pro machine Engineering
Well-known member
When I built my shop I put in a pit to work under cars. I dont see how people can build a garage without one. Does anyone else have a pit in there shop
garage floor pit
- Thread starter pro machine Engineering
- Start date
1948
Well-known member
they are outlawed or so i hear.... if the car catches fire you might not be able to get out, or if the cars tires blow out ect ect ect
Bruce4310TX
Well-known member
there are several members with pits, i think a pit plus a lift would be a plus. and never heard of them being outlawed.
OP
pro machine Engineering
Well-known member
never heard of the outlawed part. There may be some local codes that prevent it. There are some common sense precautions to take one being never pull a car over the pit to block access where you cant get in or out. Our local police chief looked at mine and put one in his shop when he built it.
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Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Some locales do not allow them. In any case, there are fire and electric code considerations, plus ventilation issues you have to be aware of if you value your life.
I'll take a 4 post or 2 post lift over a pit any day.
Charles
I'll take a 4 post or 2 post lift over a pit any day.
Charles
rwhite692
Well-known member
+1 on that. Working with a pit ***** and is only marginally better than having nothing.... Invariably, you are climbing in and out of the thing 100 times during the course of a typical job, to grab tools, etc...unless all you are doing is oil changes. Then they are fine....Ever replace a transmission, using a pit? Loads of fun.
ihredo4
Well-known member
I will take a pit over a lift any day. Course I work with dozers, trenchers, backhoes and such. I haven't seen a lift yet that will take a 18,000 pound trencher up in the air. And if it did I sure as hell am not getting under it.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
ptschram
Well-known member
A friend of mine's father had one put in the house when they built it. It opens into the basement garage.
The only mistake he says he made was not providing a ramp to be able to drive to the basement garage. During much of the year, he can't drive to the basement garage without tearing up the lawn.
The only mistake he says he made was not providing a ramp to be able to drive to the basement garage. During much of the year, he can't drive to the basement garage without tearing up the lawn.
tylerae40
Well-known member
i belive pits are great, im planning to put one in my shed. i just feel safer knowing the car cant drop any further than the solid ground its on.
abstamaria
Well-known member
The wide availability of lifts for the home garage at relatively low costs I think have made pits much less popular. The ease of working under a lift, the space, brightness, access to tools, etc., give lifts a huge advantage, IMO. And you can remove the wheels from your vehicle, do brake jobs, etc, easily on a two-post lift.
The risks associated with a pit - ventilations, getting trapped, someone falling into them, etc. - probably are greater than those posed by a lift.
I'm claustrophobic and don't work on bulldozers, so never considered a pit.
The risks associated with a pit - ventilations, getting trapped, someone falling into them, etc. - probably are greater than those posed by a lift.
I'm claustrophobic and don't work on bulldozers, so never considered a pit.
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TruckJunkie
Well-known member
I have a stairwell between two levels of my garage with a removeable railing and steps which leaves me with a 4' deep pit. It is great and since it opens into another area of the garage there are no ventilation or access issues. A lift would also be nice, maybe someday.
I had planning permission (legal requirement in Scotland) to build a pit in my garage and when I dug out the hole it filled with water. Doing a lot of research I found that I could line and tank the pit to prevent water ingress, but also found out just how dangerous they can be with fumes.
Gasses being heavier than air can sit low down in the pit and when you go down there you have no idea of what you are going to be inhaling, proper ventilation is complicated and expensive. The risk of getting trapped is high as is falling down an open pit. I decided that the way forward was to fill in the hole and go upwards with my 4 post ramp which actually worked out less expensive than building the pit.
Gasses being heavier than air can sit low down in the pit and when you go down there you have no idea of what you are going to be inhaling, proper ventilation is complicated and expensive. The risk of getting trapped is high as is falling down an open pit. I decided that the way forward was to fill in the hole and go upwards with my 4 post ramp which actually worked out less expensive than building the pit.
bazzateer
Well-known member
I have a shop with a pit in it. I hand dugged the hole and put in steel in the walls for the cement to tie in with the floor of the shop so I would never have the wall of the pit move. I have 6 inches of wall and 8 inches of floor cement. I did it in one pore, so I didn't need a sump pump. I hung a 12'x5' box with no bottom in it. I reinforced the inside of the box alot with a lot of 2x4s 4x4s. I put in 5 yards of cement in it.I ran plastic pipe down into it for electric. I also ran 2 in plastic pipe up the wall and in the floor of the shop to the wall of the shop and up the wall a ways for a exhast fan. Everything worked great. hewes o6