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[Viral_Jim]

So, Mrs 944 and I made the decision to stay in our current house rather than moving as planned next year. One of the upshots of this is I'm thinking it may be worth having a pit dug (or doing it myself). I'm aware of the issues with fumes and water ingress and plan to take steps to address these.

I suspect that due to the proximity to the 3 storey house wall I will need a structural engineer/surveyor to advise but I wondered if anyone has had this done and what sort of costs are involved? I'm thinking of a cast concrete one rather than one of those fibreglass jobbies.

[deviator]

If you've got the height for it, fit a 2 post lift circa £1200 new (for a slow cheap one) and you get to take it to the next house.

IMO, much more useful than a pit.

[Viral_Jim]

Couldn't agree more, problem is the garage is only 7" to ceiling level  . Could replace the roof I suppose but the cost saving would be somewhat lost I think.

TBH its the biggest compromise with staying (for me) in that it is just a single garage.

[deviator]

Yeah garage roofs end up costing a bit. I'm replacing mine now, well over the last few weeks and have taken the chance to make the garage a little bigger. Although, I have seen a car lift attached to a 'floating' roof. IE you put the car on the lift, set the lift going up and it raises the car and the garage roof whilst the sides expand to fill what would be a gap.

I'm trying to think of times that a pit would be better than a decent high lift jack and massive stands. Urm, exhaust, oil change are the obvious ones. Most jobs though require at least a corner jacking up.

[Viral_Jim]

True, perhaps cash is better spent on a good jack and some high lift axle stands! 

[deviator]

On the plus side, whatever you spend on jacks/stands will at least go with you when you move.

EDIT

Expensive, but what about something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-LIFT-scissor-GREAT-FOR-HOME-WORK-USE-MOBILE-SCISSOR-LIFT-/291517130138?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43dfc6659a

[Marks DTM Calib]

Structural survey required and it is probably notifiable to building control to.

On the plus side, some very good rep-formed fibre glass inserts available

http://www.mech-mate.co.uk/How-to-Fit-a-Pit.html

[Bigron]

I wish I knew how to post a captured image from StreetView because it shows a display trestle on their forecourt that they drive their "Car of the Week" onto. Let me try to describe it:
ample car length skeletal frame with ramps at either end which become end stops when the car is on it and they are swung to the vertical. Angling one end to 45 degrees makes it a gentle slope to drive up onto the long flat part.
Confused yet?
Once the car is in place, the car part of the frame is jacked up to be level and the erstwhile ramp drops down to be the rear prop and end stop.
One picture is worth a thousand words.....

Ron.

[aaronjb]

Seesaw ramps, Ron. http://www.directsupplyukltd.co.uk/see-saw-car-ramps/p170

I have a mechmate pit - I wouldn't be without it as it does make some jobs so much easier.. But given the choice I would pick a lift any day of the week.

Whatever route you go is going to cost upward of a grand unless you dig and line your pit with nothing but your own labour

[05omegav6]

Interesting, you can rent those ramps... Useful for a meet perhaps

[Viral_Jim]

Structural survey required and it is probably notifiable to building control to.

Now that but I didn't know!

Scissor lift looks sweet. And actually not so much if you think of £200 for a good low profile jack and £75 a pair for good stands. Not to mention £1-2k for a pit!

My only concern would be stability. Footprint looks kinda small, especially if dealing with a decent size car such as an omega.

Seesaw ramps are nice but not sure on storage :-/

[hoody]

http://www.cjautosheywood.co.uk/2post.shtml   

[Vamps]

On the plus side, whatever you spend on jacks/stands will at least go with you when you move.

EDIT

Expensive, but what about something like this?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-LIFT-scissor-GREAT-FOR-HOME-WORK-USE-MOBILE-SCISSOR-LIFT-/291517130138?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43dfc6659a

That seems a useful bit of kit, for light jobs or bigger jobs on a Mini........

[jimbo125]

That's a clever bit of kit shame I can't afford it would make life so much easier. No more crawling under the car and being so restricted. Father Christmas I have been a good boy... Honest