Winter can take a serious toll on your garage. Unless you make adequate preparations, winter can lead to a garage door that's frozen shut, a concrete floor that's stained from salt and the elements, and other potential issues. Luckily, there are things you can do each year to prep your garage for winter. Here are five great ways to winter-proof your garage:

Use Garage Floor Mats

In the winter, car tires and your shoes track in all sorts of snow, rain, salt, and other potentially damaging debris. Rather than let these things accumulate and damage your garage floors, protect your floors with garage containment mats. These heavy-duty mats are specifically designed to protect garage floors in the winter, and they can easily withstand the weight of cars being parked on top of them.

Start the winter season by thoroughly cleaning your garage floors, and then lay down the mats, which can be purchased at most major automotive or home improvement stores. Depending on your budget and the size of your garage, you can cover the entire garage floor or just the area you will be parking on.

Seal Your Garage Door

If your garage door isn't properly sealed, rain, snow and cold air can easily make their way inside. Inadequate sealing can also cause the garage door itself to freeze shut, which is incredibly inconvenient when you're trying to get out of the house in order to make it to work on time.

If the rubber weather-stripping on the bottom of your garage door is cracked or worn out, you can easily replace it yourself with weather-stripping purchased at a home improvement store. After installing the new weather-stripping, coat the metal gaskets on the bottom of the garage door with silicone spray, which will further help keep cold air out and prevent freezing.

Insulate Any Pipes

If the pipes in your garage aren't insulated, they can easily freeze and then burst, potentially damaging your entire garage, tools and even your vehicles. Luckily, there's an easy fix for this problem: simply purchase pipe wrap insulation at any hardware store and wrap it over the pipes. The insulated pipes will keep warmer, making your hot water more efficient and greatly reducing the risk of a flooded garage from burst pipes.

Consider Installing a Garage Heater

If you spend a lot of time in your garage in the winter, or are simply tired of having to warm up your car and scrape your windshield every morning, you may want to consider installing a garage heater. If you have a small budget or only need the garage to be warm some of the time, a portable space heater designed for a garage is a simple and affordable option. If you want a more dramatic improvement in the comfort level of your garage, call an HVAC professional to discuss your options for running heat to your garage.

Insulate Your Garage Door

If your garage door is uninsulated, your garage will have a hard time getting and staying warm, even if you do install a heater. If you intend to spend any time in your garage this winter, insulating the door will make for a much more cozy and comfortable space, and the extra warmth will help reduce the risk of burst pipes or a frozen garage door. One great option is to hire a professional to insulate your garage door. On the other hand, if you are handy and want to save a little money, you can always purchase and install garage door insulation yourself.

By doing these five things to winter-proof your garage, you can keep your garage door, floor and other garage elements in great condition no matter how bad the weather conditions get outside. Contact a repair contractor like AAA Garage Door, Inc. if you do find yourself in need of garage door repairs.