It’s about that time when the weather starts to warm up, and the spring cleaning begins! While you may typically concentrate your spring cleaning projects on the inside of the house, there’s one room you shouldn’t overlook: the garage.
Garages need cleaning and maintenance, just like every other space in the house. You use it nearly every day—leaving and arriving home from errands or work—so it also needs some upkeep.
Continue reading this garage spring cleaning and maintenance checklist to make tidying your garage a breeze.
Cleaning Checklist
A garage designed for storage and space to park a car or two. When the space becomes cluttered with items, it can quickly become chaotic and disorganized. Back the car out of the driveway, take your time, and get rolling on sprucing up your garage!
Examine Every Item in the Garage
There’s a reason families skip over spring cleaning the garage. It’s exhausting! But when you’re ready to take on this project, the first step is to inspect every item.
Work in small sections. It may take several days to accomplish, but it’s the most effective method. If you ignore a couple of shelves or tubs of items here and there, it will be more of a challenge in the long run.
The best way to do this is to go all out and thoroughly examine everything in the space! Check the quality and decide if it’s something you need.
Establish Where Everything Will Go
When you’re cleaning up inside the house, place items in designated piles that tell you where those items will go:
- Toys to the kids’ rooms.
- Papers in a specific drawer in the kitchen.
- Clothes to their designated bedrooms.
- Pens to the office.
The same rules apply to the garage!
As you examine the items in the garage, establish where every item will go. Here are the most common piles to make:
- Keep pile.
- Donation pile.
- Toss it in the dumpster pile.
- Items to sell pile.
- Repurpose or reuse pile.
Making clear decisions about items is the quickest way to declutter the garage. There may be a few items you’re unsure about, and that’s okay! Sort that into a pile, and set those aside so you can decide on those items later.
Sweeping and Cleaning
While the garage is empty, take this time to truly clean the space. Start with the shelving. Once you clear all items from the shelves, use a duster and a clean rag to wipe them down.
Next, clean the garage walls. Use a duster or broom to brush away any dust on the surface. Then you can use a bucket of warm water and soap as you wipe down the walls with a sponge. If there’s oil on the walls, you may need another cleaning solution that removes oils and grease.
Lastly, take a large broom and sweep away any dust and debris on the floor. Cleaning other garage areas first allow the dirt to accumulate on the floor, so you can clean it all up quickly.
Creating an Efficient Organization System
After deep cleaning the garage and determining whether you’re keeping or getting rid of the various items, it’s time to develop another form of organizing system.
First, consider the garage’s layout and how you use the space. Where can you place tubs, boxes, and shelving? Do you need to install pegboards to organize more items on the wall?
Next, divide up the items by categories. Some common categories might include:
- Automotive tools
- Sports equipment
- Outdoor toys
- Camping gear
- Luggage
- Gardening tools
- Seasonal decor
Start placing the items in their designated tubs or spaces. Try out a few designs and see which works best for your family. The next time you go to the garage, you can find exactly what you need right away!
Maintenance Checklist
The inside of the garage is clean and organized. It’s time to focus on the garage door’s structural quality to finish up your spring cleaning!
Machines malfunction over time. It’s inevitable for them to break or need repairs. The garage maintenance checklist aims to examine how your garage door functions. You can conduct some upkeep projects yourself, but always remember to contact a professional company when it’s time for a repair.
Inspect the Rollers and Springs
The rollers, cables, and springs are three of the most important parts of the garage door. Each is essential to the way the door functions. They must function properly to allow your door to run correctly and for your own safety.
The rollers run on a track to pull the garage door up and down. Maybe you notice a misaligned or dent in the track, wear on the rollers, or rust.
The springs perform most of the effort when pulling up a heavy garage door. Make sure they don’t show any signs of rusting, large gaps between the spirals, or breakage. When they break, they can be very dangerous.
Contact a professional company to conduct the repair for each of these parts. They’re experts on all things garage doors and can safely repair any problems that come your way.
Wipe Down All Metal Parts
You cleaned up the inside of the garage; now it’s time to clean the metal parts on the garage door itself! Use a damp rag to wipe away dust and dirt. The most important parts to clean are the metal rollers, springs, bearing plates, tracks, and hinges.
Proper Lubrication
Improperly lubricated metals will grind against one another and slowly ruin the metal’s integrity. Once the metal is clean, use a lubricating spray to prolong the life of each metal part.
Some garage doors use nylon rollers instead of metal. You must remember to only apply lubricants to metal items. Doing so will minimize the risk of damage to the metals, causing larger issues or producing loud, worrisome noises.
Tighten Loose Nuts, Bolts, and Screws
When you click the button to open or close the garage door, it uses a great deal of power that causes the system to vibrate. The nuts, bolts, and screws will loosen as you continuously use the garage door.
The loose fasteners may produce a squeaking sound, but the unpleasant noise is the least of your concerns. Loose nuts, bolts, and screws can develop into bigger issues!
Use a wrench and socket set to tighten the fasteners. You’ll feel safer knowing each item is secure to the garage door.
If you notice something isn’t operating correctly, you’ll need to contact a professional garage repair company to assist you through the process. The Door and Fence Store has a team of incredible professionals that can repair any garage door complication that comes your way.
But garages aren’t the only thing that needs an update this spring! How does your backyard look? If you have a worn-down and outdated fence, find a fence store near you that can bring your backyard back to life. When springtime arrives, you will have the look and feel of an entirely new home!
