Building a Garage Pit

[farm boy00]

I know you have said no lift and I understand that but did you mean a 2 post lift or lifts at all. One thought would be a little scissor lift

 

[bcp]

Do you have a hillside?



Or flat land?

Army ramps

Bruce

 

[dfkrug]

I know it is not allowed for residential here...

At last count, I think there are 17 building authorities in the SF Bay Area. I don't know what
part of your building code disallows pits, but I can see a local authority adding such a
prohibition, outside the code.

That said, I live in the Bay Area's biggest county, and I have a pit, which passed plan-check,
has a permit, and passed inspection. It is in my workshop, which is concrete and also has
an engineer's stamp. The pit was clearly shown on the building plans for the workshop,
not a separate permit. It was cast monolithically with the floor slab.

My pit is only 3-ft deep, which allows me to sit comfortably on a stool or kneel on a pad
to do most work. I love it. I cover it with a 1/4" sheet of aluminum diamond plate, which
is pretty heavy, but slides open and closed without much effort. It has 1/4" lips in the
slab so it sits flush with the floor when in place.

Note that if the walls of a pit are higher than 3 feet, they are retaining walls, which
require engineering calcs and stamp to pass code reqs. Ventillation should not be an
issue at this depth. Note that OSHA regulates work-places, not residential structures.

 

[MossRoad]

I have no interest in storing extra cars on a lift, but I don't want to put a pit in my workshop either. I like those ramps, but don't want to deal with putting them away, or tripping over then when not in use. I also couldn't get my backhoe into a shop and up on them.

This got me to thinking. Why not build a set of ramps outside of my shop out of concrete filled cinder blocks?

Man, I hate cinder blocks. I know, if done properly, they are just concrete, but I still don't like them. I'd form it up with wood and pour it.

Anyhow, concrete is permanent. Do you really want a permanent structure outside your shop? That's kinda the beauty of lifts and portable ramps VS a pit or concrete ramps. When you tire of them, just remove them. I recall an old, tiny little brick gas station on the west side of our town. It was about 12x12. But they had a lift outdoors next to it, and the guy did oil changes and lube jobs. The little building is still there, but the lift is long gone.
Google Maps

 

[ultrarunner]

At last count, I think there are 17 building authorities in the SF Bay Area. I don't know what
part of your building code disallows pits, but I can see a local authority adding such a
prohibition, outside the code.

That said, I live in the Bay Area's biggest county, and I have a pit, which passed plan-check,
has a permit, and passed inspection. It is in my workshop, which is concrete and also has
an engineer's stamp. The pit was clearly shown on the building plans for the workshop,
not a separate permit. It was cast monolithically with the floor slab.

My pit is only 3-ft deep, which allows me to sit comfortably on a stool or kneel on a pad
to do most work. I love it. I cover it with a 1/4" sheet of aluminum diamond plate, which
is pretty heavy, but slides open and closed without much effort. It has 1/4" lips in the
slab so it sits flush with the floor when in place.

Note that if the walls of a pit are higher than 3 feet, they are retaining walls, which
require engineering calcs and stamp to pass code reqs. Ventillation should not be an
issue at this depth. Note that OSHA regulates work-places, not residential structures.

The previous owner and the builder of my shop had a pit in the plans and the Oakland Building Department put a big X through it in red... slab is on a downslope so it would have been a natural... and plenty of ventilation.

I think I remember seeing yours and aluminum diamond plate sounds more than adequate...

 

[OrangeB2400]

That place wasn't in Sacramento, was it?

East Coast not West.

 

[dfkrug]

The previous owner and the builder of my shop had a pit in the plans
and the Oakland Building Department put a big X through it in red... slab is on a downslope so it
would have been a natural... and plenty of ventilation.

I think I remember seeing yours and aluminum diamond plate sounds more than adequate...

Yeah, you told me about some of your dealings with the City of Oakland. The building dept. has to
tell you what part of the code your plan would violate. I have run into County bureaucrats who tell
me things are forbidden, but can't back it up. That's when I go to the director. I have won more
battles that way than I have lost. There is a written building code that can be invoked.

If that does not work, I have to pay $500 and appeal to the planning commission. I did that once,
and won, mostly. What a rip-off.

 

[brown40]

"That's not a service pit. It's a tornado shelter."



Bruce

"Service pit? Why this must be your first day on the job. That's obviously a sump pit! What is your manager's name?"

 

[stuckmotor]

Some of these contraptions could go in the thread on using dead falls for mouse traps.

 

[copytmpmzl]

I would not do it.

These used to be more common but they turned out to be death traps. The fumes from numerouse solvents (gas, brake clean, carb cleaner) collect in the pit and eventualy overwhelm the person in the pit who then collapses in the pit and sinks to the bottom where there is even less air than there was at the top. The other thing that can happen is the volitile solvens explode in the pit.

Based on the above insurance companies stopped insuring places with pits, and hence the decline. This is probably why somone suggested checking with your insurance company before going to the trouble of building one.

In the end I decided to get a lift becuase of the above issue with the pit, but also becuase it came out cheaper than building the pit. Now if you do the digging perhaps a lift would not be cheaper, but when I looked at all the digging I said screw it.
VicRoads precast inspection
Leo

Hello folks,
I'm brand new to these Subaru Outback forums, so please excuse me if I initiated this thread in the wrong place.

I'm considering building inspection / maintenance pit in my existing garage.
It has 6" concrete floor through which I intend to cut with the circular saw for masonry.
Could somebody please share his thoughts, ideas or precautions on how to build the inspection pit safely and in the most inexpensive way. Surprisingly, I could not find any information on pre-formed fiber glass pit liners in the US which would make my task much easier.

Thank you in advance for any thought or advices.