Keep it or toss it?? Stuff in the garage

[mrzoom]

Now that I'm retired and have 7 weeks to kill before my knee surgery I'm trying to sort out all the stuff in the garage. It's a slow process as I can only stand for and hour before Mr knee says stop.

So far both tool boxes are done. Specific draws with bike only tools and spare parts. Nut and bolt drawers in much better oragnization than before. Metric with metric not mixed in with the SAE stuff.

Now comes a more challenging task. The chemicals!! Is there a support group for wax and cleaners One shelf yielded 3 partial bottles of Simply Green, 3 Gallons of car wash soap 4 differant inteior cleaners 5 bwindow cleaners and I don't do windows!

Brake fluid, what to do with 2 bottles 1/2 full of synthetic dot 4?? The spray paint cabinet is so full cans fall out everytime I open it.

If I build two more shelves and get another cabinet my problem will be solved.

 

 

 

 

 

[BerndM]

I hate to get rid of stuff because of the delusional thinking that I will NEED this stuff soon after it's tossed.

A good rule of thumb, so I've heard, is if you haven't used it in 3 years, toss it.

Crap!!!!

If I did that, my garage would be almost empty......

I'm soooo confused

[AviP]

I am a serious DIY person and have tools for everything. So I need to keep everything organized or I get mad, really mad.

 

The way I do things is to have cheap, open (no lid) plastic boxes for different categories of tools and supplies. That way I have quick access to everything. The boxes are places on strong plastic shelves, 4 to a shelf. Some examples are:

 

Manual painting (brushes, rollers, etc)

Power painting (hose, cleaners, tips, etc)

Tiling (nippers, sponge, floats, etc)

Plumbing (mostly parts)

Tapes (Duct, electrical, masking, joint, etc)

Automotive cleaning (soaps, pads, wax, etc)

Automotive bodywork (sandpaper, filler, paint, etc)

Pest Control (ant, roach, mouse traps, etc)

Chemicals (Degreaser, WD40, etc)

 

... Believe it or not, I have about 50 categories of boxes and that's not counting the actual power tools. Those get stored in the basement. The best part was the boxes cost only $1 back when I bought it from Ikea.

 

I also have the standard assortment of socket sets, screwdrivers, pliers, hammers, etc that get stored in Craftsman rolling toolboxes.

 

I can usually find a tool I want in seconds to a minute.

 

 

[Ken H.]

Presuming “toss it” actaully means taking it the recycle center, then I think it’s never a good idea to have more chemicals laying around than you really need.

[Huzband]

Now comes a more challenging task. The chemicals!! Is there a support group for wax and cleaners One shelf yielded 3 partial bottles of Simply Green, 3 Gallons of car wash soap 4 differant inteior cleaners 5 bwindow cleaners and I don't do windows!

Brake fluid, what to do with 2 bottles 1/2 full of synthetic dot 4?? The spray paint cabinet is so full cans fall out everytime I open it.

 

With that many chemicals, you might just be on the terrorist watch list.

[Aluminum_Butt]

If you want to get ride of the hazardous waste stuff, Naperville FD station #4 has a collection every weekend.

 

See THIS.

[Mike]

If you want to get ride of the hazardous waste stuff, Naperville FD station #4 has a collection every weekend.

 

See THIS.

 

Yep! They've got one of the top programs around. I've used it--easy and no cost.

[mrzoom]

Yup, used them a couple of times.

Terroist hum, that explains the black Suburbans across the street

We see some move outs and foreclosures here and all the lawn and garden chemical stuff ends up on the curb for the landfill,sad

[CVA-42]

I rarely throw hardware away. Machine screws, metal screws, wood screws, bolts, nuts, washers - - I keep them all thinking I might need one just like it someday and I often do. Wood - - I have a hard time tossing wood scraps left over from projects for the same reasons as the hardware. But it does get ridiculous after awhile and I'll periodically make more kindling for the stove. Old chainsaw - - do I seriously think it will ever be used again, especially when I bought its replacement a year ago? Why can't I just chuck it? Same with the lawn mower.

[Quinn]

You just never know when someone will come up and ring your doorbell wanting to borrow a partial repair kit for a bathroom faucet. Or maybe those two phillips woodscrews with stripped out heads in the jar next to the dried up tung oil bottle.

 

 

But you could throw out the 1987 Sears tool catalogue on the bottom shelf. Noone is going to ask for that.

 

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