I’ve got one of those fairly standard brick garages. Concrete floor. Fixing cars would be easier if I had a pit. Would it be practical to make a pit? Any legalities?

I have a pit in my garage and would be lost without it. I have boards over it most of the time so quite safe.

Canny site cheaper than a ramp, just make sure you line it so the water doesn’t seep in.

My ex brother in law built one without thinking about the water seepage and he ended up never using it as it filled about 6 inches very quickly and rendered it useless.

I’m disappointed. I thought you meant a coal mine.

Its something I’d like to do too. The only safety point I’d add is if you are running the car to attach a pipe the car exhaust and pump the gas outside as I’ve heard CO will build up in the pit and you may pass out and then you are in trouble.

dont know about any planning or permission but as stated above water seepage may be an issue,you would need to dig the pit bigger than needed. dry line it/damp proof it, then line with concrete or similar to hold in place.

They are a bad idea get a post lift instead – far safer

I havent got the height Geoff.

I’ve got one in my garage. It was probably great in 1930 when the house was built, but the chances of actually fitting a modern car in the garage are non-existent, so if anyone’s got some spare rubble, I’d gladly fill it in.

Codebrennan. 19/06/14.

It took a year for my mum to realise why the lawn borders ended up like railway embankments the year me & dear brother dug the garage floor out. You should see how much bloomin soil comes out of a hole that big.

🙂

My dad has one – useful every now and again – but not for me now we have a van that won’t go through the door 🙁

They bought the house new and got the builder to leave an unfinished bit to the garage floor that dad then dug and concrete lined.

It always used to gather a few inches of water, but turned out it was wind blown rain tracking under the garage door. A bitumen coated strip of wood stuck to the floor behind the door blocked that and it now stays dry.

There are ready made plastic / grp mouldings that you can line them with – maybe easier than all the prep, shuttering, concrete etc?

A company called mechmate ithink it is do a grp moulded one so no water seepage issues

I did not know such a thing was possible. I’d love one if my garage wasn’t too full of bikes, workbench and junk to get a car in.

I had the use of one in the 80’s, my cousin had one in his garage that we all helped dig. My Uncle fitted a water pump which did make it very usable. Yep, you need to think about water seepage – a fantastic bit of kit though for classic cars. A pit feels safer to work in than under a ramped/hoisted car for some reason. If you can do it, do it!

Really not keen on pits – petrol vapour can gather in them , and the worst risk is falling in them.
Why not look at something like a ramp/lift

for example http://www.cjautosheywood.co.uk/mini.shtml

My neighbours have one. It was built by the previous owners/builders of the house – it wasn’t for doing work, but as a means of storing a caravan….

There’s a property for sale in our village which had a pit in the extensive range of man caves that came with it, subject to water and safety considerations should be easy enough.