Garage

Garage Storage Buying Guide

A garage is an indispensable part of the house. Apart from cars, items like tools, accessories, spare parts and more can be stored in it. Yet, when it comes to organizing a garage space, most of us tend to delay it until "tomorrow". The result? A messy garage. Below are some findings from surveys conducted over the last few years:

• For approximately 1 out of 4 Americans, the garage is so unorganized it can’t even fit one car (Gladiator Garage Works survey, April 2015)
• 25% of people with 2-car garages don’t park in them at all (US Dept. of Energy Study)
• 24% of homeowners are embarrassed to leave their garage doors open (Impulse Research Survey)

Now you know why it’s necessary to invest in garage storage systems? Here are some ideas of garage storage units, garage shelves, and tools you should go for.

Factors To Consider When Buying Garage Storage

Type Of Storage

Which one do you want? Shelving only or a full cabinet set? Will pegboard be enough or it won’t as you have that huge garage vacuum? Should you go for overhead storage in your garage or will that put things out of your sight? Decide these first before you jump to conclusions.

Size Of Storage System

Be definite about this as not all storage units come in expandable or changeable sizes and shapes, especially if you settle for a cabinet. For shelves, buy a few first and add more as you go.

Total Capacity

How much weight are you going to put on your garage storage unit? Of course, the storage systems come with pre-mentioned loading capacity; still it is wise to opt for heavier units instead of lightweight ones to err on the side of caution.

Material It Is Made From

This determines the durability and weight-bearing capacity of the product. Commonly made of steel, sometimes these come in wood or other lightweight materials also. Mind you, steel is always the hardy fella.

Ease Of Assembly and Dis-assembly

Go for the ones which are simple, tool-free.

Load Bearing Capacity And Durability

Most of the heavy-duty storage systems are pricey. They must last long enough to give you value for money. Be sure to check the product's load-bearing capacity, and make sure that it is of good quality. 

Types Of Garage Storage Products

1. Full Cabinet Set

A full cabinet generally comes with lockers, wall cabinets, floor cabinets, tool cabinet, and drawers and so on. If you wish to customize it, you can add a workbench to it that can be mounted as and when you wish.

Design one according to your garage size. There are quite a few models available in the market also (New Age Products topping the list) but that will come at a higher pocket pinch. Make sure you install lockable doors and adjustable shelves to it. Trust us, nothing will make your garage look more organized.

2. Single storage cabinet

Although it comes with a two-door chamber in a traditional look, this again offers plenty of storage space. Build one or buy one, you will not be left with limited choices. Make as many garage shelves and chambers you want within this cabinet.

To maximize available space and utility, install adjustable shelves. That way, you can modify how you want to stack your things up.

You can go for either wood or steel for the cabinet - the latter would certainly be more durable. There is one hiccup if you go for lighter options and opt for Suncast, though. Strong as it might be, it could get toppled over by excited children, or even an absent-minded you! Be a little aware.

3. Pegboard

It is always the small and medium-sized tools that create mayhem in the garage. You lose them when you need them. You step on them when you don’t need them. Menace, right? Well, not anymore. Put up a pegboard on the wall with shelves, hooks, and bins attached to it. Guess how it can benefit you most? You can always add more garage organizers to it as per your wish.

Buy the galvanized steel-made ones. These will turn out to be more durable and strong enough to carry the weight of tools you decide to hang from here. The steel body will also allow you to attach magnets onto it – another addition to store items besides pegs and holes.

However, some ready-made pegboards by renowned companies come with accessories included which are not quite up to-the-mark for a complex organization.

4. Overhead shelves

How many times have you opened your garage door and just rolled your eyes and heaved a sigh seeing the clutter? Of course, nobody counts. While looking up, had you only looked at the roof, you could have saved yourself quite a lot of space. Yep, we talkin’ about the ceiling!

Hang shelves from the ceiling and get a long-term solution to the clutter problems in your garage. Install garage overhead storage racks and store items that you do not need so frequently. Such shelves come in heavy-duty steel body making it strong enough to carry as much as 550-pounds weight. Stack small or medium boxes, keep long boxes horizontally, load with your items- do whatever you wish, it won’t come down easily! Leaving the garage floor clear allows you to comfortably keep your car inside.

Garage overhead storage doesn’t come without one or two drawbacks. It is quite difficult to install and you can never do it without helping hands. Though it’s a medium to long-term solution to storage issues, you will always find it a bit difficult to carry stuff up there or get access to them.

5. Floating Shelves

Add a touch of modernity to the good ol’ shelves and go for the floating ones to make your garage more up to date. These shelves also have huge weight-bearing capacity (up to 400 pounds) allowing you to stack and store heavy objects without being dubious. Be it a mere toolbox or a heavier garage fan, these shelves are weathered for all.

When you go to buy such shelves you will generally come across a pack of 2. This is far better than one long heavy shelf. In terms of configuration, you can hang and fix them as you wish. This versatility is one thing that is unmatched for any other garage storage system you put your hands upon. Built with heavy-duty steel, this baby packs quite a good punch.

The pocket pinch is a bit higher. But with such durability and versatility, we definitely aren't complaining.

6. Rack Storage

Tiers of racks with mesh or multiple sized bins, capable of carrying up to 150 lbs (per rack, comes with wheels attached to the whole system- do we have your eyebrows raised? Yep, they should be raised for all the good reasons. Polypropelene bins set in a steel structure with the easiness of pulling out or locking again to the shelves- what exactly do you need more, man? The heavy-duty wheels are sure to last years and so are the multiple bins or shelves with strong mesh. Organize your tools and items in bins or stack them on racks and pull it to your workbench or move it from your path- clutter-free garage storage for you!

With weight limit being 150 lbs you can find it a bit difficult to store everything up. Also, sometimes the shelves are so closely placed, so you cannot keep large boxes. Word of advice: build one or compare similar products from different companies before buying one.