Spring is here-finally-and for many Chicagoland homeowners, that means just one thing: Spring cleaning. So when you look around and size things up, what area seems most in need of decluttering and reorganizing? Yourgarage, of course! But fear not: The simplest path to an orderly garage is to clean it up in an orderly way. Here are five steps to do just that.

• Start by clearing everything out. Step One to creating order is to know what you’ve got. The simplest way to do that is to get everything out of the garage and put it in piles on a plastic tarp, where you can see it and sort it. (The tarp helps protect your driveway from any leaky oil or paint spills.)
• Clean the garage itself. Keep your garage door and any windows open to air out the space. Then sweep up the dirt, dust, and any accumulated salt deposits from winter, taking a hose to the garage floor for more stubborn areas. Use soap and water on your walls and shelves to rejuvenate them.
• Examine the garage door and opener. Clean them as needed, and check for any rust, warped parts, or other damage to the door itself. Inspect the springs, tracks, rollers, pulleys, and hinges. Feel free to lube them if they need it, but please call in the professionals for any parts replacement.
• Wash down the windows, frames, wood trim, and siding. After the rigors of winter, those windows, trim, and doorframes will need some deep cleaning. And you’ll be surprised how fresh that outside siding will look after a good power washing.
• Now it’s time to organize your space. This is your chance to examine your needs and your goods; designate what you want to throw away, give away, and keep; and reclaim some precious space as summer approaches. How do you want to access those bikes, that sports and camping gear, your lawn and garden equipment? This may be the time to add or replace storage solutions like cabinets, specialty shelving, or rack units.

Creative Storage Ideas to Consider

Creative storage can help you organize your garage and keep it clutter free. As you clean our your garage, consider using:

• A track system on the walls using sliding hooks, to make room for rakes and shovels, ladders, etc.
• Pegboards above your workbench to bring order to your tools
• Rolling shelves with mounted wheels to add versatility and easier access to your space
• Ceiling-mounted shelves or tracks to free up floor space by hanging bins out of the way till needed
• A pulley system with hooks attached to cables to hang bikes easier from the walls or ceiling

Contact Our Downers Grove Garage Renovation Professionals

Whether you are investigating new storage solutions to organize your existing garage, or you are considering a new custom garage to enhance your property and make daily living easier for your family, Blue Sky Builders, Inc. has the answer you need. For more information, advice, or a free quote, call ourDuPage County custom garage experts today at 630-852-8485.

The idea of someone gaining access to your garage can be quite disconcerting. If someone can get into your garage, he or she could potentially damage or steal items you store. Even worse, they might even be able to gain entry into your home and threaten your family’s well-being. The good news is that you can take steps to limit the likelihood of a break-in and to ensure that your home and garage are well protected.

Tips for Increasing Garage Security

There are a number of ways in which you can reduce the chances of someone breaking into your garage. Some of these include:

• Motion-activated lighting – Most break-ins occur at night, as would-be burglars tend to use the darkness to aid their efforts. If you install motion-activated floodlights on the exterior of your garage, they will come on whenever anyone approaches. You could also integrate smart home technology and security cameras, allowing you to monitor activity in and around your garage using smartphone apps.
• Updated door opener – Older garage door openers can be spoofed, or thieves could steal a door opener remote control from a car parked in the driveway. Newer door openers, however, use advanced encryption technology and can be integrated into smart home setups. They are both easier for the consumer to use and harder for criminals to crack.
• Avoid showing too much – If your garage has windows-either on the overhead door or on exterior walls, be aware of what can be seen from the outside. Valuable items in plain sight could prove to be too much of a temptation for thieves who might have peeked in. You might consider blinds or privacy film that allows light to come in while simultaneously limiting exterior visibility.
• Lock your doors – Your garage door and virtually all entry doors have locks on them for a reason-to keep unwanted people out. But, locks will not do any good if you do not use them. Be sure to lock your doors at night and anytime you will be away for a stretch. Also, be sure to lock the door leading from your garage into your home for an extra layer of protection.

Contact a Northern Illinois Garage Security Specialist

If you are considering upgrading the security of your home and garage, or if you are thinking about building a brand-new garage with state-of-the-art security systems, the DuPage County custom garage experts at Blue Sky Builders, Inc. can help you decide on the best way forward. Call 630-852-8485 to schedule a consultation or a free estimate today.

Source:

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/garage-door-security/

Garage doors come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A single-car garage door might be 8 feet wide by 7 feet tall or 9 feet wide by 7 feet tall, while a two-car garage is likely to be 16 feet wide by 7 feet tall. You can also get a garage door custom-made to fit your garage.

Of course, there are countless other doors that fall under the category of garage doors but are customized for special uses. A good example of this are the doors that are widely considered to be the largest garage door in the world-and behind these doors are not cars or trucks but spacecraft.

The NASA Vehicle Assembly Building

The Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida is the home of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Vehicle Assembly Building, known as the VAB. NASA uses the VAB to assemble rockets before they are transported to the launchpad. For the 30-year duration of the space shuttle program, the shuttle assemblies were put together in the VAB as well.

The VAB is one of the largest buildings in the world, both by area and volume. To demonstrate just how big the building is, consider that the American flag painted on the wall on the VAB exterior wall is 209 feet tall by 110 feet wide, and it takes more than 500 gallons of paint to repaint the flag and the adjacent NASA logo when it comes time for upkeep.

The tallest part of the VAB is referred to as the high bay, and there are four of them. In the high bay, rockets can be fully assembled and stacked vertically before being rolled out for launch. Each of the VAB’s high bays is equipped with what is essentially an enormous garage door. The doors are each 456 feet high, making them the largest such doors in the world. As a point of comparison, the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet tall from the ground to the tip of the torch. Once the spacecraft in the high bay has been fully assembled, the door is opened so the rocket can be rolled out. The doors take about 45 minutes to fully open or close.

NASA is currently in the process of upgrading the VAB, so this landmark of space exploration can continue to support the agency’s 21st-century launch complex.

Speak to a Custom Garage Specialist in DuPage County

While you might not need an extreme-sized garage door, it can be tough to find the right company to design, manufacture, and install a custom door for your garage. The good news is that the team at Blue Sky Builders, Inc. is ready to take on the challenge. Call 630-852-8485 to discuss your needs with aChicago garage expert today.

Sources:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/vehicle-assembly-building

https://www.clickorlando.com/moon-landing/2019/07/03/inside-the-vab-at-kennedy-space-center/

Winter weather is nothing new in Northern Illinois, but this year has been particularly snowy and cold. If you have agarage-and you actually use it for your vehicle-you have probably saved yourself some time and energy by not having to brush off the snow before heading out. However, you might have noticed that your garage is not as warm as it should be. Or, maybe the heater you have installed in your garage is having to work overtime to keep up with frigid temperatures. If either of these is true for you, it might be time to consider insulating or re-insulating your garage.

The Basics of Garage Insulation

As you probably know, insulation does not add warmth to any structure. It simply slows the transfer of heat through the barrier in question, whether that is a wall, floor, or ceiling. With this in mind, it only makes sense to insulate a detached garage if you have added a permanent or as-needed garage heater. If your garage is attached to your home, you will definitely want to insulate any walls that are shared with the house, but unless you have heat in the garage, insulating the exterior walls probably will not help very much.

If you are going to insulate, you should also be sure to air-seal any gaps to the outside. Unfortunately, many garages are not built to the same exacting standards as living spaces are, which means you are likely to find cracks and gaps around doors, window frames, and maybe even the bottom of your garage door. Low-expanding sprayable foam should work well for most gaps, and weatherstripping should take care of the gap under your garage door.

Common Types of Insulation

You have a number of options when it comes to choosing the insulating material for your garage. The right choice for your situation will depend on whether your walls are finished. The most common type of insulation is fiberglass. Fiberglass can be installed between ceiling joists and wall studs, and if your walls are not finished, you can get plastic-wrapped, paper-faced bats of fiberglass that will not leave itchy, dusty fibers exposed. Fiberglass is cheap and easy to install, but it is a skin, lung, and eye irritant. It is also vulnerable to moisture.

If you have finished walls, loose-fill cellulose might be an option. This type of insulation is made up of recycled paper, and it is blown into ceiling and wall cavities by a machine that fluffs up the cellulose. You can install cellulose insulation yourself, but you will probably need to rent or borrow a blower. Cellulose is more expensive than fiberglass, but it is environmentally friendly and fire-resistant.

Another affordable choice is rigid foam insulation. Rigid foam is similar to Styrofoam, and it can be cut to fit nearly any space. It is a very efficient insulator, but it can create airtight seals that might violate air-venting codes. Rigid foam is also not guaranteed to be fire-resistant, so you will need to check the fire rating on the product before you buy it.

Finally, there is spray foam insulation, which is a high-end material often used in energy-efficient structures. The cost and difficulty of installation might be a bit much for a garage application, but if you plan to spend a great deal of time in your garage in cold weather, you might consider it. Spray foam can be used on unfinished or finished walls, but it is best installed by a professional.

Contact a Garage Expert in Chicago Today

To learn more about your options for insulating your garage, contact theChicago garage specialists at Blue Sky Builders, Inc. Call 630-852-8485 to get the help and guidance you need from a team you can trust. Let us help you make the most of your garage space. Call today.

Source:

https://www.thespruce.com/types-of-garage-installation-1398128

The overhead door on your garage is likely the largest and heaviest piece of moving equipment associated with your home. As such, it is important to take the necessary precautions and perform the proper maintenance to keep your garage door in good shape and to make sure that it opens and closes safely.

When it comes to opening and closing overhead doors, many homeowners opt to useelectric garage door openers. These small but powerful machines offer a significant degree of convenience with just the push of a button. There are many different types of electric garage door openers on the market today, with varying levels of lifting power and drive systems. In general, the lifting power you need will depend on the size, weight, and construction of your garage door, but the type of drive system is an important consideration as well. With this in mind, it is important to know what your options are.

Chain-Drive Door Openers

The most common type of electric garage door opener is a chain-drive opener. With this type of opener, a chain runs along a sprocket, which is turned by the opener’s motor to open and close the garage door.

Chain-driven garage door openers require owners to perform regular maintenance on the chain, but chain maintenance is relatively easy. Perhaps the primary downside, however, is that chain-drive openers are generally louder than other types of openers, as the chain and sprocket systems involve a great deal of metal-on-metal contact.

Belt-Drive Door Openers

A garage door opener with a belt drive is typically quieter than a chain-drive opener. As the name suggests, a belt-drive opener uses rubber belts to move the door. Without metal-on-metal contact, operating noise is reduced considerably. There is also less vibration, which could prolong the life of your door opener. The main drawback of belt-drive openers is that they are more expensive than chain-drive openers, but they generally last at least as long as their chain-driven cousins do.

Screw-Drive Door Openers

The overall quietest type of garage door opener is a screw-drive garage door opener. A screw-drive opener moves the garage door up and down by turning a threaded rod, meaning it has far fewer moving parts than a chain-drive or belt-drive opener does.

Compared to the other types of openers, screw-drive garage door openers generally require less maintenance. However, screw-drive openers also tend to be louder than other types of openers.

Direct-Drive Door Openers

With a direct-drive garage door opener, a motor is attached directly to the door itself, and it moves along a track that is mounted on the ceiling of the garage. This type of opener does require regular maintenance, but it is the quietest opener type on the market.

Jackshaft Door Openers

The other four types of garage door openers have at least some of their components mounted on the garage ceiling. For garages with high ceilings or particularly low ceilings, a wall-mounted jackshaft garage door opener might be the best option. This type of opener uses cables and pulleys to rotate the torsion bar to move the door. It is also the most costly type of door opener.

Call a Chicago Garage-Door Opener Company Today

If you are in the market for a new garage door opener, the team at Blue Sky Builders, Inc. can help you find the right opener for your garage. We will also install your new opener, ensuring that it runs safely and smoothly. For more information, contact ourDuPage County garage experts by calling 630-852-8485.

Source:

https://www.4feldco.com/articles/garage-door-opener-guide/