Basement garage build

[Belgique Basterd]

Hi guys, just wanted to share my garage build and am open to all tips n tricks on how to outfit the garage! The garage is the basement of the house, there will be no sloped access, but access will be via a 4 post car lift.

This will be a thing of the past

During construction:

This is where we at now, building for the house will start in a couple of weeks

Extended 4 post car lifts cost around 8500€/9500$ locally, which was too much for my budget. Original plan was to buy a standard heigth 4 post lift and extend it, but during my search for a second hand four post lift I found a tall 4 post lift for 1/4 of the new price! So no need to mess around with extending a standard lift.

This is the lift I bought, will go pick it up next week.

Will have to put a 'roof' on top of the 4 post lift, that way when the lift is in it's down position the garage above is closed and can be used as normal.

Picture says a thousand words :

To be continued, any an all ideas and advice are more than welcome!!

 

[matt_i]

Re: Basement garaga build

So, the lift is an elevator used to access the garage?

I was wondering as I did not see any ramps or cutouts for vehicle doors.

I think you have to be very careful with generating any gasoline vapors, as gasoline and and natural gas-fueled heating don't interact well...there are many cautions to not store lawnmowers and or gas cans in the same spaces as furnaces.

 

[Cyberbear]

Re: Basement garaga build

You do indeed have an impressive major underground project underway judging from the photos. There is little I can add but to say congratulations, good luck and plan ahead for every possible situation. Looks like it will also serve as a durable shelter from terrorist attack. ;-)>

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Re: Basement garaga build

So, the lift is an elevator used to access the garage?

I was wondering as I did not see any ramps or cutouts for vehicle doors.

I think you have to be very careful with generating any gasoline vapors, as gasoline and and natural gas-fueled heating don't interact well...there are many cautions to not store lawnmowers and or gas cans in the same spaces as furnaces.

Jup, the lift is the access point to the garage.

Ventilation has been pointed out to me by other members here as a concern, any suggestions what would be the most cost effective way to ventilate? On the plus side heating is being done with a geothermal heat pump so no gas and no open flame.

 

[BobRae]

Re: Basement garaga build

You need a proper ventilation system for this setup or you'll not only have a a fire/explosion risk in the basement but a potentially dangerous air quality issue in the house.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Re: Basement garaga build

Interesting project, I will be watching your progress. I think if you can find a local mechanical contractor who is familiar with industrial construction, they will be able to figure out what kind of ventilation is required.

It will all depend on the regulations in your country, but in the USA this sort of project typically has a two speed ventilation system: when the room is unoccupied, it continuously ventilates at a low speed, and when people are present it ventilates at a high speed (this is done by interlocking operation of the fan with the room lights; turn on the lights and the fan goes to high speed.) The fan would also be interlocked with a hazardous gas detector, so if the level of hazardous fumes exceeds a safe limit, the ventilation goes to high speed.

Remember that in addition to an exhaust fan you also need an air intake, to bring in fresh air. Also, depending on your climate you may need to have a way to heat the fresh air coming in the air intake, so you don't have freezing problems in the winter.

 

[NUTTSGT]

This looks like an interesting project to check out as it's built. I did notice what looks to be a ton of rebar in the floor before it was poured.

Since you are showcasing your build, I'm going to move it to the gallery section.

 

[rmmiller]

That's awesome! They built a home across from us that has a two car bay in the basement but they have access to drive into it. I told my wife if it were mine I would do just what you are doing.

 

[lakeroadster]

Got a really, really good curtain drain / sump pump system?

And a Generac back up for power?

And some type of light curtain to ensure the area under the lift is unoccupied before engaging lift?
_____
John

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Re: Basement garaga build

You need a proper ventilation system for this setup or you'll not only have a a fire/explosion risk in the basement but a potentially dangerous air quality issue in the house.

The house that comes on top of it will be a 'passive house', meaning it will be providing it's own power. Electricity will be from solar panels and it will be very wel insulated, there will be 15inch of insulation in the walls and the windows will be triple glazed. Another thing that add's a lot in preventing heat loss is that the entire house will be airtight, every nook and cranny will be closed off as a result the entire house will be 'balance ventilated' meaning all the air that goes in and comes out of the house goes through the ventilation unit, so no risk of air from the basement coming into the house.

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Re: Basement garaga build

Interesting project, I will be watching your progress. I think if you can find a local mechanical contractor who is familiar with industrial construction, they will be able to figure out what kind of ventilation is required.

It will all depend on the regulations in your country, but in the USA this sort of project typically has a two speed ventilation system: when the room is unoccupied, it continuously ventilates at a low speed, and when people are present it ventilates at a high speed (this is done by interlocking operation of the fan with the room lights; turn on the lights and the fan goes to high speed.) The fan would also be interlocked with a hazardous gas detector, so if the level of hazardous fumes exceeds a safe limit, the ventilation goes to high speed.

Remember that in addition to an exhaust fan you also need an air intake, to bring in fresh air. Also, depending on your climate you may need to have a way to heat the fresh air coming in the air intake, so you don't have freezing problems in the winter.

As said in a previous post, my house itself will have 'balance' ventilation, meaning that in the dry spaces (bedrooms, livingroom,...) air will be blown into the rooms and in the wet spaces (kitchen, bathroom) an identical volume of air will be removed from the house.

I'm am thinking of using the same kind of ventilation in the basement, ad air close to the ceiling and install the suction ducts low down on the floor where the air is then sucked out of the basement. I would use a completely seperate system from the house system so there is never any risk of the house being contaminated. Still on the lookout as to what would be the best system, also looking at gas detection units alerting me if LEL for gasoline or other gasses are exceeded, any tips are more than welcome!

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Got a really, really good curtain drain / sump pump system?

And a Generac back up for power?

And some type of light curtain to ensure the area under the lift is unoccupied before engaging lift?
_____
John

I'm sorry I'm not understanding what you are talking about here?

 

[Knyte Tyne]

Id feel like a superhero entering my underground lair with an entrance like that hahaha...
interesting build - Super keen to see how this is all going to work...

 

[lakeroadster]

Got a really, really good curtain drain / sump pump system?

And a Generac back up for power?

And some type of light curtain to ensure the area under the lift is unoccupied before engaging lift?
_____
John

I'm sorry I'm not understanding what you are talking about here?

Sump pump in the basement to pump out water in the event of rain, floods, etc.

A back up generator to run the sump pump and to get the cars out in the event of a power failure.

Light curtain on the lift is a safety device that will not allow it to go down if there is anything under the lift.

_____
John

 

[Firebird 1]

I have built a few firehouses in the states, they put in a sensor system in the engine bays that have detectors that start an exhaust fan process when they pick up "bad air". I know this sounds simple and vague but a good engineer can put you in the right direction. It looks like you have quite and impressive project going on.

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Sump pump in the basement to pump out water in the event of rain, floods, etc.

A back up generator to run the sump pump and to get the cars out in the event of a power failure.

Light curtain on the lift is a safety device that will not allow it to go down if there is anything under the lift.

_____
John

This is one of the reasons of not having a sloped access, with a sloped access you rely on a pump to keep out the water. In my case there will be a house on top of the basement and the entrance to the basement will be inside the house. Therefore the water has to enter the house before it can enter the basement, ground level of the house is about 17" above the outside ground level, so I should be safe!

Picture says a thousand words, the lift will be located inside the garage at the far right side corner of the house.

About the lift safety, I see your point, but I will be the only user of this lift so in my opinion there is no need for such a device.

 

[Belgique Basterd]

I have built a few firehouses in the states, they put in a sensor system in the engine bays that have detectors that start an exhaust fan process when they pick up "bad air". I know this sounds simple and vague but a good engineer can put you in the right direction. It looks like you have quite and impressive project going on.

Exactly the direction I wan't to go!! No need for the fan to be running all the time when I'm not in the basement or there are no bad gasses.

 

[Slow_Lane]

Subscribed.

 

[bazzateer]

Exactly the direction I wan't to go!! No need for the fan to be running all the time when I'm not in the basement or there are no bad gasses.

A fan to expel bad gasses? There's a few of us that would benefit from that!

 

[NUTTSGT]

A fan to expel bad gasses? There's a few of us that would benefit from that!

Probably more than a few.

 

[stoffels]

wow, great project, subscribed. good luck from a fellow belgian ******* !

 

[lakeroadster]

This is one of the reasons of not having a sloped access, with a sloped access you rely on a pump to keep out the water. In my case there will be a house on top of the basement and the entrance to the basement will be inside the house. Therefore the water has to enter the house before it can enter the basement, ground level of the house is about 17" above the outside ground level, so I should be safe!
........

About the lift safety, I see your point, but I will be the only user of this lift so in my opinion there is no need for such a device.

Water can/will leak into the basement via the floor / wall seam and via cracks in the concrete. You still need a curtain drain and sump pump.

As for the lift safety device, where will the lift operating switch be? If it is in the basement no problems. If it is upstairs some safety device is needed. Same principal as an overhead garage door light curtain.

 

[warmpancakes]

how do you dive a truck that big in europe?

 

[wssix99]

how do you dive a truck that big in europe?

In the basement of a house! lol

 

[grease_monkey]

Bad ***! Can't wait for updates to this super villian lair.

 

[Ohighway]

So I'm assuming the combined weight of the vehicle and the roof structure are within the lifting limit of your lift?

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[1/2 Cup]

Nice, real nice in fact.

 

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Will there be a staircase, ladder with a hatch, or any other type of entrance into this garage? If not, I could see a local building inspector having an issue with this. I know this is Europe, but I would imagine there is some type of code regarding this.

If nothing else, using the lift to get in and out without a vehicle will get real old real fast and is an incredibly inefficient way to do so.

 

[Belgique Basterd]

So I'm assuming the combined weight of the vehicle and the roof structure are within the lifting limit of your lift?

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

Truck weighs 5500 pounds, lift has 6600 pounds capacity.

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Will there be a staircase, ladder with a hatch, or any other type of entrance into this garage? If not, I could see a local building inspector having an issue with this. I know this is Europe, but I would imagine there is some type of code regarding this.

If nothing else, using the lift to get in and out without a vehicle will get real old real fast and is an incredibly inefficient way to do so.

Should've titled the thread basement workshop and not garage, because it's a workshop and not a garage actually.

Truck/car will never be parked inhere, I'll only work on it in the basement.

The only alternative would've been sloped access, and I personally hate that since you are completely relying on a pump to keep water out of your basement, so even if a sloped access was allowed by the local building code (wich it isn't) I still would not have done that.

And offcourse there is a staircase , 360° picture:

 

[wssix99]

The only alternative would've been sloped access, and I personally hate that since you are completely relying on a pump to keep water out of your basement, so even if a sloped access was allowed by the local building code (wich it isn't) I still would not have done that.

It looks like you need a pump, anyway.

Or will you have drainage on the outside of the foundation when the building is complete?

 

[Belgique Basterd]

It looks like you need a pump, anyway.

Or will you have drainage on the outside of the foundation when the building is complete?

House on top hasn't been built yet, when that is built it will be 100% waterproof (at least that's the plan ).

 

[JettaGetUpandGo]

Should've titled the thread basement workshop and not garage, because it's a workshop and not a garage actually.

Truck/car will never be parked inhere, I'll only work on it in the basement.

The only alternative would've been sloped access, and I personally hate that since you are completely relying on a pump to keep water out of your basement, so even if a sloped access was allowed by the local building code (wich it isn't) I still would not have done that.

And offcourse there is a staircase

Whether it's called a garage or workshop on a plan, the municipality may see it the same either way.

The staircase puts me at ease. Reading through this the first time it sounded like the lift was the only way to access the lower level. I do like the idea of the lift and the ability to get large projects and materials in and out easily.

 

[wssix99]

Reading through this the first time it sounded like the lift was the only way to access the lower level.

Technically, that would make it a dungeon. ... and we'd probably have to create a new special forum for the thread in that case!

 

[404]

Looks great! Very James Bond. Well done.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Should've titled the thread basement workshop and not garage, because it's a workshop and not a garage actually.

If you want to change the title, let me know, I can do that quite easily and would be more than happy to help.

 

[Knyte Tyne]

Where I come from, Garage is slang for 'workshop', and places named Workshop are generally 'Garages' hahaha got to love africa... Who cares I'm excited to see this turns out... Basement Garage is apt enough a name... You know the day you drop your first vehicle in there you'll be smiling wide. And if at any point you touch a vehicle in your workshop, then it surely is a garage...

Keep up the progress

 

[Bib Overalls]

Water can/will leak into the basement via the floor / wall seam and via cracks in the concrete. You still need a curtain drain and sump pump.

I am a big believer in following the usual and customary building practices because they are time tested and area specific. The excavated soil looks like sand. Very common in the low countries. If this is the case, water will simply filter down and no sump pump would be needed.

 

[Belgique Basterd]

Update:

Picked up the lift and installed it, all went well as it is a very simple construction. Now for the next 'phase' I need to build the top platform for the lift, I'm very interested to hear some suggestions of how to build the top platform, it needs to be lightweight (max 1100lbs) but strong enough to carry my 5500lbs truck. Got some ideas of myself but always like to see other peoples ideas!

Some crappy pics, better ones will follow!

 

[Bib Overalls]

Vehicle weight will be carried by the lift runners. This means the floor does not have to be engineered to carry a lot of weight on it's full surface. I think heavy gauge "1.5 x 1.5" (40mm x 40mm ?) square tubing run crosswise on 16" (500 mm?) centers and topped with 20mm decking plywood would do the job.