Snowblower in garage, keeping area clean

[tyyost]

Just moved to a house with an attached garage and an outbuilding to use for a shop. First snowfall just came and brought the snowblower down to the house to make it easy to get to the driveway. I cleaned it out pretty well before rolling in, but found a huge puddle I wasn’t really prepared for soaking some nearby boxes. Any ideas how to prevent or catch the mess beyond knocking off as much snow as possible before bringing it in? The snowblower an 8 hp 24” two-stage if that matters.

 

[Mike65]

When my wife & I lived in southern NJ I would clean off as much as possible & then put it in the garage making sure nothing that I did not want to get wet was near it. If you have an old moving blanket, spread it out on the floor & then put the snowblower on it & when the snow melts the blanket will absorb the water. I do not know what else can be done unless when you are done using it if the outside temp is above 32° leave the snowblower outside until the residue melts off.

 

[PCustoms]

What's going to happen when you drive a car in the snow?

I'd get the boxes off the floor...

 

[moab11]

You can buy containment mats sized for a snowblower. Basically they are a heavy tarp with an integrated foam edging.
Larger ones can be bought for vehicles as well if you will be parking in the garage.

Once everything melts off, you can **** up the water/dirt with a shop vac.

 

[Skiff Builder]

A hot water garden hose fitting in the garage allows a snow/slush/ice wash off of the blower ( as well as cars/stairs/etc). Very little puddling to deal with after.

Edit: I thought it would be understood that one would use a garden hose and wash the machine off outside the garage

 

[jkuro]

Move south

 

[RegeSullivan]

I've always considered the garage floor to be a high potential wet area. I don't expect anything on the floor to stay 100% dry. Tool boxes, bench, cabinets, trash cans are on wheels keeping them dry with the added benefit of making them easy to move for cleaning said floor. If I had to put boxes or store something temporarily on the floor I'd put something under it like pallet. Sadly (or maybe luckily) my garage doesn't have enough room to store stuff in boxes on the floor.

 

[WisJim]

I assume that the garage floor will be wet occasionally and anything that shouldn't get wet either isn't on the floor or is in a Rubbermaid tote.

 

[djbmw]

If your garage is meant to be a dry space then i assume its heated and has a drain in the floor. Park the snow blower directly over the drain.

If your garage is NOT meant to be a dry space (like most garages), move your boxes up higher and dont worry about a tiny puddle in your garage.

Of course, you could always buy a large rubber utility tray to park the snow blower on if you rrally wanted... but then your snow blower is sitting in water until you empty it...

 

[PhantomEB]

Almost everything in my garage except the garbage cans and empties bucket are off the ground. I usually leave my back pack blower sitting over the drain I punched in the middle of my shop couple summers ago after finding out snowmelt pools everywhere in this one.

now early 2025, I have all the materials to take that trial hole and punch in 5 more. I hate a wet garage.

 

[DGersic]

I use a an old windshield brush to knock off as much snow as reasonably possible. There's always a puddle afterward, which doesn’t really have anywhere to go. I put a couple pieces of 1x3 under the skids, to keep them out of the water, and reduce the rust staining of the floor. I can push most of the puddle in to the 1/4” gap between the slab and the stem wall, the rest evaporates eventually.

The garage floor is not a dry space. Nothing on the floor is water damaged.

 

[finn]

A hot water garden hose fitting in the garage allows a snow/slush/ice wash off of the blower ( as well as cars/stairs/etc). Very little puddling to deal with after.

Doesn’t work in a cold climate.

That “wash water” will freeze the door seal to the floor, or if that doesn’t happen, will turn the driveway into a skating rink.

 

[finn]

I use a an old windshield brush to knock off as much snow as reasonably possible. There's always a puddle afterward, which doesn’t really have anywhere to go. I put a couple pieces of 1x3 under the skids, to keep them out of the water, and reduce the rust staining of the floor. I can push most of the puddle in to the 1/4” gap between the slab and the stem wall, the rest evaporates eventually.

The garage floor is not a dry space. Nothing on the floor is water damaged.

Why not just bring the snow blower into the living room if one is worried about getting snow melt on the garage floor?

I must have missed something along the way, but isn’t the objective of having a garage at least partly to keep things like snow melt out of the living room? Nothing should be stored in cardboard boxes or the like on the floor anyway. Ever noticed that shelving units always have a lower shelf elevated off the floor? That clever bit of engineering resolves the snow melt problem quite nicely.

 

[neverdone]

After I brush off the snow I pour several buckets of hot water over it to melt the remaining ice and clean off any salt brine from blowing out the driveway at the road.

 

[mrvm]

Just knock off the big Ice chunks the rest will melt easily. However the road salt/sand mixture may leave some temporary white powder marks as well as rust marks from the steel skids on the snow blower.

 

[Wrench97]

Wait until the carburetor starts leaking and house reeks of gas................

 

[readhead]

I knock of as much as I can. I picked up a special rug at the parts store and park it on that. The rug contains the water and will dry out pretty quickly.

 

[CJM8515]

clean off as much snow as possible, then park it on a piece of large cardboard AWAY from anything the ensuing puddle will get wet.

 

[DGersic]

Why not just bring the snow blower into the living room if one is worried about getting snow melt on the garage floor?

I must have missed something along the way, but isn’t the objective of having a garage at least partly to keep things like snow melt out of the living room? Nothing should be stored in cardboard boxes or the like on the floor anyway. Ever noticed that shelving units always have a lower shelf elevated off the floor? That clever bit of engineering resolves the snow melt problem quite nicely.

I tried that once. Wife objected that it didn’t go with the decorations, and that it blocked her view of the TV.

 

[finn]

Just knock off the big Ice chunks the rest will melt easily. However the road salt/sand mixture may leave some temporary white powder marks as well as rust marks from the steel skids on the snow blower.

That white powder used to last until April in my unheated garages in Il and Mi. Along with the frozen / refrozen ice slicks under the car.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Get the boxes up off the floor onto some shelves. That should be a given in a garage even without snow. Brush off as much snow as possible before you bring the snowblower in, and the rest shouldn't cause any trouble. I keep an old snow brush right inside the garage door just for that purpose. They make mats you can park the snowblower on if you're really worried about it.

 

[toolmiser]

You can get some fairly large "boot trays" that will catch a bunch of it.

 

[Rc_Guy]

A hot water garden hose fitting in the garage allows a snow/slush/ice wash off of the blower ( as well as cars/stairs/etc). Very little puddling to deal with after.

Am I missing something? The snow melted and doesn’t disappear but the hot water will?

 

[tyyost]

Thanks for the helpful comments. The goal is to get everything on shelves or in water resistant containers, but unfortunately I’m 2 months into moving and every non-living area seems to be in a constant state of Tetris. Things go out, new things come in. Now it’s holiday decorations, which is 85% totes, but there are still some odds and ends in cardboard, some non-homed furniture, and some tools.

The intention of this garage will be for my wife to actually park in, and I did have it in for the storm. That said, I need to get better with the current arrangement if the stray snow and water are going to be a regular thing.

I thought of a boot mat, but the idea a blower sized on is something to look for. I was imaging something like a weather tech mat. At this point just keeping the water away from the door seal so it doesn't freeze up later would be a win. I know the post sounded lame, but I was looking for ideas and grabbed a few so thanks.

 

[Homewrecker]

I've got a big plastic "drip tray" meant for oil changes that I put under the Auger Housing after I put my blower in the garage. I try and knock off as much of the crud as possible before brining it in. One the all the snow has melted in the tray, I carefully roll the blower back and then tilt the tray outside to dump the meltwater. Wish I had a drain in my garage but it's too much $$ to have one put it.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Never store anything in a garage directly on the floor that you don't want to get damp/wet. Concrete leaches moisture almost continuously.

Put a couple PT 2x4 underneath thing you don't want to get wet.

 

[pbon]

Use a containment mat. I use them for my cars in winter. This one is snowblower sized but way overpriced in my opinion — a car sized mat is only twice as much. https://matsupplier.com/products/fl...iErlzRehkM6k38BJ01B-SBpaks7eGAzxoCY78QAvD_BwE

 

[runwhatyabrung]

I was able to find a low profile washing machine pan at home depot (on clearance for $5) and I park the snowblower in it. Contains the water and prevents rust stains on the floor.

 

[Skiff Builder]

Am I missing something? The snow melted and doesn’t disappear but the hot water will?

Rc, perhaps you are?

I wash the snow/ice/slush off the machine while it is outside of the garage, not inside the space.

 

[Skiff Builder]

Doesn’t work in a cold climate.

That “wash water” will freeze the door seal to the floor, or if that doesn’t happen, will turn the driveway into a skating rink.

Finn, pls see comment above- done outside of garage.

 

[finn]

Doing this for a long time. Wash machine off outside (off driveway ( on lawn area)) while it's running, with hot water. Leave it a bit, running or not. Bring it in the garage with barely any moisture on it. Most of any droplets will shake right off while machine is running.

I generally only wash snow off the machine in a cold climate

How do you wash it on the lawn when the grass is under several feet of snow?

And how do you keep the driveway from becoming an ice rink if the temperatures are in the single digits for days, if not weeks on end?
Not many unheated home garages built with running water, let alone hot water.

 

[Skiff Builder]

How do you wash it on the lawn when the grass is under several feet of snow?

And how do you keep the driveway from becoming an ice rink if the temperatures are in the single digits for days, if not weeks on end?
Not many unheated home garages built with running water, let alone hot water.

I usually don't give away trade secrets, but- I blow off a 4x4 section of lawn , just off the driveway . In fact I cut several paths over the lawn to get to various areas of the yard anyway.

My home was also not built with water supply in the attached, unheated garage. Installed it though. Never frozen in there- 35 years.

You Brush, I Flush...whatever works is good. Enjoy the winter!

 

[pbon]

I usually don't give away trade secrets, but- I blow off a 4x4 section of lawn , just off the driveway . In fact I cut several paths over the lawn to get to various areas of the yard anyway.

My home was also not built with water supply in the attached, unheated garage. Installed it though. Never frozen in there- 35 years.

You Brush, I Flush...whatever works is good. Enjoy the winter!

If water supply in attached unheated garage has not frozen in 35 years, I’d say your climate is fairly mild. For those of us with real winters, hosing off snowblowers is unrealistic. Have not heard of anyone doing that in NH, the state I live in.

 

[Skiff Builder]

If water supply in attached unheated garage has not frozen in 35 years, I’d say your climate is fairly mild. For those of us with real winters, hosing off snowblowers is unrealistic. Have not heard of anyone doing that in NH, the state I live in.

If you want to install water in an attached unheated garage , use a frost proof sillcock on the wall that joins the heated house. It won't freeze. Drain your garden hose after use and leave in garage.

41 deg north latitude for us. Different climates your way I'm sure.

I will say, though
140 degree water, in a high rate of flow
Will do a bit of damage, to the ice and snow
That refuses to leave, those machines that blow
And it seems on garage Journal,
Only I know.......

 

[finn]

If water supply in attached unheated garage has not frozen in 35 years, I’d say your climate is fairly mild. For those of us with real winters, hosing off snowblowers is unrealistic. Have not heard of anyone doing that in NH, the state I live in.

Got to admit, I’ve never hosed off the snowblower here in Tucson either.

Oh, wait.

The snowblower is 2100 miles away.

We did get an inch of snow a couple of years ago, but it was gone by 9:00 am.

 

[PCustoms]

Got to admit, I’ve never hosed off the snowblower here in Tucson either.

Oh, wait.

The snowblower is 2100 miles away.

We did get an inch of snow a couple of years ago, but it was gone by 9:00 am.

My dashboards have never cracked and split from the sun.

 

[pbon]

If you want to install water in an attached unheated garage , use a frost proof sillcock on the wall that joins the heated house. It won't freeze. Drain your garden hose after use and leave in garage.

41 deg north latitude for us. Different climates your way I'm sure.

I will say, though
140 degree water, in a high rate of flow
Will do a bit of damage, to the ice and snow
That refuses to leave, those machines that blow
And it seems on garage Journal,
Only I know.......

Have not seen anyone in NH hosing off their driveway in winter. We are trying to get rid of the ice, not add water to make more. We use sand for traction on the ice and salt to melt it, but there are environmental issues with the salt.

A new driveway with heating tubes to melt ice and snow, with a solar array on the house or garage roof for “free” power to heat the water would be nice, but probably cost over $50,000. Would want to do the same for the front walk and steps, and pulling up and reinstalling all that granite would be expensive as well.

 

[Skiff Builder]

Agree. I don't hose off the driveway either. I park all the outside vehicles on the grass ,next to the driveway prior to a storm. Usually at work prior to, and during a storm. Having the driveway clear allows for easier snow removal when I get home the next day.

 

[nbpt100]

Wait until the carburetor starts leaking and house reeks of gas................

That is why most snow blowers have a fuel shut off valve. If you do not have one I highly recommend adding one. On some of the newer inexpensive MTD machines it is hard to do but still possible with some ingenuity.

I leave my machine outside for a while after cleaning it off. What little gets on the garage floor is not a big concern. You can also buy a cover for it and leave it outside. Most any residual snow remaining will melt off over time. These covers are typically black and the Sun will heat it up. You can bring it inside the day before the next storm so you can be ready.

 

[rct]

From Buffalo where we may snowblow several times during a storm while it keeps snowing, best you can do is brush off any excess snow accumulation on the flat parts of the blower and park it near the door for the next go. Your options are really a mat to park it on and contain the drips or as stated above, re-arrange your storage so puddles don't affect your boxes.