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One great thing about garages is that they are not solely made to just hold your cars and other riding equipment. You can use them as an optimal space for your kids to have fun, particularly the teenage ones because most of their generation craves an outlet to explore their skills, creativity and talents.
All you have to do is to plan and organize your garage and make it hazard-free. Garage transformation can bring out a great interior space and safe space to hang out. With that, it is important that your garage doesn’t have a faulty door or store any dangerous equipment, to ensure your kids’ safety.
Here are some tips and techniques you can use to make your garage a safe place for teens to hang out.
Clean your garage and check its condition
Many of us use our garage to store almost everything we won’t store inside our house (e.g. paint cans, bikes, boxes etc.). That’s why the first thing you need to do is clean your garage to create the vision for how you want to use the space. Cleaning up is also a way to see the faults and issues your garage has.
After cleaning, you can see your garage in a clearer way. The next step is to check the condition. Start with the floors, then the walls, and of course, the most important part is the garage door. Inspect the condition of your garage door by checking all the parts.
Thoroughly inspect if there is any damage on the components including the tracks, springs, cables, rollers, and other parts. You should hire a licensed technician to troubleshoot the issues and perform a reliable garage door repair or perhaps a garage door spring repair since springs can be held under a lot of tension and may trigger an accident. Check the panels and windows to see if you will need to repaint the garage door for a better appearance.
Be organized and creative
The next step is to conceptualize! How do you want to use your garage? Make sure that there is enough space for all the equipment or furniture you will add. List all the creative ideas you have and draw them out, to really see how it will be executed.
Don’t forget to ask your kids for their ideas because they’re the ones who will use the garage. Some teens want to use the garage as an art studio or music studio, which are great ideas to enhance their talents.
Some want it to be a gaming studio or a gym to exercise their skills. You can add a small couch, a refrigerator/freezer to store drinks and food, or some frames to make the place more interesting.
After conceptualizing, organize everything that you need to sort, buy, and renovate to achieve your goal beautifully. You may also seek professional advice from garage experts for a better organization.
Improve security and safety features
Technicality is just as important as creativity. You wouldn’t want your garage to be aesthetically beautiful but have a poor security system. With that, you need to improve your garage door as well.
The garage door is the heaviest and largest mechanical part of your house. Neglecting to maintain your garage door can cause serious damage to its parts and may eventually lead to unwanted accidents. Plus, poor maintenance will allow intruders to easily enter your place.
You can avoid such ugly incidents by having a regular garage door tune-up. In a tune-up, professional technicians will come and inspect the parts of your garage door and fix the issues it has. They will also test the opener and reverse mechanism feature for your own safety.
You can ask for an additional rubber mallet to seal the gaps between your garage door and the floor to increase insulation. It is also advisable to change your pin or password every three or six months to avoid hackers. You can also upgrade your security system and/or monitoring device for emergencies.
The final result
A garage is more than a parking space or a storage place for our stuff. It can be a loft-type area where your teenagers can hang out instead of going out where you can’t reach them. However, you should renovate your garage and make it suitable for teens.
In order to do that, you must clean your garage, inspect for any garage door issues, be creative, and be safe! Make sure that you don’t store any materials or products that are toxic or flammable.
Never leave the area without unplugging the electrical devices as well, and lock the garage door when it’s not in use.