy season,  but also next winter, too. We just hope it’s less white.

The Five Most Common Objections to Getting a Free In-Home Consultation (And Why You Shouldn’t Listen to That Nagging Voice In Your Head)

Maybe you’ve been thinking about getting your closet, garage, home office or laundry room made-over. Perhaps you are one who has been sitting on the fence for awhile, trying to decide whether to move forward on such a project. Or maybe you only just recently stumbled on Tailored Living at a local Home Show or on the Internet, or encountered an acquaintance who raved to you about her ultra-organized, super-efficient new closet and thought maybe you’d benefit from one too.

If you relate to any of these scenarios, you are the type of homeowner that Tailored Living had in mind when it designed its Free In-Home Consultation.

1) I don’t have time to sit down and listen to a long presentation. Don’t you hate it when you’re contacted by a salesman who talks you into a “short” in-home presentation, only to show up at the appointed time with a display board, an iPad with a 100-question survey, a product catalog and a giant box filled with samples (and “you simply MUST see them all,” he insists)? And suddenly you realize that by “short” he meant at least an hour, probably more, and you’re desperately grasping for excuses to get him to leave.

Tailored Living’s expert representatives know that your time is valuable, and they are committed to respecting that. After all, it’s a privilege to be invited into someone’s home as a guest, and our reps make gracious guests. We don’t come with a three-dimensional display board, a questionnaire or dozens of samples. It’s really just a congenial visit. No props, just ideas and suggestions. It only takes 15 minutes or less of your time (unless you get so excited about the possibilities that you invite us in for coffee). Not only that, but your representative is also your contractor, so he or she really knows what they are talking about when it comes to potential products, design and installation questions. There is no second-guessing, no empty promises, and no communication gap between rep and contractor.

2) There’s no such thing as “free.” There MUST be strings attached, or fine print or a hidden clause or something….. Tricking potential customers is NEVER good for business, no matter what that business is. There’s no fine print anywhere on our website, catalog or other marketing materials. “Free” really means free. No strings. You don’t have to do anything or buy anything if you don’t want to. We authentically appreciate the opportunity to see and talk about your home with you and we want to earn your trust.

3) I don’t want to be hassled by a high-pressure salesperson. Tailored Living’ reps are not salesmen (see point #1). They are owners and contractors whose genuine interest is to help you make living easier by getting better organized with custom solutions and systems for every individual or family. You will probably receive a follow-up phone call after your in-home consultation, especially if you’ve indicated an interest in a renovation. However, we won’t call if you ask us not to, and we won’t spam your email inbox. Remember, we want to build trust, so we’ll respect any contact requests that you make.

4) I can’t afford a renovation right now. We know that doing any kind of a home reno, even small ones, can be costly. However, many homeowners don’t realize that they can achieve a desired set of results at a lower cost simply by choosing more economical (but equally-functional) materials or accessories, or slightly altering a particular design feature. The only way to find out this information is through an in-home consultation. Additionally, Tailored Living doesn’t outsource the actual renovation work to a third-party, which also helps to keep costs lower than other companies in the market.

5) My closet/garage/house is so small there is nothing anyone can do to improve its storage capacity. There is no space too small that Tailored Living cannot transform into a fully-functional and highly efficient storage space. In fact, Tailored Living was founded on the philosophy of improving small spaces because they are usually the ones that need the most organizational help. (If you had ample space you probably wouldn’t have thought of us in the first place.) Because everything is custom-cut, shaped and designed to fit your space, size doesn’t matter at all.

Extend Your Personal Style Beyond the Home and Into the Garage

The garage is no longer merely a utilitarian space or an afterthought on the bottom of the home decorating list. Today more homeowners than ever are viewing the garage as another room, just as important a one as the kitchen, the family room or any other room in the home. They’re recognizing that style and design don’t have to stop at the garage door stoop. Consequently, many home owners, and men in particular (who tend to spend the most time in the garage, though this is a generalization and in no way diminishes the women who like to tinker with motors or DIY projects out there) are extending their own personal style into the garage.

The experts at Tailored Living have put out a brief and helpful list of four things that you’ll want to consider when transforming your garage into the ultimate personal space, Man Cave, workshop or entertainment centre, depending on what you most like to do in your garage. You can view a web version of that list at http://lms.dbmgroup.com/Email/TailoredLivingCorporate/J119263/J119263.asp?EmailAddr=rhelferty@tailoredliving.com&LogID=6940&ID=74046079&EID=NzQwNDYwNzk= .  But we’d also like to summarize those four points here and offer some advice based on our own personal experiences working with our greater Vancouver customers:

1) Personalize your garage with custom cabinetry. Cabinets are not only functional storage pieces, but they can be configured to suit a homeowner’s individual and unique needs. Tailored Living can recommend the best type for the kinds of things that you tend to store in your garage, whether it’s engine parts, sporting equipment or tools. Finally, you can choose from a variety of finishes to match your taste or the rest of your home’s décor.

Custom garage cabinets made to fit YOUR stuff

2) Refresh the look of your garage floor. Tailored Living offers several different garage flooring solutions that provide both protection for your garage’s floor as well as personalized decorative flair. From traditional epoxy coverings to easy-installing PremierTrax garage floor tiles, you can get a look that is one-of-a-kind.

PremierOne floor coating, just one of several excellent garage flooring options from Tailored Living

3) Remove dangerous materials. All kinds of things from chemicals and automotive fluids to sharp tools can pose a hazard to people and pets. Things like these should be stored carefully, away from children and pets in a locking cabinet or on a high shelf.

4) Provide a walkway or clear path in the garage. This might seem like common sense, but with living and garage space at a premium in greater Vancouver, many homeowners have every square foot in their garage covered with stuff. This can be dangerous not just for walking but can also pose a fire hazard. This is where good cabinetry and shelving comes in, but we also recommend getting rid of as many things as you can. Storing things in your garage that you don’t use isn’t worth the hassle or risk. Donate it to charity or take it to the landfill or recycling depot and make sure your garage floor stays uncluttered.