UPGRADE
YOUR
GARAGE
(OR WORKSHOP)
The EHT staff covered the floor
of our workshop with Swiss Trax
brand flooring with a diamond-tread pattern, called Diamond Trax.
We installed a checkerboard
pattern with alternating colors
of light gray and slate gray. The
Diamond Trax flooring refuses to
chip break no matter how many
tools or heavy materials we drop
on it, and it provides a softer,
more back-friendly floor than hard
slab concrete.
The Swiss Trax company offers
a variety of garage tiles available
in up to 14 colors. The company’s most popular seller is
Ribtrax, which has an open profile that allows water to drain
through the tiles, keeping walkways dry and safe.
Lately, Swisstrax has made
great strides in “green” manufacturing with its recycling program,
which is carried out within a
10-mile radius of the company’s
factory in Southern California to
minimize shipping and its resulting carbon footprint. The new
Swisstrax program turns recycled
parts into high-quality, low-cost
flooring tiles. Furthermore, when
you’re ready for a new floor, the
company will buy back your flooring at a fair price or give you a
credit toward your future flooring
purchase. The product Swisstrax
receives in return will be recycled
again. Another advantage is that
you can keep your investment,
since you can move the floor to a
new home or workshop. The recycled Swisstrax flooring carries a
rollover weight of more than
25,000 pounds and comes with
a 7-year warranty.
THE CONVENIENCE OF
AN AUTOMATIC GARAGE
DOOR OPENER
Whether you’re loaded down
with arms full of tools and materials, or parking your car during
a rainstorm, an automatic garage
door opener can make life a little
easier.
The newest garage door
opener from Overhead Door
Corporation is the Standard
Drive, which is designed for easy
installation, quiet operation and
durability. The DualDrive chain
system was specifically designed
to bring a new “quiet” benchmark for homeowners who have
a living space above the garage
and want an opener that provides
smooth, low-noise operation at a
great value. The Standard Drive
garage door opener also features
the self-diagnostic Safe-T-Beam
System that stops and reverses
the closing door if an object
passes through the infrared
beam. The system’s self-diagnostic functions alert homeowners
of improper operations,
pinpoint specific problems and help identify
solutions. The new opener also features the
CodeDodger Access
Security System, in which
a new access code is
activated from 4. 3 billion
combinations each time
the remote control is
used, in order to prevent
piracy of the radio signal.
THE WALL AS
STORAGE SPACE
A couple of nails in the wall
serving as storage hooks are
par for the course in virtually
any garage or workshop. A few
dozen nails is another story,
and while no one will be giving
your workspace the “white
glove test,” some degree of
organization will pay off not
only in garage décor, but also
when searching for that lone,
misplaced tool.
The traditional upgrade from
the scattered-nail approach has
been pegboards made from
pressboard panels, but the
material has a tendency to warp,
swell, crack or fray when it
absorbs moisture. In response,
Wall Control, has developed an
all-steel pegboard panel that
