One of my regrets with my garage is I never put a pit in it as it was just built to just sell but we liked it too much and so are keeping it.

Now I’m faced with retrofitting a pit, a bit of a nightmare as the floor is 8 - 10 inches thick concrete with rebar grid just cutting through this is going to be tough, though it’s a double garage tbh don’t think I could face doing two pits.

Once I’ve got through I was thinking it would be nice to have a liner rather than plain cast concrete walls. Anyone had experience with such a thing and know a company that supplies them (assuming they exist!) I'd like a pit 4m long by 1.5m wide, deep enough for me to stand up in.

Thanks

http://mech-mate.co.uk/Motor-Pit-Liners.html

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Originally posted by Myke 2463
http://mech-mate.co.uk/Motor-Pit-Liners.html

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presume you don't have the height for a lift?

Got to be cheaper/easier than wrecking the floor, DPC etc?

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Originally posted by nick205
presume you don't have the height for a lift?

Got to be cheaper/easier than wrecking the floor, DPC etc?

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Be aware of the dangers of pits. Lots of things used in garaes are heavier than air, so there is the potential of toxic and explosive vapours building up in the pit.

Cheers, Nick

Agree with NickDV ^ that pits aren't the ideal solution - lad I used to know was welding underneath, hit a fuel line and perished in the ensuing inferno....
Charlie in PPC seems to have cracked it with an old fork-lift permanently fixed to give side lift - you do need the head height however.
Keep us posted.
Cheers, Pewe10

We have a pit at work that is about 40ft long it came on a lorry
its made of 3mm steel sheet and has the lights in the sides + steps at both ends it also has runners down both sides for beam jacks
I am sure you could make something similar

A pit with a low lift over works wonderfully well in a garage.
A friend of mine has one and it means you can stand under the car with the lift supporting the car and can work on it wheels off.

Superb setup.

His uses a couple of rams, a lorry valve block, a power steering pump and a single phase motor.
Wiring consists of a three pin plug on a flex from the motor.

Cost about 2 bob.
Works a treat.

^ interesting idea

totally agree with the welding dangers, heard all sorts of horror stories about them but this is just for general maintenance work under the cars like suspension, exhausts etc

I have seen pictures of a 4 poster IN a pit. When it was half way up it was level with the floor and had about 2ft all the way round. Little bridge plates to drive on. Trouble for you is its a bally grit 'ole.

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Originally posted by TPG
I have seen pictures of a 4 poster IN a pit. When it was half way up it was level with the floor and had about 2ft all the way round. Little bridge plates to drive on. Trouble for you is its a bally grit 'ole.

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Aye, no worries. A picture I think.




[Edited on 29/11/12 by TPG]

The one I'm talking about is pretty much a standard pit with sleepers over the top as a cover, the standard way.
One of the sleepers hapens to be a 5x3 steel channel right at the end of the pit. Pull the lever and it lifts up on the rams and lifts the car.
For such a simple idea, it works spectacularly well.

To cut the hole you could see what a specialist company would ask for it. They're generally not that expensive (at least not around here) and have the right tools for the job. Makes life much easier, and will result in a perfectly sized and straight cut hole in your floor. Will just leave you to lift the cut blocks out. Although they'd probably arrange that as well if you'd ask them.

I'd have another look at the roof with a view to putting a 2 poster in.

Long term it is the way forward and will probably be cheaper than a pit or pit/lift combination.