An old fashioned manual winch can open up lots of overhead garage storage

In the garage, a winch is used for lifting something heavy — the classic case being lifting an engine out of a car.  But our interest is more in how you can use it for creating garage storage — specifically, overhead garage storage.    Sure, if you have a garage winch, you can use it for anything, but a cheap winch, especially a hand crank one like that show here, is often all you need.  Just imagine this winch anchored near a side wall with an attached cable that goes up the side wall to a strong pulley where the wall meets the ceiling (or roof), which then goes over to a pulley or two in the center of the garage, and then down to a basket or platform that is raised or lowered.

Lower the platform or basket, put items to be stored on / in it, and then use the winch to lift the platform or basket out of the way.  This works especially well with open ceilings.  This is a great solution if all your garage cabinets and other garage storage places are full.

This electric winch is probably overkill for most garages

Sure, you can buy an electric winch and save yourself a little cranking.  But that adds cost and complexity.   If all you are doing is adding some garage storage solutions to your garage, you don’t really need to set up an electric winch.   It definitely would be more hoisting power than the typical overhead storage solution would need, that’s for sure.

A garage winch powered by your existing drill might be a solution

If for some reason you don’t want to deal with a hand crank, but you want to avoid the expense of a permanent, electrical winch, consider a hybrid system, like the garage winch provided by Pulley-Man(tm),  pictured here.   This device has the anchoring hooks, coupled with some steel cable running through a geared-down pulley that can be powered by a conventional 1/4 inch power drill — you know, a Black and Decker or other drill found in almost every workshop in the USA.   When you need to raise or lower the overhead storage, you just get your drill and voila! you have a powered garage winch for the time that you need it.

So, fear not.  That overhead space is ripe for the storing.   And if you don’t want to deal with ladders, then have the storage space come down to you on a pulley and cable system, then hoisted back up using your new garage winch!.

The two most popular places for garage overhead storage are 1) between an overhead garage door (when it is up / open) and the ceiling and 2) a platform which extends out over the hood of a car.

Some overhead storage solutions use a pulley and winch to hoist a basket or platform, like that shown here. You put the items to be stored in the basket or on the platform and then pull on the rope or cable to move the basket / platform up toward the ceiling and out of the way. The benefit of this system is that you don’t need a ladder and you may not need to move the car to get something out of storage.

Another solution which is common but far less popular is the “overhead bike storage.” Unlike the platforms or baskets that basically hang in the middle of the garage, the bike storage takes advantage of the headroom over the passageway along one of the passageways around the cars. You wheel the bike into the garage, and either lift or hoist the bike into the space above the heads of those who walk through the space.

Overhead storage can be a real blessing, but there are some warnings: 1) Don’t invite “varmits” to nest there. The fact is that an undisturbed spot in your warm, dry garage is pretty attractive to squirrels, birds or other pests. 2) Don’t store gasoline or other items that won’t handle heat well – as the area under the roof can get very hot in summer and 3) Make sure you have adequate ventilation and no leaks in the ceiling before installing an overhead storage area. If moisture accumulates there, in an enclosed area, mold, mildew, rot or worse might be the outcome.

Last, remember: Storage only makes sense in the context of retrieval. If you store something and can’t find it … or can’t get it back – then the item is “lost,” not “stored”! Most overhead storage systems help you FIND what you stored by being made of wire racks – so you can see what is being stored. And use either clear plastic bins so you can see what’s inside without climbing a ladder or label things boldly enough to be visible from below.