How to spot Asbestos in your Garage Roof
If you believe that your garage roof contains asbestos - please get in touch with us to arrange its safe removal.
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Having a garage provides the ideal place to store your car, gardening equipment or anything you don’t have room for in your home. The extra space is great for working, doing laundry or even socialising, but only if things are kept clean and tidy. Very quickly, out of sight can get out of hand and when a garage isn’t kept organised, the space that you once loved can become an unsafe, unsightly mess.
What are the benefits of keeping your garage clean and organised?
Keeping your garage clean and organised will help you to get the most out of your space. Getting your items in order makes everything much easier to find and not to mention, it simply looks better!
A cluttered space is extremely dangerous and certainly not health and safety friendly. Spills can easily get lost amongst poorly stored items, which could contribute to accidents, or pose a greater fire risk. Making sure that the garage floor is free from potential trip hazards is also important for moving around safely, especially if you have children.
A regularly cleaned garage is good for your health. Keeping on top of dust build-up will avoid issues with allergies, as well as deterring any unwanted pests from moving in. As your garage gets older, being able to see more of your space also means that you can identify and fix any little issues which may arise much faster and before they have the chance to progress into costly repairs.
What causes a garage to get dusty?
Nobody enjoys looking around their garage and seeing everything covered in dust. Whilst we’re sorry to say it’s impossible to completely eradicate cleaning, there are a few things you can check on to ensure you can avoid everyone’s least favourite task as much as possible.
One of the main causes of dust in your garage is the disintegration of the components that make up concrete. Comprised of three major ingredients: a cement powder, sand or another aggregate (filler), and water, it is essential that all of these elements are balanced carefully to create the perfect mixture. When mixed incorrectly, it doesn’t take long before concrete will begin to break down, weaken and dust. Other factors that may speed up this process are…
Moisture: Due to the materials porous nature, unbalanced concrete is vulnerable to liquids seeping into its surface. Water, chemicals or oil spills can all begin to break down the concrete in your garage that causes cracks, small pits and uneven wear as some areas become more effected than others.
Temperature:
Throughout the year the temperature in your garage will change with the seasons. Concrete is great at accommodating these changes by expending and contracting, but new foundations can suffer during the winter months. If concrete is poured without care, in freezing temperatures it may not have enough time to solidify properly, leading to a weakened material prone to dusting.
Abrasion:
Physical contact with the concrete surface will wear it down eventually. Every time your car is driven over the floor, or you walk across the space, a small layer of concrete is worn down to produce microscopic amounts of dust. The more use your garage gets, the sooner your floors strength will begin to be tested.
Other causes of dust in your garage can be from debris and materials disintegrating such as leaves, pet fur, hair and dead skin. Finding their way into your garage space in a variety of ways, a few simple changes can make a huge difference to how many times you have to clean up. Giving items a wipe down outside, to remove any surface dirt before bringing them indoors, will certainly minimise the mount of dirt particles brought inside. Keeping your garage windows closed as much as possible will also stop things from blowing and settling. Considering refurbishing your garage and upgrading the doors is also a great idea to provide a tighter seal for your structure.
Tips for cleaning and organising your garage
If you are looking for ideas of where to begin cleaning and organising your garage, take a look at the steps we have put together below to get started on making the most of your space.
Declutter:
Removing clutter and unwanted items that have built-up in your garage is a quick way to claim your space back. Take a look around the garage and choose an area to begin with. Try to remove the items left on the floor first, and as you take things outside create a pile of things you no longer use. This will save time later, when deciding on what you are going to put back inside.
Once you can move around freely again you should be able to see all of the room you had before the clutter took over. To maximise efficiency, you can make use of the vertical space in your garage by installing shelves, drawers or even adding hooks onto the wall for additional storage. This will ensure you can keep your floor space clear as well as making things extremely easy to find when organised neatly.
Clean:
It can be difficult to keep on top of every inch of your garage with the items inside, so now that your space is completely empty, it’s the perfect time to clean. Start by brushing off any surfaces, before sweeping and hoovering thoroughly. Don’t forget to look up now too, as it’s easy to forget that any cobwebs will most likely need to be removed from the walls and ceilings.
Next, make a mixture of equal parts water and bleach to clean and disinfect all of the surfaces. Your garage walls can be wiped down with this mixture too, and for the best results allow 30 minutes before tackling any heavy stains.
Finally, consider mixing hot water with laundry detergent to scrub where necessary and refresh your garage floor.
Sort:
Whilst the garage is airing out from your cleaning efforts, it’s the ideal time to sort through the things you have placed outside. One of the best ways to do this is to sort your items into piles of items that you would like to keep, sell, donate or throw away. Try to think about if you’ve used each item recently too, grouping the ‘keep’ pile into things that may be useful to place back into the garage together to find them easily. Now is also a good time to take photographs of things you are choosing to sell later on, as they are outside in an open space with good lighting.
Organise:
Before you put anything back inside your clean garage, you will need to divide the space into different zones. Grouping items into areas not only makes things easier to access, but much easier to store. Putting things away in a designated area makes your life much simpler in the future as everything has a clear place to go.
When deciding on your garages zones, think about how often the items are used and what they are used for. For example, if you have a box full of children’s toys you could place them on a bottom shelf for easy access. However, if you had sharp or dangerous tools you rarely use, you may want put these at the back of the space to avoid accidents.
Once you’ve decided where everything should go, you could even add quick and easy labels to shelves for efficiency, before putting everything back inside in it’s new designated place. You may have to make a few adjustments, or even rethink things as you notice a quick swap may make life easier later. But once this is done once, maintaining your garages order will never be as much of a chore again.
Conclusion
Keeping your garage clean and organised is essential for making the most out of your space.
When all of your items are sorted into designated areas, finding what you are looking for is a lot easier and more efficient. The outdated idea of a cluttered garage floor is a thing of the past and choosing to declutter the space is the best way to reclaim your space and create some room. Keeping on top of mess with smaller and more regular maintenance cleans will help to avoid a larger effort as time goes on. The build-up of dust can be minimised by checking regularly for spills and areas of wear that may lead to an excess of concrete dust.
Whether you are deciding whether to build a new garage, or looking to update your existing garage structure, VSF are the UK’s No.1 garage refurbishment specialists. We can be sure to cater to all of your garage needs with an industry leading 10 year guarantee you can trust.
If you believe that your garage roof contains asbestos - please get in touch with us to arrange its safe removal.
Concerned about asbestos in your commercial or residential roof? This article will tell you all you need to know from grants to processes.
Here's a recent case study from one of customers where we refurbished their garage after removing the asbestos garage roof
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