Garage build; pit or lift

[chippy348]

I would go for a lift any day of the week.

Just building my dream garage and will be putting 2 lifts in, a 2 post and a scissor lift.

I worked at a garage after school back in the early 80's that had a pit and it was never used, i believe they were really made for when cars had a grease points that needed to be checked and topped up.

[Super Slo Mo]

I worked in a garage back in the late 90's, that had both a pit and a lift. The pit was hardly used, as mentioned, they are not much use for anything around wheels, only stuff directly under the car.

Anyway, I fell down it one day, because someone had removed the covers and was working on the car that'd been parked over it for weeks.
Of course, I wasn't looking where I was going, but still, it bloody hurt. The backs of my legs were red raw for a couple of weeks where I'd grazed the edge of the pit on the way in.
The saving grace was that I was at the bottom of the pit before I'd even realised what had happened, so hadn't had time to tense up. No injuries as a result, other than the aforementioned road rash.

Don't get a pit.

[Narom]

Another option is to do what they do in some basements to increase the height of the room, dig down.

Height limits normally apply from the usual height of the land don't they? Couldn't the garage be sunken down and have an increased interior height but exterior appearing the same as a normal one?

[S11Steve]

TA14 said:

S11Steve said:

I had the same questions prior to build, however the pit was ruled out as we are on bed-rock - the cost of digging out and installing drainage etc was roughly half the cost of the entire garage build.

Wow. FWIW I built a pit in the early 90s. The ground was clayey so digging out was tough but all done by hand and the cost wasn't much. The pit was not used much though - ok for drivetrain stuff but little use for suspension or brakes and getting in and out wasn't easy.

It was when the builder asked my height that I realised a pit required a lot of thought. I'm 6ft 7", so.the pit was going to be deeper than normal. I hadn't even considered that!

[surveyor]

Super Slo Mo said:

I worked in a garage back in the late 90's, that had both a pit and a lift. The pit was hardly used, as mentioned, they are not much use for anything around wheels, only stuff directly under the car.

Anyway, I fell down it one day, because someone had removed the covers and was working on the car that'd been parked over it for weeks.
Of course, I wasn't looking where I was going, but still, it bloody hurt. The backs of my legs were red raw for a couple of weeks where I'd grazed the edge of the pit on the way in.
The saving grace was that I was at the bottom of the pit before I'd even realised what had happened, so hadn't had time to tense up. No injuries as a result, other than the aforementioned road rash.

Don't get a pit.

They are not great to drive into either.....

[Timja]

I am currently building a garage with the intention of adding a 4 post lift. When I asked the lift company they said I needed a minimum of 4 inch slab.

As I've gone for a raft foundation, mine is around 12 inches In total (including insulation) so easily covered!

I don't have to worry about height as not having a room above garage.

[BlackZeD]

I've looked at the videos on their website and
a guy tries shaking the car and it doesn't move.
Some use them on the lower height and run the engine.
No problems with stability whatsoever.

Paddy_N_Murphy said:

Lift - and as above one where you can get at and around the wheels.

regards this :

BlackZeD said:

Looking at a house at the moment.
If it comes off I will be looking at getting one of these;

https://www.quickjacklift.co.uk/

handy - but I'd worry about stability personally.

Edited by BlackZeD on Sunday 6th August 09:20

[sospan]

You may need planning consent for a pit. In our area that seems the norm.
Next year I am looking tofit a recessed scissor lift in my garage as it is not big enough for a post lift.
A mate had a lucky escape years ago due to petrol leakage so play safe....no pit!

[acme]

Many thanks for all the feedback fellas, seems pretty clear, a pit is a bad idea.

Given that I'll be having a block & beam floor a pit I'd assume would require solid concrete tanked, so even more expense. So as long as the concrete is deep enough a scissor lift seems best. Apart from the safety issues the comment that you can't get to the wheels is also what did it for me, inevitably most stuff involves getting the wheels off from recent experience.

Probably going to look at getting one of these when the time comes;

http://sm-t.co.uk/product/montford-mid-rise-scisso...

Cheers

[JakeT]

I've seen garages use those, and they're fine. For fixing stuff though a 2 post lift is ideal. My grandfather had a pit years ago, and filled it in as the dog kept falling into it, and it's only really good for inspecting things or doing service/exhaust work.

[Vitorio]

any lift under a 2.4m roof is going to suck, my own car for example, is 144cm high, without the radio antenna. put that on a lift and keep the roof under a 2.4cm ceiling, and you have roughly 1 meter of height to work under the car.

[TA14]

Vitorio said:

any lift under a 2.4m roof is going to suck, my own car for example, is 144cm high, without the radio antenna. put that on a lift and keep the roof under a 2.4cm ceiling, and you have roughly 1 meter of height to work under the car.

For many jobs that's a lot better than using axle stands

[Murph7355]

Timja said:

...
As I've gone for a raft foundation, mine is around 12 inches In total (including insulation) so easily covered!
...

I'm not very concrete minded, but would the 4in need to be above any insulation?

[TA14]

Murph7355 said:

I'm not very concrete minded, but would the 4in need to be above any insulation?

Any insulation needs to be below the concrete and if you're going as thin as 4" on top of insulation with a lift on top then it needs to be re-inforced. Better to have 6 or 7", still re-inforced.

[Vitorio]

TA14 said:

For many jobs that's a lot better than using axle stands

Well yes, its better then axle stands in pretty much every way, but does that justify a 100x price increase?

even sitting underneath that will be hard and will get your head banged against oily bits a lot.

[Lotobear]

Lift every time.

Hate pits and we having running sand so it was never an option.

(Mini sump plug now fixed)

[acme]

I was told 6-9 inches, preferably the latter for two post/single post for the obvious increased loadings on a single point.

I understand what's being said about it still not being ideal on a scissor lift, but for the enthusiast it makes sense and is a lot easier than lying on your back for hour on end, though not ideal. A four poster is obviously much better but it takes up such a huge amount of room and is difficult regarding ceiling height if there's anything meaningful above.

[Lotobear]

I used C35 concrete 175mm thick with a single layer of A142 mesh all on 150mm type 1 GSB.

[Timja]

Just rechecked my photos and looks like my builder had 6" concrete on top of insulation and around 7-8" reinforced under insulation

[JB!]

two post or scissor lift