It is quite often the case that a kitchen or bathroom renovation will take priority when a home owner is trying to decide where to invest their hard earned money. A space that can add a great deal of value to your home, but is often forgotten, is the garage.
There are so many options to consider with what you can do with this likely under utilized space. You could turn it into a man (or woman!) cave, a games room for the kids, a workshop or perhaps just a more organized, functional space that is bright, welcoming and de-cluttered.
Glenn and Tara Veysey of Westman Custom Cabinets and Garage Interiors can help you to plan and create a space that is suited exactly to your needs. They have multiple products and services that they offer so this part of your renovation will be a snap.
“People are starting to spend more money on garages and getting them organized and looking nice. A lot of people build a big, beautiful home and then have a garage that just has a concrete floor with maybe some drywall. So people are now trying to spruce up their garages and make them much more functional,” Glenn said.
Westman Custom Cabinets and Garage Interiors opened three years ago in Brandon, while they have a diverse range of products, the business primarily started when Glenn saw a need for a floor coating system.
“We also own Precision Cleaning and with that business we got into doing a fair amount of concrete polishing. What we discovered was that there are a lot of concrete floors with cracks and many that needed repairs and this doesn’t always look very good with concrete polishing,” Glenn said.
After some research, the Veysey’s found a floor coating system called Slide-Lok Polyaspartic that can be used for residential and commercial applications. And this is when the business really began and started to grow.
“Our initial concept was to concentrate on garages, but we can use this coating on any concrete floor. We’ve done houses, basements, cabins, schools and commercial places like the Keystone Centre, Brandon School Division, Brandon Research Station, & Cromer Valley Store ” Glenn said. “It’s a very durable product that basically protects your investment and saves your concrete from getting eaten or worn away.”
The best part of the coating is that it goes down into the concrete and attaches to it, so it doesn’t just sit on top like an epoxy or paint that could eventually end up peeling. To prepare the floor, Glenn and his team will use concrete grinders to open up the pores of the concrete, so the product can attach itself. It’s a roll-on three coat process. The first coat soaks in to the concrete, the paint chips (to add colour) go in to the second coat and the process is completed with a clear coat over top.
“It makes a beautiful fl oor that is very resistant; there’s nothing that harms this product, not even gasoline or oil. It protects the concrete fl oor from salt, stops it from dusting and seals it in,” Glenn said. “Another advantage is that you can apply it to new or old concrete. It’s way cheaper than jack hammering out old concrete and doing a new pour.”
In addition, this fl oor coating system comes in many different colour combinations, is non-slip, waterproof and will stop any moisture from getting into concrete. It can also be applied outside on driveways, sidewalks and stairs.
So, now that we know what we’re doing in terms of fl ooring in the garage, it’s time for the rest of the remodel. Westman Custom Cabinets and Garage Interiors can design your garage so that you’ll be the envy of the neighbourhood. They have both medal and wood custom cabinets, HyLoft storage systems, and they carry HandiWall and HandiWall Accessories.
“Both styles of cabinets that we carry are Canadian made and are customizable in terms of colour and layout. They are a lifetime cabinet, which means they are of the highest quality which is important for a space like a garage, laundry or craft room,” Glenn said. “Another product that we’re really enjoying using is Trusscore PVC Wall Panels. You use this product instead of drywalling, which means no taping or mudding or painting. It can be washed, it’s bright, light, and can be used on the ceiling as well. It can really quickly transform a space.”
The best part is that this type of renovation isn’t weather dependent or seasonal. Westman Custom Cabinets and Garage Interiors can apply the fl oor coating in the summer or winter. And while any home renovation has an impact on your life, renovating a garage, storage room or laundry area is certainly less obtrusive.
Westman Custom Garage also have a seamless urethane decking membrane called Flex-Stone that can be applied over existing wood, tiles, vinyl, fi berglass or other membranes. It to is a Canadian product, which is made for our harsh winters and is weatherproof, waterproof, chemical resistant, and designed to handle heavy traffi c and even vehicle traffi c. Flex- Stone is CCMC approved as a 100% waterproof roofi ng & sundeck membrane and can be applied in a variety of colors.
When I asked Glenn & Tara if they had the perfect garage, they laughed and replied…”No, but it’s getting there. We were initially using our garage as a showroom, so it has a lot of the elements, but it’s not perfect. It’s kind of like the shoemaker’s children,” said Tara.
For more information on their products and services, visit www.wgarageinteriors.com or call 204-717-4320 to set up an appointment to visit their showroom at 712 Victoria Avenue East (it’s very inspiring!).
