It was an early Saturday afternoon and the hot, Florida sun had already elevated the temperatures in the small western-exposed garage. A burly middle-aged guy arrived home from his trip to the hobby store and parked his car inside. He eagerly went over to his work bench and started toiling on his latest wood-working project. About a half hour into his crafting, he was drenched with sweat and decided to wait for a cooler day to continue working on what he loved doing.

If you live in Florida, we’re sure you can relate to this situation.

But why let weather conditions put a damper on your ability to use your garage? With a few modifications, you can use your garage comfortably, even in extreme heat.

Ideally, you could install an air conditioning system with all of the duct work, but that might not be in your budget. Every time you open the garage door, you’ll be losing cool air, too.

To stabilize the temperature, you need to circulate the air to cool it and replace the hot air.  Here are some things you can do:

• Make Sure Your Garage Door is Insulated: Wood doors are natural insulators.  If you have metal or fiberglass doors, you can purchase and install polystyrene panels on the inside. Cut the panels so they fit your garage door. Use painter’s tape to hold them in place, if needed.
• Install Weather Stripping Around the Bottom Edge of Your Doors: By doing this, you will keep the heat from entering your garage. Raise your doors enough to allow you to reach the bottom. Remove the self-adhesive tape from the weather stripping and apply this insulation to the bottom edge of the garage doors. You can also use it around the garage window sashes.
• To Circulate the Air, Add Ventilation Fans: Situate the free-standing fans so they push air out through a window or open door. If using wall fans, mount them high on the walls opposite the garage door. You might even consider ceiling fans if your garage ceiling is high.
• Use Light-Colored Paint on Your Garage Doors: Garages with dark painted doors absorb the heat more so than lighter colors especially if your garage faces west. Also, be to caulk any gaps between the garage door and frame

Keeping your garage cool during the summer months can be taxing if you don’t address pushing out the hot air and pulling in cool air. Follow these strategies and you won’t let the temperature dictate when you can use your garage.

If you are interested in transforming your garage floor, call the experts at Garage Design Works today at (407) 447-8890 to schedule Orlando garage floors installation. We look forward to answering any questions you may have.