building a pit

[l1ttle_d3vil]

has anyone actually built one of these? was it very hard, and was it worth it? i'm considering building one in my shed as it would be pretty useful, but it may not be worth the effort?!

how do you go about building one? what sort of bracing etc is required? I've got access to a digger/excavation/concrete tools etc etc so that isnt a problem.

cheers
-matt

[Bling]

i'd say it would cost a bit of money, and i'm sure the council would be wanting money to say you can build one. I'd take a stab at not worth the effort / hassle.

just so you can stand under the car? or to make it less hassle than putting a car on stands all the time?

if stands, perhaps just build 2 concrete ramps and 2 low walls of concrete/rows of concrete blocks filled with concrete to drive the car onto. Even that you would want to be pretty careful but i'd say cost / effort would be much less.


interested idea though, keen to know what you decide

[deaf_rattle]

the place we bought has a pit already and im thinking about filling it in...

[Bling]

that helps how?

he wants to know about builiding one, not your life story

[Alex B]

...

[Bling]

i'm just interested to know about building a pit tbh

if you have nothing to add to contribute don't post.

[l1ttle_d3vil]

the place we bought has a pit already and im thinking about filling it in...

why are you thinking of filling it in? other than the obvious fact that you don't use it, is that because you have access to a hoist? or prefer trying to remove a gearbox and set up fuel lines lying on your back?

it probably would be a costly exercise, but I can do all the work myself which should bring the cost down a bit. im fussy, and would much rather work on my car in comfort

[Bling]

i'm not sure on prices or anything, but companies like humes (i'm guessing they are based up north too) sell big concrete structures for drainage etc. you might be able to get a rectangular concrete box with no lid and dig that into the ground.

[rolla_fxgt]

I imagine the cost of all the stuff the council would want will be quite high, perhaps even more than the cost of the job if you couldn't do all the work yourself with the actual building.

I'd imagine you'd have to get a geologists report, an engineers report, perhaps something from a historian to say your not going to dig through a site of historical importance, oh and you probally won't be able to build it yourself, i imagine its one of those things the govt doesn't trust the diy'er to do by themselves anymore, so add in the cost of that too. Plus all the normal health & saftey crap, so no one falls down it.
And be prepared for blank looks when you go into the council offices to inquire about it, i don't imagine many of them would know what a pit is, and even less about what their requirements for 1 are, which maybe where the whole thing turns to custard.

But i'd say if you think you can get it done then do it aye, it would make things heaps easier for the things like you've said.

Keep us updated, I for one would be interested to see how you go, and maybe some photos of it getting built

[Alex B]

Might want to check local councel regs. From what i hear pits need to have proper ventilation systems, this could just be for workshops etc, reason being gas heaver than air.

[no_8wire]

Basically, unless you want to build it on the sly, it may pay to investigate a second hand hoist setup?

[sergei]

I imagine the cost of all the stuff the council would want will be quite high, perhaps even more than the cost of the job if you couldn't do all the work yourself with the actual building.

I'd imagine you'd have to get a geologists report, an engineers report, perhaps something from a historian to say your not going to dig through a site of historical importance, oh and you probally won't be able to build it yourself, i imagine its one of those things the govt doesn't trust the diy'er to do by themselves anymore, so add in the cost of that too. Plus all the normal health & saftey crap, so no one falls down it.
And be prepared for blank looks when you go into the council offices to inquire about it, i don't imagine many of them would know what a pit is, and even less about what their requirements for 1 are, which maybe where the whole thing turns to custard.

But i'd say if you think you can get it done then do it aye, it would make things heaps easier for the things like you've said.

Keep us updated, I for one would be interested to see how you go, and maybe some photos of it getting built

Jees, all this shit for basically coffin size hole about 1.5 meters deep? Now I need to have consent to hide all my bodies.. err. I mean coffins.. err nevermind

[rolla_fxgt]

I imagine the cost of all the stuff the council would want will be quite high, perhaps even more than the cost of the job if you couldn't do all the work yourself with the actual building.

I'd imagine you'd have to get a geologists report, an engineers report, perhaps something from a historian to say your not going to dig through a site of historical importance, oh and you probally won't be able to build it yourself, i imagine its one of those things the govt doesn't trust the diy'er to do by themselves anymore, so add in the cost of that too. Plus all the normal health & saftey crap, so no one falls down it.
And be prepared for blank looks when you go into the council offices to inquire about it, i don't imagine many of them would know what a pit is, and even less about what their requirements for 1 are, which maybe where the whole thing turns to custard.

But i'd say if you think you can get it done then do it aye, it would make things heaps easier for the things like you've said.

Keep us updated, I for one would be interested to see how you go, and maybe some photos of it getting built

Jees, all this sh*t for basically coffin size hole about 1.5 meters deep? Now I need to have consent to hide all my bodies.. err. I mean coffins.. err nevermind

Yup, crazy huh! Oh & most of this is why burying ppl is so expensive in cemeteries. You can't even bury your pet in the back yard any more if its over about 1kg in some places in the country

[Lloyd]

What if you cut it up into 1kg portions?

[deaf_rattle]

that helps how?

he wants to know about builiding one, not your life story

knob award for the day sir!

they are a pain to keep dry, against most local council regulations to name 2 reasons.

[Bling]

Maybe if you had mentioned its against most councils regulations to start with your post wouldn't have been a waste of time. Thats exactly the info the dude is after.

Your original post was of no help at all and was just spam. Calling people names though is pretty awesome dude, just shows maturity levels of some people on the board.

[85AW20v]

The house we bought has the pit boxed out in the garage floor but not dug out. Even with working on the racecar and dropping out gearboxes from the AW etc find it's easier to jack the car up on stands. Same when doing any welding/exhausts etc stands do the trick. A big cardboard box like from a fridge or something is all I use to lie on. My personal opinion - not worth the hassle.

[MasCam]

A company that I used to work for actually put a pit into a heavy vehicle repair facility when it was being built a few years ago.

It had to have full ventilation I think it had fume detectors and all sorts of other regs it had to comply with like nice safe stairs down etc etc etc.

I doon't believe that it would not be worth the effort which is why most garages have hoists now and filled in the pits, because the costs of bringing the pits up to compliance was just to high.

p.s. I have a pit it is dry and lives under the carpet in my garage, I didn't even know it existed when I bought the place, it is storage at the moment but will be cleaned out once the warranty on the car expires

It is NEVER getting filled in

[Mr Revhead]

yeah, as some have said, check with your local council.
im pretty sure some no longer allow new pits in residential places due to masses of OSH type rules....

[rallymazda]

to answer the original question, no it is not difficult to build one, ive built several lift shalfs at work, as long as you have access to free boxing materials
eg plywood costs $70 a sheet
boxing timber $2-3 a metre
adds up quick

you would be best to get an engineer to design the reinforcing requirements, not as expensive as it sounds

good point to remember is if you dig a hole bigger than 1.5m deep you have to excavate one side with a 45 deg slope to prevent being buried