Guide to Garage Safety

Almost all households own one car, but only some of them have permanent garages where they usually park the vehicle. Having a garage guarantees that your car will be safe from external elements such as dirt, pollution, heat, and snow, which can often damage parts of any vehicle. The garage can be compared to a house because while the latter can protect your family from the outdoors, the former can provide shelter from your vehicle for the same reason.

Of course, like a house, the garage is also prone to having hazards, and dangerous situations happen internally. These situations include a fire breaking out in the place or thieves stealing precious items and belongings. Because of these problems, there are several safety tips that garage owners should keep in mind to ensure safety in the place, and here are some of them.

Store Garage Tools Properly

garage workshop tools

If you have a workshop in the garage where you fix appliances or small problems in your vehicle, there is a chance that there may be tools, screws, and bolts lying around on the floor or on the work table that can sometimes lead to complications if you don’t store them properly. There is a chance that the tiny parts on the floor may become a choking hazard for children as they may pick it up and eat it curiously. Also, small metal parts can inflict wound on the feet if they are stepped on accidentally.

To solve this issue, garage owners typically organize items in the garage by their type first, so gardening tools will be clustered together, while bench tools will be collected in another space in the table. After organizing these items, they may be stored in cabinets or shelves that are conveniently out of reach for children because of these storage units’ placement height and integrated locks.

By organizing tools in your garage correctly, you won’t have to search for a specific tool in almost every space in the garage since you already know where to find it. To add to organizing items, it is also essential that you sweep dirt on the floor like debris or sawdust that builds up while you’re working on something in the workshop.

Be Extra Cautious in Handling Flammable Items

Almost every vehicle is powered by gasoline or other flammable liquids that are stored in fuel tanks. If a gas leakage arises from that specific part due to poor maintenance, there is a possibility that an explosion occurs or a fire breaks out in the garage.

While some issues with your car can be solved on your own using the tools in your workshop, there are several problems that only an expert can fix, so it is much better to consult an auto mechanic for those troublesome complications.

Besides gas leakage in vehicles, there are other products or items typically seen in garages that are highly flammable. There are lubricants like oil or grease that are used to prevent friction in metal-on-metal parts, and there are also paint thinners, varnishes, and brake fluids. It is suggested that you don’t leave these items on the floor or the table after using them. Instead, you should immediately store these items properly in garage cabinets placed in locations where it won’t be reached by children and where it is relatively distant from a vehicle.

Moreover, these storage cabinets for flammable liquids should also be located away from electrical wires, as these connections for electricity are prone to short-circuiting, which leads to the wires producing sparks that can ignite flammable items. To prevent this complication from happening, you shouldn’t overload the electrical outlets in your garage, so don’t use multiple tools simultaneously and plug only one device at a time in an outlet.

It is also critical to take care of the electrical wiring in your garage to prevent damage from occurring. Consult your local electrician regularly to make sure that the wirings are still adequately maintained.

Install Security Devices

white garage door

To prevent burglars from stealing your possessions, you should buy several security devices that have different purposes and functions for your garage.

CCTV camera is one of the most helpful security devices to spot anything wrong in your garage even if you are far away from the place, as it will able to provide surveillance footage in monitors that you can place in your bedroom or anywhere in your home.

Garage doors can also be upgraded with automatic garage door openers that can open them with just a press of a few buttons on the remote controller. While it can be convenient for you, robbers who may want to pry your garage doors open will have a difficult time doing it due to some automatic garage door openers’ effective locking mechanisms.

In addition, some remote controllers for these door openers have rolling codes, which means that the code that is used to open the garage door constantly changes. So, if a burglar has once seen you opening the door and memorized the code you’ve inputted, he or she won’t be able to use that code again.

Along with its anti-theft features, these door openers have an advanced reversing mechanic that detects anyone or anything passing through the door and allows the opener to halt its movement if a vehicle or a person is located at the bottom of the opened garage door.

Several garage door openers have apps where you can control the garage door and see if it is opened or closed via notifications. Even if you are far away from the house, you will be able to monitor through the app if someone is trying to open the garage door so that you can contact authorities to apprehend the person who wants to get inside your garage.

Keeping your garage safe is important to protect the place not only from outside elements but also from troubles that may take place inside the structure. Following the tips mentioned above may require you to shell out plenty of money to buy garage door openers and garage cabinets, but having these items is a good investment for building or upgrading a truly secure garage.