We use the garage to store anything for which we can't find a place for in the house. Old furniture, old appliances, shoes, clothes, toys, car and garden tools, old books, old carpets, bicycles, tyres, car-care chemicals, and many other items gradually find their way into the garage, turning it into a cramped, cluttered place. The space inside your garage is not unlimited, and you realize this the day you run out of room for parking your car. Or, if you can still park your car in your garage, you can't open the doors unless you rearrange the storage.
How a Garage Storage becomes a Mess
There can be unlimited examples of disastrously bad garage storage, thanks to the absolute randomness of the storage activity. There's no particular order or arrangement when you have been storing things in your garage for a few months or years. Ultimately, you reach a stage where your garage turns into a man-cave with stuff piled up everywhere. You dread the time when you need to reach inside the clutter and pull something out. The mess is just too great to even think about rearranging or sifting through. And yet, you have to do it sooner or later.
The Woes of a Bad Garage Storage
A badly stuffed garage can cause injury and loss. If you have stacked up things against the walls, you might face difficulty in reaching the shelves that were already overflowing with things. Overloading the shelves beyond their structural capability might cause them to break. Things stored high could fall on your car or you. Objects blocking the sides may cause tripping hazards. Some items, such as gas cylinders or certain chemicals may be dangerous to store in the garage. Bad garage storage is also a fire hazard (see fire safety in the workplace), and the fire, when it breaks out, can be hard to extinguish because of the engine oil, hydraulic/brake-fluid bottles and other inflammable chemicals that you might have stored there.
Using Garage for Hoarding
The economic and political uncertainty is making many people think about storing survival items, such as foodstuffs, medicine, gasoline, safety gear etc. In the absence of adequate storage space inside the house, the garage is usually turned into a survival shelter. Certain unscrupulous businessmen hoard items of daily use for profiteering, which is illegal, and the worst example of bad garage storage, even if the hoardings are arranged neatly.
How to Fix Your Bad Garage Storage
The basic purpose of a garage is to provide a space for parking your car. It doesn’t have to look like a messy workshop or a junkyard. If you haven’t started using your garage as storage yet, you'll be doing yourself a favour by planning your storage. Getting sturdy industrial shelving installed on the walls would help you avoid stockpiling things on top of each other. Wall shelves would help you store old clothes, books, shoes and toys. You can also install heavy-duty hooks to hang your shovel spade or even bicycles on the walls, and get a tool-holder to hang the smaller tools.
For narrow garages where the walls cannot be used for shelving, and for garages that already have the wall storage overflowing, it's a great idea to get a ceiling storage. The ceiling storage is usually built like an attic. It gives you ample space to store just about anything and keeps your garage uncluttered. Both ceiling and wall storages must be sturdy enough and should be installed by professionals. There are many prebuilt garage storage systems available which you can install yourself following the instructions that come with them. You should not compromise on the quality of the storage system, as a substandard storage might damage your stuff or car if it gives way, and might even cause you injury.
The Workplace Depot sells an extensive range of shelving for garages and everywhere else!
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