Michael: We’ve got the drywall up in the garage of the project house. The garage doors and door openers are installed. And now it’s time to bring the whole thing up a couple of notches. We’re going to take these walls and transform them to a complete storage system that allows the homeowner to truly have a place for everything and everything in its place. The company that makes this system is called Garage Tek and if taken in innovative approach to turn in the walls of a standard garage into a storage power house.
The first thing they do is get on the computer and make a cad drawing of the layout of the garage. This is the overhead view and this is the wall directly behind me, the common wall between the house and the garage and then our third wall. They installed the siding on all three walls and then just clipped everything in place. You can just take it off and you can look at the lift that’s actually on the shelf.
Now actually everything has a lift on it and you just put them in place and we’re good to go. Same thing with the cabinets, they’re hanging at the top. Pull them out. Slide them anywhere that you want. So, if you decide you want to change with the design, it’s easy to do.
The Garage Tek system is based on a simple but innovative concept.
Rick Besse: Every inch to the wall becomes a storage space. If you want to go all the way up to the ceiling, you can put hooks and cabinets all the way up to the ceiling. If you want to go behind the garage door and put some long-handled tools where the garage door is up, you can get back there and utilize that space. So the space utilization is outstanding.
Michael: The first step in the installation is to locate and mark all the studs because the Garage Tek system is designed to hold hundreds of pounds, all of the wall panels must be anchored to studs. The slider wall panels are called Tek panels. They form the backbone on the system and are made of 3/8 inch thick PVC. The storage accessories will hang from the slots in these panels.
The panels are installed working from the ground up because garage floors often have a downward slope for drainage. The crew must take care to be sure that the first row of paneling is leveled. Once the bottom row is in place, each course of paneling is installed on top of the previous one. When it’s necessary to cut the panels to fit, a standard radial arm saw does the trick.
In some places, the panels must be custom-cut to get around fixtures like electrical switches and breaker boxes. And the crew uses a router for this. They may be easy to cut but these panels are very durable and very low maintenance.
Rick Besse: Because its injection molding PVC is colorfast all the way through, even if you scratch it, it’s going to be the same color if you get down into the panel as far as cleaning it and because its PVC is very easy to clean. If you get grease on it, just simply wipes off. If it gets a little bit dusty and you want to and this can actually be hosed off.
When we install it, we staggered the seams on the Tek panel to waterproofs it and if you want to, you can actually put a hose on it and just rinse it off.
Michael: Where the panels meet in the corners, the crew installs corner molding. And there’s matching trim to go around the doors. Where the panels meet the floor, Garage Tek installs a distinctive yellow base molding to add a nice visual touch.
Once all the panels are in, it’s time to add the accessories. All of the accessories are designed to fit anywhere there’s room in the wall. The ridging slot mounting system allows for a lot of flexibility and variety. Tool holders, tilt out nail and bolt bins, storage cabinets with adjustable shelves, garden tool hangers. There’s even a fixture for roller blades. Standard peg board accessories fit into the system too.
Rick Besse: We have turned the garage into a functional, useful space rather than just a space where you can park your car and put things.
Michael: For more information on how the Garage Tek system can keep your garage free of clutter, visit Garage Tek’s website at www.garagetek.com.
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