Inspection pit

[C.tins]

Hi all, I've been interested in putting a pit in my shed for a while. (replaced the R380 in my disco twice:censored:) so I've been doing some research dampness is an obvious problem but I live on top of a hill so surely the water table will be on my side. as is ventilation and drainage, but in my internet travels I've come across things like this... Mech Mate - Motors Pits | Mech Mate Garage Flooring - Motor Pits (http://mech-mate.co.uk/Motor-Pits.html) But for the life of me I cannot find anything like it in Australia. In a perfect world I'd have a four post hoist. but unfortunately the shed's not quite tall enough:( and I cant see me being allowed to sell the house for a bigger shed or "improve" the shed in an upwards manner. any tips or even these prefabbed liners in OZ would be a GREAT help..

[pop058]

Not sure about Vic,but check your local council as pits in sheds have quite a few rules attached to them up here.

[goingbush]

Go to Seymour Exchange and strike up a freindship with linesman, 2 x telstra 6 pits , stacked on top of each other, job done
(9 pit would be better, but a special order, I was in Telstra 30 years & never saw one)

http://www.viscount.com.au/products___services/vrm/infrastructure/telecommunication_products

[Homestar]

Not sure about Vic,but check your local council as pits in sheds have quite a few rules attached to them up here.

Good thought there - i have been thinking of putting a pit in my garage too. I have just checked our Council website, but I can find nothing there. I might ring them and see if I can get any sense out of them.

If I do, I'll be doing it the old fashioned way and digging a hole and concreting it. I helped a friend a few years back to this, and it turned out well but was a lot of hard yakka...

[C.tins]

how'd you ventilate it?

If I do, I'll be doing it the old fashioned way and digging a hole and concreting it. I helped a friend a few years back to this, and it turned out well but was a lot of hard yakka...[/QUOTE]

[Homestar]

It wasn't ventilated. It was used with the garage door open, and we were never stupid enough to get in it while a car was running on it. We mounted a 40 watt Fluro in each side, and a solid bit of angle iron was welded to a frame that was cast into the concrete on the top rim which a jack adaptor was made up to fit so you could jack up the car from any position easily and safely.

Pity it is so far away from me now as I used to service all my cars on it.:)

[C.tins]

well thats easy I can open the door, I really like the jack adapter plate idea. Might steal that one. any other ideas like that keep em coming thanks



It wasn't ventilated. It was used with the garage door open, and we were never stupid enough to get in it while a car was running on it. We mounted a 40 watt Fluro in each side, and a solid bit of angle iron was welded to a frame that was cast into the concrete on the top rim which a jack adaptor was made up to fit so you could jack up the car from any position easily and safely.

Pity it is so far away from me now as I used to service all my cars on it.:)

[Hall]

Had a pit in the garage of our old house. Was only a shallow pit, say half depth. You could not stand under a car, but you could sit comfortably . One thing I do remember. What ever you remove, as in a gear box and it is in the pit you will need a hoist to get it out. So make sure you have a lifting point above the pit. You could say that it is one of the pit falls of having a pit. :) I no I no my humour is just the pits.
Cheers Hall

[UncleHo]

My old boss when I was driving school buses built a pit to service the buses,hand dug,with a heavy angle iron rim and built in fluro's and power points,as well as a rolling jack base,and a little portable pump to remove any water seapage,the floor had a slight dip and drain, like those round grids used with outdoor driveway gutters, was mighty for doing general maintance and brake lining/wheel bearing servicing,full depth with a steel ladder at one end,only problem was with heavy rain it would part fill with water/seapage and if a cane toad fell in, then it would "click" it's distress call all night :mad:

[Robgw]

I knew a friend over in the UK who built one in his shed. He was into American Muscle Cars. His house was not on a hill and damp and water was going to be a problem as he was digging lower than the house damp course.

He was advised to use Tanking Solution. It comes as a powder like cement to mix and you apply it like a grey slurry. It's creates a water proof inch think solid barrier which can then be rendered or painted over.

I used some myself in my UK home on the floor of an extention.

Not sure if you can get it here but it works great.

[DoubleChevron]

I can remember my grandfathers pit from when I was a little kid (he's long shifted from that place). The house block dropped down quite a slope towards the back. The shed had a massive (well it seems massive ... I wasn't allowed anywhere near it) full sized stand up mechanics pit. the pit dissapeared out the back wall of the shed and drained down the slope of the hill... So it could never fill as it just drained away as quick as it moisture got in.

When I was a teenager .... Yeah I was "slightly" into cars (not much has changed I guess :cool: ) I dug a pit in my fathers shed. Only kneel down ( sure was lucky it wasn't stand up). It was bloody hard work, remember you loose a lot of size to the walls and floor. We lined it with plastic, boxed it up, recessed the walls down so redgum sleepers would slot in covering the hole when not in use. We even sloped the floor to one end and made a small pocket for the last bit of water to drain into for ease of draining (just incase it ever got moisture in it).

It was used rarely, even though we had a house full of hydraulic Citroens .... The b@stard always had a broken car parked over it .... and was bloody always, always half full of water. Dunno where it came from. It was incredibly handy when you needed it. But why lucky it was only kneel down ??? I can clearly remember stepping backwards into mid air a couple of times.... one time when I was picking up something heavy (I think it was a gearbox) to get my balance..... I tell you it sure as sh!+ wakes you up in a hell of a hurry when you take a step backwards and find nothing there :eek: :eek: :censored: :censored: :o Damn there dangerous, I'm glad I don't have one here.

We have a unique issue though here that doesn't bother anyone with 4wd's... A dead hydraulic citroen has about 1/4" of ground clearance.... and a 124" wheelbase (longer wheelbase than a big old Chev Impala). To get under a dead one without a pit is damn near impossible. At my last place I made a huge set of full length ramps that could be dismantled and moved out of the way.

I've just taken a piccie of my setup now.... Don't look to close at the colour of the floor.... I just finished painting it again ( $20 for 10litre drums of miss-mixed paint from the local paintshop is plenty good enough for a floor where it'll get scratched off in no time ..... It's far better than the off pink it's been for the last few years anyway)

Full length ramps, keep an eye on ebay under "wheel alignment" more than ramps. These are old alignment ramps. there ridiculously heavy and strong... a truck could certianly use them. They were long obselete though as anything used on them needed the ground clearance of an EH holden to get on them (due the how high the massive air rams on them sat). So I managed to get the ramps home, just chopped the air rams and there plumbing away and lift the back with a trolley jack under the crossbar. They cost me far less than they'd be worth in scrap metal and have been worth there weight in gold. There safe around kids, I don't fall into the bloody things, they don't fill with water and I can just leave a car parked on them when not in use. I have a winch bar I run across the front of them so I can drag anything on to be worked on (even a dead citroen with 1/4" ground clearance).

Works for me .... But would be a PITA if you had to park on the every single day as you daily driver parked in the shed where there located.

[jsp]

My local council advised me pits were no longer alowed in a residential zoned property since the early 90's when I put in my last big shed. The council guy actually said to me to put in a higher shed to fit a hoist in as pits werent alowed.

Northern burbs of Adelaide SA.

Two houses I have lived in here have had pits allready, and I don't know how they could prove you hadn't had it for years or even know you had it.

[isuzurover]

In WA, taking a car for a RWC check is still called taking it "over the pits" - and for the good reason that they still use inspection pits (no ventilation).

Likewise, we have a property with a shed built in the '50s which has a 6ft deep inspection pit in the floor. It is just a hole with concreted sides. It was used continuously from the mid 50's to the mid 90's.

[271]

I think that only having one way in or out of the pit,the WHS/ local council or even your house insurer may deem it a
"confined space".
Can lead to a world of hurt if your LR's go pear shaped on the pit.

[SLOWBOAT]

For a pit (and that is if your council allows one) the slab and side walls and floor have to be engineered and certified along with a soil test, they have to have a legal and conforming to building regs point of exit (stairs) and this has to be able to be used when a vehicle is over the pit. Tanking is required to water proof the pit (usually goes in first).
Most pits I have come across have been DIY installed and are not legal hence have been filled in on sale of residence as they are not up to scratch.
Depending on how close to the footings of the garage you want the pit to be you may even have to underpin the original footings as part of the design. Remember the pit walls are a retaining wall and as such have to be designed this way hence the amount of reo and concrete required and dowling into the existing floor slab.
They are far more complex than just digging a hole and sealing the sides that is why I have never seen a legal one in a back yard garage yet.
It is easier to raise the roof legally (with a permit) than build a pit.

[DeeJay]

When I extended my garage under the house a few years ago ( Monash Shire) the under pinner - who should know, said not legal in Vic. Then again the council inspector was coming round to sign off the work. :angel: Too hard to do it now..