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Recent Blog Posts
Garage Door Problems? It Might Be Time to Spring into Action
One of the most important parts of a garage door opener are the garage springs. These critical components of a garage door opener not only keep your garage door opening and functioning smoothly, but they also maintain overall safety in your garage. That is why you should pay close attention to the condition of your garage springs and call in a professional if you need garage spring replacements or other garage hardware replacements. Here are some facts about garage springs and the risks posed by not having a professional evaluate and, if necessary, replace them.
What Are Garage Springs?
Garage springs are central to the overall functioning of your garage door opener. These springs provide the necessary force and resistance to withstand the pull of gravity when your door opens and closes. If garage springs are not working properly, the electric opener might struggle to lift and lower the garage door. Essentially, functioning garage springs can make the weight of a 100- to 200-pound garage door feel more like 10 to 20 pounds, which is how both you and your garage door opener are able to open and close such a heavy object.
What to Do If You Suspect Your Garage Roof Needs Some Work
Many homeowners look at their garages and think primarily of their internal features: the garage door, the entry doors, the inside space, and the overall design. But roofing and siding are just as important to garages as they are to the rest of the house. If you are considering remodeling, replacing, or taking a look at the current condition of your garage, consider taking the following steps to assess the condition of your garage's roof first.
4 Steps to Determine the Condition of Your Garage Roof
Whether you are replacing your current garage with a custom garage or just upgrading what you have, an evaluation of your current garage's roof is important. Here are steps in the evaluation process that can paint a better picture of your garage's overall condition:
1. Review documentation-Find all receipts and other paperwork regarding the roofing on your home and your garage. From this data, you will be able to sketch out a full history of your roofing. This will enable you to determine with more certainty how old your garage roof is. You may be able to go up to 25 years with the same roof, but after that, the wear and tear of the weather outside will take its toll.
2. Take a snapshot-Look at your garage roof from the outside as a whole, as part of your house. This at-a-glance, big-picture view will give you perspective on major structural issues. Is it drooping, sagging, discolored, or misshapen in any way? This might indicate detrimental damage that could lead to leaks or, worse yet, major safety issues with its structure.
3. Inspect, inspect, inspect-Start investigating the inside of your garage. See if there are any leaks from the ceiling. Also pay attention to natural light coming in from above or the corners of the garage. This will help you know whether leaks are a major issue, or will be a major issue, for your garage roof. After that, evaluate the exterior of the roof itself up close. Are there any cracks or other damages? Do you see any rot? Are there any green spots? If you see any green that signifies moss, mold, fungi, or other plant-life, your roof is likely retaining moisture which will adversely affect its condition.
Why Steel Garage Entry Doors Are a Good Choice For Your Home
While you may put a lot of thought into the aesthetics and security features of the front door of your home, you could be neglecting the safety of the internal and external entry doors into your garage. These may not seem as important to you, but the types of doors you choose for your garage can have a significant impact on all sorts of things, from safety to energy usage. The door that we recommend for all homebuilders or fixer-uppers is a steel entry door.
4 Benefits of Steel Garage Entry Doors
There are many benefits to installing steel entry doors in your garage, including the following:
- Security-It is much more difficult to break through metal than it is to break through wood or fiberglass. This is especially true for those who have a high-quality, powerful set of keyed dual locks installed with the doors. With or without the additional safety precautions, the strength of the material of these doors typically keeps intruders at bay.
5 Basic Steps for Building Your Dream Garage
If you have been thinking recently about all the ways you could improve your garage, be it to make the entire garage more livable due to additional time being spent at home, to convert the garage into a more unconventional living space, to increase the size of the garage for more storage space, or to simply make the garage more aesthetically appealing, then you are going to want to know what it takes to make your dream garage into a reality and build that custom garage. Below are important details about each step in the process.
Customizing Your Garage to Fit Your Needs
A lot of work goes into custom garage building, but in general, the following five steps are particularly crucial to make the most of it:
- Dreaming and Planning-You will be the one dreaming about the perfect new custom garage. You will consider its size, its functions, its appearance, and so much more. Then, once you have your "dream garage" in mind, you can work with a custom garage builder to begin planning how to make that dream into a reality. This might include determining functions (what the garage will be used for, what the garage needs to have in order to achieve its primary functions), design features (size, aesthetics, paint, number of windows and doors), and construction materials (flooring, walls, roofing, garage door)
3 Simple Ways to Secure Your Garage from Home Burglaries
While you might think that the recent stay-at-home orders would translate to a decrease in home burglaries, you would be surprised at how often the police are reporting house break-ins lately. In fact, many of these burglars had the nerve to break into houses even while homeowners were home and asleep in bed, which is a frightening thought. Although taking the usual safety precautions to protect your home against break-ins will help, there might be one vulnerability that is easy to neglect: access from your garage into your home. In those cases, there are a variety of garage services that can help secure your garage from intruders. These options include: custom garage building, garage hardware replacement, secure steel entry door system installation, garage door upgrades like electric garage door openers, even high-quality window construction. Even if you are not ready to invest in a major garage renovation or garage remodeling, there are still a few easy things you can do to secure your garage that are not too expensive or involved.
6 Ways to Protect Your Garage from Flooding
As hurricane season fast approaches, and with prior months this past spring already having shown heavy downpours, you might be concerned about your garage and its safety from flooding. You may have already seen some damage in recent months due to heavy rainfall. Whatever the case may be, here are some inventive ways to protect your garage from flooding:
How to Prevent Flooding in Your Garage
When first building yourcustom garage, you may need to take steps to keep the floodwaters away. You may also need to protect against flooding in the garage that came with your home. Whichever situation you face, here are some helpful methods for dealing with flooding in your garage:
- Repair or Replacement of Garage Door and Floor Seals-If your garage door is not properly sealed at the ground when closed, you will need to fix or replace your seals. The good news is this is not a difficult process, and it will also keep insects and other pests out of your garage once completed. You should be sure to monitor the seals regularly and fix or replace them when necessary.
How Do I Know When My Garage Door Needs to Be Replaced?
Whether you are having trouble opening your garage door or simply want to update your garage with an electric garage door opener or some other exciting modern upgrades, there are many reasons you may decide to replace your garage doors. Sometimes, though, garage door replacement is a requirement borne out of necessity. In those cases, you may want to hire a professional to guide you through the process. In case you are not entirely sure whether you need to replace your garage door or your garage door opener, consider some of these definitive signs that your garage door and opener have seen their last days.
3 Telltale Signs You Need to Replace Your Garage Door
Overall, there are three main areas to focus on when determining whether you may need a new garage door or opener. The top two most critical areas to look at are the overall function and structure. Secondarily, you may also want to review aesthetics, special features, and other ways to improve your garage door or opener. While these issues may not necessarily affect your day-to-day functions and safety, they could still make your life a whole lot easier or your home a whole lot more attractive. Within each area, there are some significant things to consider. Here is a closer look:
4 Great Ways to Get Your Garage Organized
When thinking of all the different ways you could update your garage, you might easily forget the primary purpose for garages in the first place: to provide storage for your car and other items. Unlike most parts of your house, the garage lends itself particularly well to clever organization and storage systems, especially when you are dealing with a diverse cornucopia of things that need a home. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to get your garage organized while also saving space.
Ideas for Garage Storage That Work Well
The primary goal when it comes to organizing your garage is to figure out ways to optimize storage capacity. Most garages are small, and space can be limited, particularly if you intend to keep your car in the garage. Due to this, you need to determine how best to store things without taking up too much space. Some possible ideas to achieve this goal include:
- Using the Walls-You would be surprised at how many different tools and other items you can fit on a wall. By placing these things flush against a wall, including even fairly large tools, it can seem like making them flat, since they no longer take up space on the floor. To enable effective use of the walls for storage, you might want to consider some of these handy options:
- Pegboards and Other Paneling-Pegboards are simple ways to place small tools and other items on the wall with continued easy access while using very little real estate. In fact, pegboards can be used to secure not just small tools, but also rakes, brooms, shovels, and other larger pieces of equipment to the wall.
8 Features to Consider When Converting Your Garage Into a Bedroom
Even though the Illinois Stay-at-Home Order may be coming to an end soon, many people have grown accustomed to sharing space in their home with others, and in some cases, large, multigenerational families have found themselves living together for both safety and company. Some family members may be considering long-term living arrangements, or families may be looking to make more room in their homes. Whatever your reasons might be, it is worthwhile to consider customizing your garage and converting it into a bedroom.
8 "Nice Touches" to Add to Your Garage Bedroom
There are two seemingly contrary questions you need to answer about garage bedrooms:
- What can I do to make my garage more like an actual, livable bedroom?
- What aspects unique to my garage can I use to improve my garage bedroom?
In consideration of these two questions, here are some great features you may want to consider adding to your garage bedroom during a renovation project:
How You Can Use Your Garage to Operate a Small Business
Unemployment rates have increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, and many Illinois residents are trying to figure out ways to weather this difficult economic situation and keep food on the table. While using your garage as a living space during this time can provide some benefits for your family, there are also some productive-and lucrative-ways to use that space as well. During the Illinois Stay-at-Home Order, acustom garage built for your small business could be just the thing you need to get back on your feet.
Types of Businesses You Can Run Out of Your Garage
Just about any business can begin in a garage, and major companies such as Apple, Amazon, and Disney all started from this unique part of the house. During these challenging times, it is especially important to put careful thought into what types of businesses you can run out of this space. What is essential? What do people need or want right now? There are two main categories of businesses that may be uniquely situated for success:
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