Renovating Your Garage? Don't Forget About Your Car's Journey

When renovating a garage, you need to consider both the garage renovations and taking care of your vehicles while the renovations are ongoing.

Should you leave your vehicle on the street, or keep it in storage for the time being?

What if you're not going to be around while the renovations take place?

We'll dive deep into all of these scenarios and how to tackle a garage renovation appropriately.

Read on below, and we'll get started.

1. Account for the Proper Dimensions

Depending on the type of renovation, you may be going for a fully renovated garage from the ground up. This can mean adding an extension or even tearing down and rebuilding the garage.

Account for the vehicles you're going to store inside the garage: their length, width, and height. Add more space than you think you'll need so you can move around your garage while still being able to keep your vehicles parked inside.

Futureproof your garage for any potential vehicles you may add at a later date. If you only account for two four-door regular-sized vehicles, when the time comes to upgrade to an SUV or truck, your garage may be too small to accommodate the new vehicle size.

Consider the door opening clearance as well, as the garage door needs enough room to close when it's shut. Remember, planning goes a long way, and you'll want to consider what you do in the garage as well as what the future may hold when planning for its size.

2. Consider How You'll Store Your Vehicles During the Renovation

If you're moving to a new home and renovating the garage, or you're going to be renovating the garage but can't park on the street, you'll need to consider how you'll store your vehicles during the renovation.

It's possible to keep the vehicles inside the garage during renovations as long as you keep them covered to avoid any damage. However, if you're renovating the entire garage and you can't park on the street or the driveway, then you'll need to plan for how you'll stow away your vehicles.

If you're moving your vehicle to your new garage or even if you just want to store it, you can get local car shipping quotes ahead of time. Often, you can get a bulk deal for someone to haul your vehicle and store it while your garage is being renovated, even if you only need storage.

3. Weigh Your Flooring Options

A garage renovation is a great time to consider redoing the flooring. After many years of wear and tear, concrete can become stained and damaged. If your concrete is damaged in any way, it's best to have it fixed before putting down any coating or tiling above it.

Slight cracks can start to shift the concrete in major ways as time goes on, so getting it fixed before applying a coating is your best bet. Epoxy is a great solution once the floor is fixed, but it can be pricey depending on your budget.

Another option is to simply seal your concrete and protect the floor from any water damage. A seal will not change the appearance of the concrete much, but it will provide a layer of protection that won't go unnoticed over time.

4. Add in Smart Parking Gear

When you come home, the last thing you want to do is fiddle with unreliable garage door opening systems. These days, smart garage openers don't cost much more than the older versions and can automatically open the garage door as soon as you arrive home.

Once inside the garage, installing parking sensors and guides can help get the vehicle all the way in without bumping into walls. It can make it easy to reverse into the garage without worrying if you've made it in far enough. The smaller the garage door's clearance, the more you'll want to ensure that you've made it far enough into the garage to avoid banging the door on your vehicles.

5. Install Electrical Charging Ports

Even if you haven't purchased an electric vehicle, a renovation can be a good time to install electrical charging ports to future-proof your garage. As time goes on, more people will want a charging port, and it can even bump up the resale value of the home.

If you do have an electric vehicle, then having multiple charging ports can make it much easier to charge the family's vehicles at once. With proper planning, you won't need to charge one vehicle at a time.

Conclusion

Renovating a garage is going to take some planning, but keeping your vehicle's necessities in mind will make for a better garage renovation. Consider planning far ahead of time so that you can better structure the renovation plans.