messy garage

18 years ago

our garage is so messy, it's not all our things half of the garage is my big brother's things, before we move here from NY my brother put all his things from his garage what am I going to do, our car can't go inside the garage my brother occupied one garage,oh by the way we have two car garage & one car garage he occupied with all his things, I am so depressed every time I go inside our garage & see all his things.I hope somebody will tell me what o do,thanks.

Comments (7)

steve_o
18 years ago
I think you need to have a chat with your brother and find out how long he plans to keep his stuff in your garage. If it has to stay for a while, get him to help you weed through the stuff to see if any of it can be tossed or given away or sold and to straighten up what's left. Maybe if he has to store things at your place, he can buy some shelves or bins or such to store items more efficiently and keep things looking neater.
celticmoon
18 years ago
Perhaps call some storage places and find out the cost of a storage bin the size of your garage. Then have a frank talk with your brother that he is using X dollars of storage, and what would it take to relocate his stuff to storage he foots the bill for rather than you.

You have been very nice to let him keep his stuff there until now. But the space is yours (you pay the rent or mortgage/taxes, whatever) and you should be able to use it as you like.

Until you speak up, he may think his stuff is just there in unneeded space and makes no difference.
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quiltglo
18 years ago
I would definately speak up. Your garage is yours and unless there is some compelling reason (like being in military service) that he needs to store items I would ask him to find a new home for them.

Claim your space. It's probably stuff he no longer wants or needs and its out of sight out of mind for him.

Gloria
talley_sue_nyc
18 years ago
On a separate thread, grower_jean gave us some more info, but I thought I've move it here.

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about messy garage
Posted by grower-jean (gw:grower-jean) on Sun, Feb 19, 06 at 15:59

Thanks a million for answering my question about our garage is so messy because of my brother's things, I foegot to tell you that that house where I live right now belong to me mom, I told my mom to tell my brother to move some of his things but my mom won't tell him, & I can't talk to my brother because he is so mean to me,please tell me what to do, thanks again.

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talley_sue_nyc
18 years ago
thanks for the extra info, grower-jean.

Let's continue this discussion back on the original thread.

Just click on either of these link to reply or to give grower-jean some advice.

That way everybody will have the info all in the same place.
talley_sue_nyc
18 years ago
sorry; continue the discussion here--I could have SWORN I'd posted the link on the "about messy garage" thread. I'll go fix it.

Jean:

Since it's not your home, you don't have as much leeway. Do you pay a fair market rent? If so, then you & your mom may need to talk about what your arrangement is, and see if you can get her to realize it's not fair to you.

If you're getting break on your rent--well, part of the lower price is less control; it's her garage.

But I'm a bit confused--it's a 2-car garage; your brother's stuff takes up 1 car's worth? Can you fit your car in the other slot?

If not, then why not? Is his 1-car's worth of stuff taking up 2 car's worth of space? That's out of line, and if HE won't move his stuff over, then you should feel free to.

If it's all the stuff you are storing in your garage, then you might be stuck w/ trying to find another way to store your "garage-type" stuff. A storage shed in the backyard for the mower, maybe?

and you certainly can insist that whatever he does store, be stashed so it takes up as little space as possible. Unfortunately, you may be stuck doing that yourself--there are several ways to make low-cost sturdy shelves. Make them as high and wide as you can, anchor them to the studs of the garage, and put his stuff on it.

Even make a couple of rows if you need to.

If you get his stuff stacked UP UP UP (as us NYers know, you can fit a LOT of stuff in a skyscraper), you might gain room in that section of the garage to store your *own* garage-type stuff.

and if he's mean to you now, maybe you *ought* to speak up; he won't get that much meaner, right? and maybe you ought to be MAD at him for being mean, instead of being fearful. It would certainly empower you. That's sort of what I did. My big brother wasn't exactly mean, but he SURE wasn't friendly. I just got p.o.'d and decided he was out of line, and I didn't need to worry about what he thought. He hasn't changed, but *I* don't worry about him anymore!

Here is a link that might be useful: ShelfLinks--cheap & fast shelves
Julie_MI_Z5
18 years ago
I'm confused. Who actually owns the house? If the brother has nothing to do with it, the stuff goes.

Easiest solution until then is DON'T OPEN THE GARAGE if it bothers you that much. Park outside until his junk is gone. If that's the only clutter in the house, and it's not yours, you'rs doing great!