Fall time is here! We are finally experiencing some cold and rainy weather here in the PNW. We Pacific Northwesterners LOVE the rain. But it does come with challenges, and if you’re like me, it always sneaks up on you! I get so caught up with carefree summer living, and my garage becomes a total mess. I’m constantly tossing out bikes to load up the lake gear, or vice versa. Couple that with the half-finished projects, gardening tools, and random birdseed, and I’ve got myself a big mess. But I have to do something about it before I go into a full hygge mode, and chances are you do too.
- Clean out the garage
This must come across as a self-evident statement, but you must clean out the garage before the weather gets bad. This Is mainly to clean up any food that may have been left out. This includes birdseed, vegetable seeds, pet food, and any random foodstuffs that may have been left in the garage. Ensuring that there aren’t any extra food scraps lying around is essential when trying to avoid pests in our space.
I have a detached garage that is not insulated. This works fine for us all year-round, except for when the moisture in the air ramps up. I make sure to comb the garage for any fabric items because I know that if I leave it in the garage, it will be totally molded in a few weeks. I’ve been pretty silly and have lost some excellent items to the garage mold, so I’ve been making sure to pick up all the fabric items that I can.
2. Sweep the floors
I don’t love sweeping the garage floors. But It is an excellent idea to do them before everything gets too wet to clean appropriately at the start of fall. At this point, my floors are pretty dusty and have a fair amount of pine needles. As The garage floor gets, wetter all of that dust will turn into mud which is the last thing I want in my house or car. Sweeping now will help control the inevitable mess but can be smaller with a 10-minute chore.
3. Do Some Garage Door and Opener Maintenance
Now is the time I like to do bi yearly, and quarterly maintenance on my garage door in Olympia and opener. I change the light bulbs, make sure to switch the battery in the opener remote, and check the gear and sprocket assembly in the opener. It’s also a great time to do some cleaning on the garage door. I will spray it down and give it a quick brush scrub with some hot, soapy water. If you do this on a relatively dry day, I recommend waxing your door to protect the paint system from the impending weather.
Check over your garage doors, rollers, and springs, and check out our post on how to properly lube your garage door because, chances are, the door will need some extra elbow grease in the changing weather.
4. Rodent Proof Your Garage
With the weather getting colder and rainier, rats and other small rodents will seek shelter, warmth, and food sources. Cleaning out the food sources will be helpful, but make sure that your entrances to the garage are well-protected as well. Check the weather stripping alongside the edges of the garage door, as well as the black bottom seal. Make sure these are all intact instead of broken off or ripped. Sometimes rats will chew at these to get in, so an occasional look over couldn’t hurt either. Make sure you check your man door and windows or any gaps or seal failures. If they are not 100% intact, then replace the pieces! We almost always have standard colors of garage door weather stripping and bottom astragal in stock.
5. Switch Out Your Recreational Toys
Right now, the stuff my family has readily available is primarily sports equipment, floaties, life jackets, and our blow-up kayak. We also have all of our summer camping equipment put out for easy access. This week I plan to switch those things out for some heavier camping equipment, smores supplies, and even some winter equipment so that when the snow hits, we will have been ready! I like to save this step for last to feast my eyes on all the tools of fun stuff I get to do during the fall and winter.