The garage and the shed share a lot of similarities.

For one they are both standalone buildings that are not connected to the house. Yet they are both part of your property so they must be looked after. The only difference with the garage is that it’s used every single day. That’s whole the point of it as it must be able to store your car safely and allow you to drive out of your home safely too.

The garage door comes into question here as it’s the largest moving piece of any home. The doors are heavy usually for two reasons. (1) They are made from either metal or rather stainless steel. Or (2) they are made from solid hardwood. Other things like patches that stain, water, wind, pests and other things all need to be factored into the average maintenance cycle.

At first it may seem and sound dreary, but actually once you get the major things out of the way it’s plain sailing. You probably store other things in your garage too so in order to take care of these things which could be expensive gardening equipment, you should hop to it and make your garage stronger and cleaner.

Showing Concrete Some Love

Concrete would seem like the most versatile and tough material to use for flooring. That’s largely true but even for concrete there are some things in the garage that can cause it trouble. Cars go through a lot and during the constant travelling, there could be some damage that gets done. This can then go on to become worse and worse until you have a leak of some kind. If it’s an oil leak, don’t let it stay on the concrete floor for too long.

The oil should be cleaned up as soon as it falls on the floor because it can stain concrete pretty badly. To get the stain out of the concrete is almost impossible unless you sand away the top layer, creating a contrast in colors. The patch where you perhaps sanded down the surface will be lighter in shade and thus, look odd. If you find any kind of oil drops on the concrete floor, don’t let them sit for too long and clean them up quickly.

Cracking is a big issue in concrete floors. Even if it’s just a metal object that is commonly used in the garden such as a spade, if it falls it can bust the floor wide open. It’s okay however, as concrete is brilliant at being patched up to good as new. If you have any cracks it’s best to fill them in with new concrete and especially a thicker mixture. The less water and air in the mixture the stronger the crack will heal. On the other hand you want to fill the crack in quickly to stop water from causing erosion in the crack itself.

The Big Beast

Almost every single modern garage has automatic shutter doors. These can be made out of wood or metal but always weigh around 100 or more kilograms or rather 220 lbs. The doors are heavy for multiple reasons. Firstly you need a heavy door to protect the integrity of the garage itself as there is essentially a large gap in one of the four walls.

Entering the garage is made possible by having some kind of automatic pulley system that is engaged electronically. The gears are initiated in their movement by remote control which then means that a computer chip has to recognize the signal and activate the roller.

Garage doors suffer from some common mishaps when not properly maintained. The most common is that the chain will become clogged with debris of some kind and the door might open slower. The small wheels in the door track might come undone. This may be due to the pressure that can mount up when things aren’t properly fixed or taken care of.

For that you might need garage door services to come and rescue your door from further damage. Since the doors are so heavy, it’s wise to not try to lift and manipulate it for fear of serious injury. The balance of the door can be a big problem when parts are damaged, corroded and or weakened. It’s not safe to operate the door in these conditions. Don’t ever walk under it when there is something amiss about the stabilization.

Just Like The House

Just like your home, if you have a standalone garage inspecting the tiles is a priority. Older garages were built as being separate from the home so if you have a home that is maybe 40 years or more old, then you should check for damage that has happened over time to the roof. Many older garages will have used clay tiles which are very susceptible to erosion from rainwater over years and years.

If you can see chipped or broken tiles, they should be removed as soon as possible. Not only do they let the rain into the garage but they are also a danger. They present the hazard of falling on someone who walks underneath and seriously hurting them.

Just like your house, the gutters should be cleaned out all around the garage. They might be blocked with leaves, dirt, small stones or grit. Standing pools of water shouldn’t be created when you have smooth water flowing around and down the garage.

Checking the underside for small holes or tears is also a good idea. But this might mean that you have to remove some tiling first. Just a general check of the health of the underlining on your roof is what you want to do. Then you can assess the situation from there.

Cleaning the garage can feel like one giant spring clean.

If you don’t have a shed then you most likely use the garage to store all the gardening equipment. Falling heavy metal objects like a spade or pitch fork can create cracks in the concrete floor. Fill these in quickly. Oil stains are a nasty way of ruining the quality of a good concrete floor because it creates stains. Wash off the oil as soon as you see it so no permanent patch is created.