How to Make a Garage Parking Stop
The possibility of running into or over something, or not pulling in far enough and having the garage door hit the back of the car, makes parking in the garage a nerve wracking experience. Putting a parking stop in the garage which indicates when the car is in the correct location takes the guess work out of parking. A garage parking stop can easily be made using an old tennis ball and some string.
Things You Will Need
- Awl
- Tennis ball
- Scissors
- Bright colored string
- Washer
- Needle nose pliers
- Step ladder
- Staple gun with staples
- Chalk
- Poke a hole through both ends of a tennis ball with an awl. An awl is a sharp, pointed tool for poking holes in leather or rubber. If you don’t have an awl, any sharp, pointy tool that can puncture the tennis ball will work.
- Cut a piece of colored string about six feet long and tie a knot in one end. Tie the knot several times to ensure it will not come undone.
- Thread a washer onto the string until it is resting on the knot at the end of the string.
- Use the needle nose pliers to insert the untied end of the string into one of the holes in the tennis ball. Put the nose of the pliers into the other hole and pull the string through.
- Pull the string all the way through until the washer rests on the bottom hole of the tennis ball.
- Park the car where you want it in the garage. Make a chalk mark on the rafters above the center of the windshield and then back the car out of the garage.
- Staple the tennis ball on the string to the rafter where you made the chalk mark.
- Pull the car slowly back into the garage until the tennis ball hits the windshield. If the tennis ball is too high or low, adjust the string length then staple the string in the correct location.