Grand Forks Herald Spring Home Improvement: Springtime means busy hours, home renovations in the garage

Winter ice is thawing and soon, spring cleaning will be here. And for many, that’s going to mean more than dusting the shelves — it’ll mean a home or garage renovation, too.

When it comes to garages, there are plenty of options. The internet is full of ideas — A car lift! A new workshop! — but Jared Langenstein, general manager at PS Garage Doors in Grand Fork, said there are plenty of easy ways to improve a garage without reinventing the proverbial wheel.

And springtime, he said, is a perfectly popular time for it.

“Wintertime, for services, is that real busy time,” Langenstein said. “But springtime is when folks are looking at their garage doors, and they see torn seals … or dents in the garage door. Maybe somebody slid into a panel or backed into a door during the winter when it’s icy outside. So folks start looking at replacing that stuff about this time of year.”

And there are many improvements that homeowners can make. Langenstein said PS Garage Doors can add insulated doors — good for adding a furnace and making a garage a hangout spot. Or they can add a window section, or screening, or change the color, or even exhaust ports. That lets motorheads work on a car during the winter in a place that still vents fumes well.

“We find a lot of guys out there are remodeling some of these detached garages in Grand Forks and they’re adding furnaces to them.” Langenstein said. “They’re turning into like hangouts in there — you know, man caves or whatever you want to call them.”

And the last year has seen a big rush for all kinds of home improvements. The COVID-19 pandemic has kept people at home over the last year and turned commutes and other responsibilities into down time for extra projects, or close quarters into a catalyst for a home expansion.

And if homeowners are still interested in new ways to improve, there are plenty of options. Some trends include fitted workshop cabinets and a smooth, refinished floor, or space for a home gym. Improvements can be as involved as a furnace and a new space for hanging out; it can be as simple as some overhead, hanging shelves or a new work bench.

Grand Forks’ Dakota Mud Jack specializes in refinishing floors and lifting up settled and cracked concrete. The same busy springtime schedule applies to them, too — with the thaw usually meaning settling spots and, suddenly, a problem with a concrete floor.

Taylor Azure, a Dakota Mud Jack co-owner, said that’s where they come in. He shared photos of fresh epoxy floors — a smooth, patterned upgrade over drab cement.

“There’s a lot of people getting ready for graduations,” he said, and oftentimes people want to spend more time there — to hang out, watch TV, or do whatever. “They want to make their garage feel like an extension of their house.”