Building a Garage Pit

[OrangeB2400]

I'm thinking about putting a pit in my garage. 4 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Concrete floor with cinder lack walls filled with concrete and rebar. My garage is not high enough for a lift and I can build a put myself fairly cheaply.

 

[Parkanzky]

You'll want some sort of bump rails to make it a bit harder to drive into and make sure that you put in a system for ventilation. It's dangerous to have a pit that you don't pump fresh air into.

You might as well also have a plan to fill it in, since there's probably nowhere in the US that a homemade pit is going to meet code.

 

[boomer1025]

First thing I'd do is check with your Insurance Company.

 

[BHD]

Can you put a lift out side to work on your cars? putting a pit out side is not a good idea as if some one walks in it and gets hurt, the liability is to great IMO, even putting a pit in the garage is or can be dangerous.

most likely the cost of the pit would not be a lot different than the lift and I think you will find a lift much better than a pit, pits are either to low or to high for easy reach, many times the sides are not such to do much your limited, to what one can reach or work on,

even an old alignment rack, or an alignment rack and a shallow pit could be considered, with the rack up about 18" and the depth would be minimal, and shielded on both sides, and would be simple to put a small fence type gate, on the front and the back of the ramps.

 

[hawkeye08]

Friend built on in his shop when he did the floor, he has steel plates (when not using it for long periods) and wood panels that cover it when not using to avoid someone or something falling in. He also put a lift in but much later. He said the pit is best for some tasks, lift better for others. He usually has a car parked over it to avoid problems.

 

[bcp]

This:



or this:



Probably not this:



or this:




How about a ramp like many car dealers use to display cars, especially 4x4's?



Bruce

 

[newbury]

<snip>

View attachment 468856

or this:

View attachment 468857


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I LIKE those two!

I've a steep slope like the first pic next to one of my workshops. I could build a strong drive on 2 ramp "covered pier" and work standing up.

 

[alchemysa]

I'm thinking about putting a pit in my garage. 4 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Concrete floor with cinder lack walls filled with concrete and rebar. My garage is not high enough for a lift and I can build a put myself fairly cheaply.

I have a pit and use it regularly. 6 feet sounds pretty deep, even for a tall guy. Your arms will get tired reaching up all the time. Without going out and checking, I think mine is about chin or mouth high, and even then I will sometimes stand on an old car battery to give me extra height so I can get my head up into some areas for a better view.

Mine is only 3 feet wide which I think is pretty good. Wider might be nicer, but remember that some tractors and other kinds of wheeled equipment can be quite narrow. (Maybe the pit could be narrower at the front end so you could drive something like a ride-on mower over it). And being only 3 feet wide makes it unlikely we will accidentally drop a wheel into it when we park over it.

Length is an important consideration. You will want to be able to reach at least the centre of the vehicle when its parked over the pit. But remember you will lose at least 2 feet of space at one end because you have to leave room for yourself to climb down. So a pit with a 8 foot long 'opening' really only gives 6 feet of undercar working area.

A really long pit with comfortable steps would be terrific but its more work to build, and remember you have to cover it to make it safe. The bigger it is the harder that will be. I was restricted in length because a pipe runs through the middle of my shed so I have to do with just 3 steps from top to bottom.

An electric power point and some lighting built into the pit wall would be very nice but I don't have those. A small portable flood light on an extension cord is my lighting method. I should also paint the walls and the floor of the pit white to reflect more light. (It seems you never have enough light in the pit).

You absolutely must cover it when its not in use. You've got to be fanatical about this or someone will eventually fall in. Mine is not very long or wide so it just requires a couple of pieces of 1'' ply to cover it. Personally I've never had any concerns about ventilation or fumes collecting in the pit but I don't have any petrol storage or household gas pipes nearby.

 

[bcp]

I LIKE those two!

I've a steep slope like the first pic next to one of my workshops. I could build a strong drive on 2 ramp "covered pier" and work standing up.

The concept is good, but I wasn't impressed with what I could see of the construction. I've been thinking of something like that using two H beams for rails. Maybe one adjustable for width.

Bruce

 

[leop]

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.

Leo