With yet another winter looming around the corner, it's time for Minnesotans to take a deep, calming breath and tackle winterizing the garage.

You know the garage we’re talking about. The one you’ve been using as a convenient storage space all summer long. The garage where you keep the lawn mower that hasn’t worked in years. The garage with the rusty bikes in one corner and the stacks and stacks of boxes in the other. But with temperature predicted to drop to the 30s by Thanksgiving, it’s time to haul the junk out and move the car in. Here’s some advice on how to organize and winterize the garage from the Twin Cities’ favorite junk removal service, Junk360.

Safety First

First things first, before winterizing that garage, drain the liquids and relocate the chemicals. Gas, paint, and fertilizer become damaged if frozen. Sandra Karnes recommends storing them in the basement in a plastic container to reduce the cleanup of any leaks. Dealing with liquids also means draining any gas powered machinery. The gas in the lawn mower, for example, could get gummy if left all winter. When transporting liquids to another location, make sure to read all the labels. Some chemicals cannot be stored with others.

Organize What’s Worth Keeping and What’s Junk

During winter, garage space is premium. In order to maximize your available storage space, you need to organize. And that doesn’t mean just piling things on top of each other. Junk360 recommends taking everything out of your garage to start. Not only will this make winterizing the garage easier, but it forces you to go through everything. Is the wheelbarrow rusty and cracked? Junk it. Do you have three yard hoses? Maybe keep the best one and sell the others. Separate everything in the garage into three piles: keep, sale, and junk.

360 That Junk 

Once you have your junk pile, give Junk360 a call. If you are stuck on or struggling with the previous step, give Junk360 a call! Junk360 can winterize the garage by helping sort through large amounts of materials, organizing your supplies, and hauling away the junk. From tractors to rugs, Junk360 is equipped to clear out your space, providing you the time and energy to begin the next step.

Winterizing: Insulate, Weather Seal, and Cover

Finally you can begin the “main course” of the garage winterizing process. While Junk360 is hauling away your unsalvageables, you can start insulating. Your garage loses the majority of warmth via the garage door. Improperly insulated garages typically match the temperatures of outside, which is especially nasty for Twin Cities residents. How you insulate the garage door depends on the whether you have wood-and-panel doors, flat doors, or steel doors. Here’s a helpful post that describes how you can insulate each of the various types. Beyond the doors themselves, winterizing the garage means installing a weather seal, covering and sealing your outlets and switches, and covering your pipes. Lastly, we highly recommend you waterproof your garage floor. Once the snowing starts, you’ll be dragging in all sorts of mud, salt, sludge, and ice into your garage. Sealing your garage floor guarantees that muck won’t settle in to stay. 

Storage Space

After you’ve organized, removed the junk, and winterized, it’s time to store. Junk360 recommends parking your car in your freshly winterized garage and analyzing how much space you have left. Pay special attention to the type of space you have left. Do you have cabinets you can fill? Wall space to install shelving or a slatwall storage system? Make sure you also look at what you have left to store. With larger, bulkier items, such as summer tires, investing in overhead storage pays off. As you finish the process of winterizing the garage, make sure you leave the areas of heavy foot traffic clear, especially near doors. This will allow you to move through the garage freely as you enjoy the benefits of a clean, organized, and winterized garage.

As you winterize the garage, consider Junk360 for your junk removal needs. As an environmentally friendly company that emphasizes recycling, Junk360 ensures nothing goes to a landfill that doesn’t absolutely belong there. Call Junk360 for a quote today at (651)395-8659, and let us help you winterize the garage!