With Easter on the way, it's time to get that garage sorted
It’s no joke, but the garage is really an architectural hangover from the days when car paint, left in the sun, would oxidise and ruin the finish.
We were also a little more auto proud in the mid-20th century, and the carriage house was reserved solely for the wonder of the horseless vehicle.
Today, it’s our go-to DIY slop-spot, sometimes a laundry, a bike park, but more often than not a hideous, intimidating tangle of the abandoned, boxed and broken.
The garage, where you do have one, is a fantastic bit of unpretentious, solid and secure extra space, although its potential for performing raw duty is generally unrealised.
If opening the door, you wince and scream, then put aside a couple of weekends for a garage facelift.
After the mini-skip has left for the landfill, put all those structural issues right.
Even when built to habitable condition and fully insulated, the garage does not get the attention devoted to the main house.
Check the gutters, drains, any sinister cracks in the exterior and interior render, and ensure the roof covering is in good order.
Look for signs of vermin (tea leaves or small brown nuggets), and place a couple of bait boxes down if mice are simply just slipping-in to grab rubbish not properly sorted and sealed outside.
If you have concerns about the security of the garage, set up a simple, magnetic-break, wireless door and window alarm — effortless, cheap and at least giving intruders and curious children one heck of a fright. From €26.45, www.maplins.ie.
Solar-powered, high-decibel sirens with flashing strobes can be added to most standard systems, €62.64, ultrasecure.ie, with tripped solar 100-150 LED security lighting starting around €30.
Many garage floors have a bare ‘brushed’ concrete finish. There’s a good bite there, but things like petrol spills when filling the mower can quickly be absorbed and stain it up.
The floor might be level, but this is worth checking if you have any plans for converting the space in the future.
A self-levelling screed can also patch holes and cracks. Keep in mind that any extra treatments to concrete may preclude standard epoxy or polyurethane paint products for finishing the floor.
Check before you buy and try our guide, below, to bringing it to a moisture-resistant finish.
Taken flat to the wall and using the reveal area on either side of the main door, storage does not have to interfere with the regular or occasional need to roll in one, or even two cars. A mix of wheeled and fixed storage is ideal.
Tall, wheeled metal tool boxes with trays, drawers and cupboards run from €200 to several thousand depending on specification and brand. Don’t send the tool-nut of the family out unsupervised for this buy.
Every household can use a standard tool unit with full-extension ballbearing drawers, ideal for housing the bare-bones DIY kit.
Look for casters, high kilogram weight holding for even small drawers of 30kg up, non-slip liners, and an I-frame construction. Most builders’ providers will have a good (non-industrial) range.
For larger tools, a peg board or commercial solution placed on the wall, makes it easy to grab what you need when you need it. Write ‘Put Things Back’ in letters of fire over your tool kit.
Step-ladders, and collapsible work-horses and benches can be hung directly (low for safety’s sake) on the wall. Challenge and Black & Decker benches in folding frames that can be put up in the house as needed, start from €35.
Toolboxes by Stanley not only hold your power tools but break down into trays and organisers for tiny screws and nails.
They also allow you to carry what you need directly to the job inside or out. Most garages can wear several of these brutes. Some are designed to act as low steps too, great for hanging the odd picture.
The Stanley Pro-mobile tool chest includes a V-groove on lid to aid the sawing of pipes and timber. Superb value at €47.45, www.screwfix.com.
Some will prefer to create logic by keeping the dedicated tools with their target accessories, while others love the classic jam jar with its dedicated part nailed to the underside of a wooden shelf.
If you like a combined shelf and workbench in one, for home garage use, check the Combo Shelving solutions at AJ Products in 16mm particle board, and tailor a whole wall or one area for your needs. 1,530x1,840mm systems from €232.50, www.ajproducts.ie
Argos has a surprisingly good line in amateur, free-standing kit, including a roughty-toughty split drawer work bench with four clamp pads, and 24 peg holes to help secure odd-shaped work.
On the money at €74.99, and ideal for anchoring a fixed shelf system up and around in any garage.
The key is to understand and follow the recommended bracket distances, placement and maximum loading weights for the shelves. Heavy boxes on high shelves — even without bowing shelves — potential disaster.
Use your head, or lose it. When not using adult bikes hang them up on a dedicated hook (from €14.49, with ceiling pulley systems from €12, Halfords).
For a real bit of posh, with wire baskets floating in air and rakes standing to attention on dedicated hooks, we love the new TidyWall Solutions, an Irish start-up offering flexible cellular slat-wall storage in full garage fit outs and individual units in waterproof PVC. 32sq ft slat wall section €265.68.
Available to see in action at Steeltech’s Showrooms in the Fota Retail Park in Cork, www.tidywall.ie
A painted floor will resist grease and oil spillages, salt, hot tyres, scuffs and scratches and puts a bit of luxe on the floor if you want to put your fitness work-out station there, or simply throw open the door and tinker around in your workshop.
You can also safely park your car and ride-on mower on a properly painted floor without damage.
Most water-based epoxy paints work best straight down on bare floated concrete surfaces that have cured for 4-6 weeks.
Something like Ronseal Diamond Hard Garage Floor Paint will cover around 12m sq per litre, but allow for up to three coats for a pleasing finish.
If you fancy some decorative colour flakes, contact paintshop.ie and buy their Rustoleum Grey complete garage kit. €191.07 for a 25m2 kit delivered.
Give yourself an extra day to completely clear the room and clean the existing floor.
A power washer and stiff brush is useful here. Stick on a mask to protect your lungs from the rising dust and debris. If there is paint down already, rough it up with a wire brush and work the entire surface over with some white spirit to give yourself a key.
Once the floor is clean and tinder dry, mix one part of your floor paint to 10 parts water and brush that over the entire surface to act as a priming stabiliser.
Commercial stabilising solutions for epoxy paints is available too. Allow to dry before applying your paint with a large brush or (less back-breaking) a roller on a pole. High in VOCs but reasonably low odour, this is still not a pleasant job.
Wear a mask and gloves, leave all doors and windows open as you work towards the door.
Allow 6 hours between coats (or as recommended by the manufacturer) and don’t drive on the floor for at least 48 hours, or up to seven days in humid conditions.
Intended as a general guide only. Please read manufacturer’s instructions for all products before use.
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