In the hot summer months, we all depend on our A/C to keep us cool. However, constant A/C usage can cause your energy bills to skyrocket. One key to keeping your bills low, but also staying cool, is to ensure your home is energy efficient. One way that many homeowners waste energy is through interface problems with their attached garages.

When built, a house’s outer walls are insulated with materials to prevent heat loss and air flow to the outdoors. Homes with attached garages, however, often lack this insulation on the walls facing their garage. These walls may have holes or gaps in them, unintentionally left over after construction.

In the winter, the temperature in a garage mimics the outside weather, and in the summer, that temperature can sometimes rise even hotter than the outside air. These temperature differences cause air conditioning systems to overwork to compensate for the air that seeps through these holes. Additionally, these gaps are a safety concern. Garage fires (which we have previous discussed on the blog) can spread to your house through these small holes.

The solution to this problem is to thoroughly inspect your garage walls and seal any gaps with caulk. To ensure that you are not wasting energy due to poor garage wall insulation, check the bottom of the wall inside the garage and the bottom of the doorway into the house. This is where the garage wall meets the concrete foundation of the house. If insulated properly, it should be sealed with airtight foam. If not, be sure to caulk the gap.

Additionally, you will want to use caulk to seal the garage drywall to the concrete floor. The reason for this is air is drawn into the wall in negative pressure situation, such as when your kitchen vent fan is running. The air then runs through the wall and leaks into the house through holes and electric sockets. You might notice this phenomena occurring if you can feel a draft coming from your electrical sockets.

Finally, inspect the door that leads from your house to your garage. Because this is a frequently used door, it requires much more maintenance than the other doors in your house. If needed, use caulk to insulate the trim and weather stripping on the bottom of the door.

If you find that your energy bill has been unusually high, be sure to check out these problem areas for garage air leakage. By sealing up your garage, you will not only save money, but also make your home a safer place. For any assistance in garage maintenance or redesign, be sure to call Blue Sky Builders, Inc. at 630-852-8485 for a free consultation.

After reading our prior posts about clearing out your clutter, you may be wondering how to utilize your new spacious garage. One idea for an alternative garage use is turning your garage into a home gym. A garage provides the perfect setting to get a quick workout in, and can be as big or small as your fitness goals are. By building a gym for your home, you skip the commute time, annoying crowds, and steep costs of working out at your hometown gym. Best of all, converting your garage into a home gym removes any excuse for missing a workout.

Step 1- Establish Your Space

Unlike other garage conversion projects, turning your garage into a gym does not require any major changes to the structural aspects of your garage. There is no need to provide any additional lighting, carpeting or insulation if you are just using the garage for sweating and pumping iron. Determining how much space you will need for your gym is up to you and your fitness goals. Your garage gym could simply consist of a treadmill and a weight rack and only take up a small corner of the garage. You could also decide to start parking your car on the street and turn the entire garage into a CrossFit studio.

Whatever you decide, make sure to leave some space unoccupied by any equipment for stretching and space to move. When you have established how big you want your gym to be, make sure to separate your “garage items” to one side of your garage for safety’s safe. There is no reason to have your lawnmower sitting five feet away from where you plan on doing box jumps. Once your area is cleared, be sure to lay down some rubber mats if you plan on doing heavy lifting. It is both unsafe and extremely bad for your garage floor to have massive barbells slamming down on a concrete floor.

Step 2- Determine Your Goals

Before you start buying any equipment, take time to establish some fitness goals. Do you want to build mass? Or shed weight? No one is both a power lifter and a marathon runner. One of the biggest benefits to creating a home gym is being able to cater it to fit your exact fitness needs. There is no need to overspend on equipment you won’t use. In fact, there are a lot of simple workouts that can be done with just some open space and some dumbbells. Additionally, making specific goals creates more incentive for you to commit to your workout and actually see progress.

Step 3- Buy Equipment

Once you have decided what you want to accomplish with your garage gym, you can finally start making some equipment purchases. What you want to buy is entirely up to you, but here are some ideas of what you might find in a basic garage gym:

• Power rack with bench: If you are looking to build muscle, a power rack pretty much covers all your bases. While this will most likely be the most expensive purchase for you home gym, a power rack will allow you to squat, bench, and clean without a spotter.
• Yoga mats: Don’t neglect your abs. Mats are necessary for most abdominal workouts and stretches.
• Mirrors: No, they are not just for checking yourself out in after doing biceps workouts – mirrors can help you make sure you are working out in proper form.
• Treadmill/stationary bike: Any good gym should have a cardio option. Running or biking are two great options for cardio exercise and by buying a treadmill or bike for you home gym, you can ensure that the weather won’t ever stop you from getting your cardio in.
• Punching bag: Even if you do not plan on getting into a fight anytime soon, boxing is a great cardio workout that also engages your core and upper body. If you do not want to shell out for a full hanging bag, a speed bag works too, and can be installed easily in a garage.

The costs for a lot of this equipment can add up quickly, so you may want to consider purchasing used weights for your home gym. Just because other people have lifted them in the past, it does not mean anything is wrong with them.

Step 4- Work Out!

It is easy to set workout goals; the hard part is following up on them. It would be a crime to not utilize your home gym after putting so much effort into creating it, so be sure to get in your gym 3-5 times a week. After using your home gym for a while, you will learn what exercises work best for you, and you can expand your home gym accordingly.

We hope this guide has provided you with enough information to get your home gym up and running this summer. If you plan on remodeling your garage to match your new gym, be sure to check out the Blue Sky Builders, Inc. photo gallery for inspiration. Additionally, you can contact Blue Sky Builders, Inc. at 630-852-8485 for a free estimate.

Becoming a “do-it-yourself mechanic” is a growing trend among car owners and enthusiasts alike. For those who enjoy working on cars in a home garage, it can be especially grueling when squeezing between the concrete floor and car for hours on end. For this reason, many do-it-yourselfers install car lifts in their garages. Additionally, car lifts free up space in your garage. If you are a car collector, you can easily shelter two of your cars inside your garage where you would normally only be able to fit one.

Car lifts can run anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the type of lift you want. Home lifts operate identically to those found in auto shops, and can be made to fit in most types of garages. However, you should be sure to check that your garage is big enough to accommodate a lift. Ideally, your garage should be at least 22 feet deep, 11 feet tall, and your floor should be made of concrete that is 4.5-5 inches thick.

Once you have determined that a car lift is right for your garage, you must now decide on what type of lift you want to install. There are two main categories of home car lifts: “frame engaging” and “wheel engaging.” Frame engaging lifts use arms to grasp the car at a place along the perimeter of the frame of the car. This design leaves the tires dangling and allows for easy wheels-off work on a car’s suspension or brakes. Wheel engaging lifts lift the car up by attaching and supporting its tires. For wheeling engaging lifts, the entire road surface rises. While these lifts aren’t ideal for wheels-off work, they provide better overhead storage of a vehicle and allow plenty of access to a car’s engine and underbody.

While these lifts may seem like a big investment, they certainly are worth removing the pain and frustration of crawling under your car whenever you want to make a fix. For those who do a lot of work on their car, car lifts are a no-brainer.

For more useful tips or to inquire about custom garages in the Chicagoland area, contact Blue Sky Builders, Inc. online or call 630-852-8485. We have successfully served customers throughout the area for nearly 40 years.

The mosquitoes are out in full force this summer and they like to follow you wherever you go, including into your garage. If you are noticing that you can’t work in your garage or get into your car without having to swat away a swarm of these biting pests, here are some tips (non-chemical) to reclaim your garage and enjoy it once again.

1.) Keep standing water away from your garage

Standing water is the main culprit when it comes to mosquito breeding. Make sure there is nothing around your garage that can collect water. Check that your garage gutters are not clogged. Keep grass clippings away from water and rain. Provide fresh water to bird bath and pools. If you store recycling containers outside, drill holes to allow excess water to filter out. Store tires inside since water can easily get trapped inside of them. Check for puddles around your garage which don’t dry in a few days and invest in fixing your landscaping. You’ll notice that a few changes can greatly decrease mosquitoes from breeding.

2.) Install a garage door screen

If you can’t beat them, then at least keep mosquitoes at bay by putting up a barrier between your garage and the outdoors. Garage door screens can be hung around the frame of your garage, letting you smell the fresh air without having to worry about how many mosquitoes are just waiting to bite you.

3.) Use a mosquito-repellent lantern/appliance or electrical trap.

If you want to get rid of mosquitoes quickly from your garage, there are products that you can purchase to either ward off or kill mosquitoes. Lanterns and appliances work by warming up a cartridge that is filled with a natural mosquito-repellent ingredient and creates a barrier between you and swarms of mosquitoes, even for up to 15 feet. Mosquito “zapping” machines use ultraviolet black light to attract bugs and then does away with them with electricity.

4.) Grow some natural mosquito-repelling plants

There are a variety of different plants that naturally repel mosquitoes. If you have a green thumb and/or prefer not using man-made mosquito sprays, try growing these plants around your garage. Here is a list of the plants that mosquitoes hate:

Citronella
Horsemint
Marigolds
Ageratum (also known as Flossflowers)
Catnip

We hope these mosquito-ridding tips will help you make your garage a place to enjoy this summer. Blue Sky Builders, Inc. offers free garage consultations upon request. Contact or call us at 630-852-8485. To see the types of garages we’ve built, please view our Blue Sky Builders, Inc. garage gallery.

With the torrential rains in the recent week, many homeowners have dealt with flooding issues in homes and garages. With more rain forecasted and not a bit of ground soil dry, now is the time to examine your garage structure.

When it rains continuously, the average way your land drains is going to be compromised. Lawns become overly saturated, storm drains become filled to capacity. And unfortunately, water is going to find the lowest point in your garage if it has nowhere to go. Here are some main issues that may be causing your garage flooding issues.

1. Foundation Level

The foundation level of your garage should accommodate a buildup of rain water around it or else water is going to flood in. You should be able to see your garage foundation above your ground level. The higher your foundation, the better chances your garage will stay dry. But detached garages, especially ones built decades ago, may have insufficient foundation height. Installing a drainage system to flow water away from your garage or building a garage with a higher foundation are the main options that can help you solve the flooding problems permanently.

2. Gutters

Moving as much water away from your garage as quickly as possible is the key to prevent flooding. Having sufficient gutters can help to prevent a downpour of water cascading around your garage. Your garage gutters should be cleared regularly from leaves and other debris to insure they are working properly.

3. Grading of Land

It is important to see how changes in the grading of your land can affect the way water flows towards your garage. Changes including new landscaping, a new house being built, a tree cut down, or new driveway put in, can all cause water to flood your garage. Your neighbor’s land grading can also have a direct effect on your land too. If you see a new structure being built next to your property, find out where excess water is graded to flow. If you see it heading towards your land, mitigate the issue as soon as you can.

If your garage continues to flood, our last week’s blog, “How To Create More Space in Your Garage with Overhead Storage”, can help you with some sure methods to keep your garage contents dry and off seeping water until you have a more permanent fix.

Garage flooding issues can cause a lot of headaches and damage, especially if you store your items on the garage floor. This is the time to consider the reasons for your garage flooding issues. Contact Blue Sky Builders, Inc. for a free consultation to see how we can help. Or call us at 630-852-8485.