Garages – A Dying Breed?
There was a time when most people liked to try to fix simple problems with their cars themselves. However with the advent of computer controlled technology, vehicle owners are now leaving the repairs to the experts. According to a survey conducted by banking giant Santander, around 9.7 million homes have garages and around 1 million of these have been converted into other living space in the last five years. However there are still people out there who like to work on their own car, even if it’s just making sure that it’s clean and buffed, ready for the road. For these few the garage is an invaluable place of storage for their tools and other equipment, and there are some great ideas for making the most out of this space.
A Book of Tools
Pushed for space inside your home garage? Many people find that their garage also doubles up as a storage area for everything that won’t fit into the attic, putting space at a premium. If you’ve got a lot of tools that you need to store in a limited amount of space then there’s a very elegant solution that you can employ. Try mounting multiple boards on hinges like the pages of a book, each leaf can then be fitted with hooks and pins to keep tools in place, allowing you to flip through them and find the right tool for the job.
Have You Got The Bottle?
Any proud car owner likes to keep their car clean and polished at all times. There are now a large variety of spray bottle products available on the market to assist in this process. You can make a very handy bottle storage rack out of some old piping and joins, mounted to form a 2-3 inch gap from the supporting wall. You’ll find the spray levers of bottles can be hooked over this rack, allowing them to hang freely ready for their next use. For spray cans, you try making a set of shelves that are all set at a 45% angle to the wall, forming a kind of pocket that will hold them securely.
Peg It Back
You’ll find pegboards to be one of the most useful materials when it comes to creating your own garage tool storage. This is usually supplied as a large piece of wood with an array of holes in a grid, into which you can put pegs in order to hang tools. Whilst you may be content to simply hang such a board on a wall, why not consider putting two pegboards back to back in an A-shape on a wheeled trolley. This way you can easily wheel all your tools around the garage when you’re working on your car, keeping everything you might need within easy reach.
How Much Can You Bench?
Whilst a workbench might be the most important part of a creative workshop, it’s not such a primary concern when it comes to car repairs and maintenance. It’s very easy to make your own bespoke bench out of old timber, but some people like to use old kitchen cabinets, complete with a hardened worktop as a more than adequate alternative. One of the advantages of this choice is the ready made cupboards and drawers that come with the unit, making them perfect for storing boxes and power tools.
All of the Above
Running out of space to put your car tools? Why not convert the ceiling into a hanging storage area. All you have to do is find the right kind of quality thick plastic boxes. You’re looking for something durable that has a thick lip right the way round its open topped edge. Then create a two rail system that’s firmly fixed to your garage ceiling that allows you to slide your boxes into it, supporting them by the lip. If you don’t want to hang something as heavy as power tools in your boxes, they still make the perfect storage for wheel brushes, spray-paint cans and cleaning cloths.
Recycle Anything
There’re plenty of things that can be used to help you out when setting up your own home garage. You can use any small set of draws as a tool box, which will help you keep all your spanners, sockets, wrenches and extensions in an easy to find place. Other household items such as tie and belt racks can be used to support spanners.
All You Need Is…
The key to setting up your own home garage is effort. If you’re prepared to put a lot of energy into creating the ideal work-space then in the long run this is going to save you a lot of time and hassle when working on your car. By using our ideas to help you keep your space free from clutter and your tools and equipment safely stored away you can cut down on the time you spend looking for items, avoiding those problematic moments where you have to search through a host of boxes looking for the right spanner. With a bit of imagination even the smallest area of your garage can be reclaimed for its original purpose.
This article was brought to your by suppliers and manufacturers of workshop equipment, ESE Direct.