My attic lift build

dollarz81 · Mar 13, 2009

Here was the initial thread I started.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30317

It took a lot for me to get to this point cause I am not an engineer or a carpenter. Asked a few people who have done construction so I am following their advice. Used 2x8's to frame up up.....still not done framing it yet. It is real solid. I may put a few carriage bolts into the old beams just to secure everything. Going to start on the hoist next. More to come......

sofob0909 · Mar 15, 2009

keep up updated. i am very interested

dollarz81 · Mar 15, 2009

Mezzanine · Mar 15, 2009

Great looking lift! I have one engineering suggestion for you: The board that the hoist is bolted to should sit on top of the cross braces, and then bolted in, instead of having it bolted from the underside. This would allow the load to be transferred directly, instead of through the fasteners. Also, larger cross members would be a bit safer. Perhaps you could switch to 4x4's?
I assume that you installed all the lumber flat to gain as much room as possible? It is the "weak side" of the wood unfortunately. Perhaps a nice steel structure would allow for some insurance, while making for a slim profile.

How much weight you putting up there?

That will come in handy for certain!

dollarz81 · Mar 15, 2009

Mezzanine said:
Great looking lift! I have one engineering suggestion for you: The board that the hoist is bolted to should sit on top of the cross braces, and then bolted in, instead of having it bolted from the underside. This would allow the load to be transferred directly, instead of through the fasteners. Also, larger cross members would be a bit safer. Perhaps you could switch to 4x4's?
I assume that you installed all the lumber flat to gain as much room as possible? It is the "weak side" of the wood unfortunately. Perhaps a nice steel structure would allow for some insurance, while making for a slim profile.

How much weight you putting up there?

That will come in handy for certain!

Thanx for the suggestions. I have a large attic so anything I store can be spaced out to spread the weight evenly throughout the attic. I am mainly going to be hoisting a miter saw, small welder and a small table saw....and various totes with seasonal decorations. I don't see hoisting more than 200lbs at a time. I think the structure is adequate for that, but I am no engineer. I think I will rebuild it with a steel structure one day.

BTW, the structure is built from 2x8s.

ovilla · Mar 16, 2009

Got to agree with Mezzanine. Please consider his suggestions as they are same thing that I was thinking about. I know you're only planning on lifting around 200 pounds but you'll surprise yourself later on when you go to lift something much heavier than that. Building it for overkill is cheap and will ensure that the only issue (perhaps) down the road will be the hoist (if say the motor burns out). Some 4X4's or more 2X8 lumber will cost you $20-$30 and the peace of mind they give will go a long ways.

BTW, I did the same thing in my 2 car bay but I mounted my HF hoist to 12' of barn rail so that after I lift something I can slide it over to where I need it. I also have a big steel ring rated for something like 1,000 pounds which I attached to the end of the hoist. This allows me to use regular tow straps to wrap around whatever I'm lifting up and then they secure to the big O ring. This is of course way overkill for just lifting lawnmowers, snow throwers, and a pressure washer, but to me the point was to make it as safe as possible so that nothing/nobody gets hurt.

dollarz81 · Mar 16, 2009

So are yall talking about just replacing the 2x8 cross brace above the hoist?

KenB · Mar 16, 2009

I recommend a trolley or swinging jib -- some way to move the load horizontally, once you have it lifted. Having built a strict up-and-down lift myself, I can tell you it is surprisingly difficult to wrestle the load sideways, once you have lifted it close to the hoist. Some good ideas in these threads:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26267&highlight=kenb

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8563&highlight=attic+lift

Ken

Jim Stabe · Mar 16, 2009

I agree with Ken that you want to be able to move the load over solid floor once you get it up there. Here is my adaptation of one of the posts Ken referenced just to give you more ideas.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31693

Jim

Jaguar Fan · Mar 16, 2009

KenB said:
I recommend a trolley or swinging jib -- some way to move the load horizontally, once you have it lifted. Having built a strict up-and-down lift myself, I can tell you it is surprisingly difficult to wrestle the load sideways, once you have lifted it close to the hoist. Some good ideas in these threads:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26267&highlight=kenb

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8563&highlight=attic+lift

Ken

I was thinking the same thing.

Or, maybe this might work:

Since it can be difficult (and possibly dangerous) to wrestle the load sideways once it has been hoisted... instead have a moving "floor" so that once the load is lifted, you move the floor in to place underneath the load. Then, the OP isn't so much wrestling a hanging load as pushing/pulling the payload resting on the "floor" inside the attic.

e-tek · Mar 16, 2009

First off, me likey your hoisty!!!!!! Great work on the hole and wiring and bracing. :bowdown:

Secondly, I like Jaguar Fan's idea of just sliding a board under the load once it's up there. Then you can take your time and roll/slide stuff off. As well it'd be way easier than trying to build a swing arm/trolley now!
Thirdly, now build/procure some kind of box, with a balanced handle/strap, so you can load smaller stuff into it (10 gals of paint, etc) and haul up all at once! :thumbup:

Great work - now imagine all the other guys doing the same thing (like me)!!!

BTW - what's the round pot-scrubber brush on you saw-horse work bench used for???? :headscrat

beardking · Mar 16, 2009

I would also suggest adding joist hangers in the areas circled. Nailing/screwing into the endgrain of the wood isn't the most secure method of attachement here.

Steve-oh · Mar 16, 2009

beardking said:
I would also suggest adding joist hangers in the areas circled. Nailing/screwing into the endgrain of the wood isn't the most secure method of attachement here.

And also reset the date on your camera!!

dollarz81 · Mar 16, 2009

e-tek said:
BTW - what's the round pot-scrubber brush on you saw-horse work bench used for????

Cleaning the filter on my wet/dry vac. It used to be used for cleaning out cups before we got a dishwasher.

Patriot · Feb 21, 2011

I bought an electric winch from Harbour Freight. Then I bought an 8ft sched 40 pipe from a fencing company. I ordered a hoist frame from Cabelas. I wanted to lift my new water heater into the house attic. The hoist rotates on the pipe.

LWW · Feb 21, 2011

Patriot said:
I bought an electric winch from Harbour Freight. Then I bought an 8ft sched 40 pipe from a fencing company. I ordered a hoist frame from Cabelas. I wanted to lift my new water heater into the house attic. The hoist rotates on the pipe.

Pictures please!

Garage5.9 · Feb 21, 2011

Cool now you can even pull engines too. Allways had this in he back of my mind

metal1313 · Feb 21, 2011

i would totally redo the opening in the floor. the way it is now seriously weakens the structure. i would like to see the framing doubled up on the sides, with joist hangers at all attachment points.

i also see issues with the hoist frame. the board the hoist is bolted to and the boards that board sits on appear to be laying flat and not vertical. they are in their weakest configureation this way and really are not that strong. if you were to rebuild the hoist frame with the boards verticle you will also add alot more structure to the garage. on a final note i would consider running the vertical legs all the way to the roof structure, that way bracing the floor from spreading as it sags, and the way it is now i think it will

Patriot · Feb 21, 2011

Here are some pics. I put a plate under the pipe. Used 8inch bolts thru the floor joists since there were 3 boards together which meant I had to go thru 6inches. I wanted a thick pole support but could not find a 2 inch so I used a 2 and 7/8 and added some metal shims. I figured the water heater would be the heaviest item I would lift and the rest of the time it would be holiday boxes, etc. I can remove the pole with the electric winch and use it outside for other things to lift. It was a bear to pick up that pipe with the hoist frame and hoist attached by myself to insert it into the pole support but it worked. I had seen a couple of plumbing videos that that attached 3/4 inch tee adapters on the hot/cold water threaded ******* on the water heater since they seem to be structural. Haven't lowered the old water heater yet since its rusted so I figure I will do it later when I get help or just leave it in the attic.

Patriot · Feb 21, 2011

Here is the link to Cabelas for the hoist frame. Electric Hoist from Harbour Freight cost about $130, Hoist frame about $50.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabe...=hoist+frame&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products

If you can find or make a removable jib hoist base, that would work also. You can weld a vertical plate on it to give you different options to bolt it to the floor or vertically on the joists.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RH1T92/?tag=atomicindus08-20

JerseyJim · Feb 21, 2011

I have to agree with Metal1313. The rafters have been severely compromised. Running the opening parallel to the rafters instead of across them would have been a better structural choice. While the weight of individual items being lifted might be insignificant, the cumulative weight of all the items along with the weight of a man could easily be more than this structure can now handle. This needs to be addressed.

ForceFed70 · Feb 21, 2011

I also have concerns with the truss bottom cord/floor joists being cut like that.

Cutting 1 you can get away with so long as you tie into the neighbouring joists and also double them up. But cutting 2 like you did and then not tieing them in properly (smaller lumber, no hangers, etc) is just asking for trouble.

If nothing else, make sure that you don't put any weight on the floor under those 2 joists. I would still double up your neighbouring joists and then remove those 2x8's and use same size lumber (2x10?) and hangers to tie everything together. Even then, your structure will still be compromised, but will be a heck of a lot better than what you have now.

My attic lift build

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