So looking at a house to buy and noticed the garage had a nice tall ceiling, my question is how feasible is it to get a lift in there that would let me park another car underneath and still allow for parking in the other stall? For reference, the door is an 8ft door. Not sure the overall width or how much width lift's usually need
Most manufacturers have their dimensions and install manuals on their websites, and many sell "narrow" lifts (or can be adjusted during assembly to be "narrow").
I bought the 2-post that I have because it would fit my lowest vehicle without having to drive on boards.
Oddly, the floor is more critical than the ceiling. Make sure the floor is rated to handle the load by having it tested and check for the necessary thickness.
Yoo may have to cut out a section and pour a set of foootings.
It might be beneficial to change the door so that the tracks aren't in the way, but you have plenty of height assuming you're not trying to stack a van on top of a van.
mazdeuce - Seth said:It might be beneficial to change the door so that the tracks aren't in the way, but you have plenty of height assuming you're not trying to stack a van on top of a van.
I don't know if I have ever seen a door without tracks in the way? What kind of door would I google?
Jaynen said:mazdeuce - Seth said:It might be beneficial to change the door so that the tracks aren't in the way, but you have plenty of height assuming you're not trying to stack a van on top of a van.
I don't know if I have ever seen a door without tracks in the way? What kind of door would I google?
What you’d want is where it routes the garage door straight up and doesn’t turn until it gets near the ceiling. Not sure what they’re called exactly, but I googled “high lift garage door track” to find the picture.
The tracks follow the wall up to the ceiling rather than being suspended in mid air.
The opener would mounted on the wall on one end of the torsion spring assembly.
Yes, what those guys up there said. Or you could do a roll up door, but the high tracks are the easier solution. Most garage door installation places can do the job if you don't want to deal with death springs.
Great that is helpful, so my biggest concerns should be width and the floor strength
Yes. And if you're looking primarily for a parking lift then look at four post lifts too. They can have different concrete requirements and are often quite a bit narrower than a two post.
The floor matters if it's 2-post (because it needs to be bolted down to resist fore/aft bending loads), but for 4-post lifts it's all vertical loads and it's much less critical. 4-post lifts don't even need to be bolted down.
The key for parking another car next to it is width. 2-post lifts need 12-14 feet, 4-post fit in a single 10 foot stall just fine.
Considering that most home automotive work other than oil changes is wheel / tire / suspension stuff, a 4-post is likely going to be getting in the way more than it is useful.
A bridge jack can help a bit but I'd rather have a two-post.
mazdeuce - Seth said:Yes. And if you're looking primarily for a parking lift then look at four post lifts too. They can have different concrete requirements and are often quite a bit narrower than a two post.
No not primarily for parking, that is bonus, definitely want to be able to take the wheels off. I will have to measure next time I can get over there, when bendpack lists a width is that the width inside or outside of the posts?
Jaynen said:No not primarily for parking, that is bonus, definitely want to be able to take the wheels off. I will have to measure next time I can get over there, when bendpack lists a width is that the width inside or outside of the posts?
On the Bendpak site, you just need to go a little further to get the dimensions - click on one of the lifts and it brings you to another page, where you can click on a sales sheet which has a dimensional drawing. Any of the brands will have similar information available.
As for working on a car with a four post lift, they all sell accessory bridge jacks that allow you to pick the car up off the wheels, or it's easy enough to have a steel crossmember fabricated that you can use with a bottle jack.
Bendpak has dimensional diagrams for all of their lifts. Their smallest 2-post is the GP-7LCS, which is 125" wide. Consider, though, that you probably want some space between it and the wall on one side (so that you can walk around it), and then because it lines up with the door of the car, you need a decent amount of space between it and the car next to it in order to be able to get out. I personally would not install one unless I had 14' of width to put it in (I don't).
A 4-post lift with 1 or 2 rolling bridge jacks on it is a compromise in terms of ease of suspension work but it winds up a lot narrower. The HD-9ST(which is the lift I have, and is the one that is most common in home garages) is 100.25" wide -- 2 feet narrower than the 2-post. Also, because the posts are at the front and the back rather than the in middle, they don't intrude on the space you need to open the car doors so you can get by with less clearance.
I seriously doubt thats more than a 4 inch slab which is probably not great for a 2 post lift, which i believe requires a 6 inch.
The slab also looks over finished from that pic, which has nothing to do with anything you need to worry about, more professional annoyance
This is what I did in my garage. You can get high lift kits to modify your existing door track to bring the door closer to the ceiling, your also going to want a jack shaft opener.
https://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php
The minimum floor requirements for my 2 post was 4” thick 3,000 psi concrete. Any modern house should meet that... the current minimum per code in my area is 4” 3,500 psi. I poured 8” thick pads where the posts are just to be safe, but this was new construction, so it wasn’t much extra work to do that.
I got my lift from these guys. It took longer than expected to get it in (a couple of months), but they did a good job keeping me updated and were easy to deal with.
In reply to SlowNB :
That is pretty much identical to what I had done in my garage when I had the door replaced (by a pair of hack-crooks, but that's a different story).
In reply to Jaynen :
Do you need the garage to park two cars? Because chances are if you install a two post lift, that may be a problem. Those lifts are bloody wide and can quickly turn a two-car garage into a one-car.
Find the guys that service lifts for local garages. I had a company install mine for me (I bought used). They will have used lifts and more importantly expertise in how to handle them, etc.
Wish I had also bought the used unit from them however. They were great the seller was an ass.
SlowNB said:
This is what I did in my garage. You can get high lift kits to modify your existing door track to bring the door closer to the ceiling, your also going to want a jack shaft opener.
https://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php
The minimum floor requirements for my 2 post was 4” thick 3,000 psi concrete. Any modern house should meet that... the current minimum per code in my area is 4” 3,500 psi. I poured 8” thick pads where the posts are just to be safe, but this was new construction, so it wasn’t much extra work to do that.
I got my lift from these guys. It took longer than expected to get it in (a couple of months), but they did a good job keeping me updated and were easy to deal with.
I’d be careful about a broad generalization like that on the concrete.
Yes, some lift manufacturers now say 4” of 3000 lb is sufficient. I am currently installing 27 lifts, and some of the specs say that. But they say 4” of REINFORCED concrete. Most residences are not reinforced.
Additionally, 2500 psi concrete was a residential standard in many parts of the country for decades, and is still used in many locations. I would strongly bet that most existing residences do not have 3000 lb reinforced.
It also depends on the anchors. Some of them require more embedment than 4”.
As a general rule, I would not suggest less than 6”. Almost no residences have that. I thickened the slab under the ones I am installing to 7”, regardless of what the manufacturers say.
ShawnG said:Considering that most home automotive work other than oil changes is wheel / tire / suspension stuff, a 4-post is likely going to be getting in the way more than it is useful.
A bridge jack can help a bit but I'd rather have a two-post.
Disagree here. I have a 4 post lift with bridge jacks and I use it all the time for wheels off work. It's works really well and is easy to use. Drive on, lift the car, drive off. Simple. Plus it's fabulous for storage, it fits better in a home garage and works just fine with the garage floor depth.
In reply to SVreX :
Sorry if it came across that way, the OP clearly needs to do his homework to understand what he has if he goes down the 2 post road. I'm all for over engineering in this department, mine is 8" and tied into the surrounding 4" floor with wire mesh... from a business standpoint, if I was installing one I wouldn't want the liability of installing with over the minimum conditions.
This is the wording from the installation manual for my lift "Consult building owner and / or architect’s plans when applicable to establish the best lift location. The lift should be located on a relatively level fl oor with 4 in. minimum thickness, 3000-psi concrete slab that has been properly cured. There can be no cracks in the slab within 36 in. of the base plate location, and no seams in the foundation within 6 in. of its location! Remember: any structure is only as strong as the foundation on which it is located!"... no mention of reinforcement, but it does say 6" is preferred later in the manual. The tip of the anchors were installed at 3 1/4" deep, so there are options that will work with only 4" floors.
To the OP: many have brought up the width of a 2 post as a concern, for one data point mine is 134.5" wide at the outside of the base of the posts, with the power plant sticking out another few inches past that, so that is definitely a concern. 
In reply to SlowNB :
This was the generalization I referred to:
Any modern house should meet that...
That's not a true statement.
Also...
In residential construction, 4" is often referred to as a nominal dimension. A 2x4 is not 4"- it's 3 1/2". Concrete forms are usually built with nominal dimension lumber- it is very common for 4" concrete slabs to actually be 3 1/2" (with potential grade variations that could decrease it further).
When a manufacturer says "minimum 4 inches ", they MEAN minimum. They do not mean nominal.
Anchors (and all of their specifications) vary widely.
In reply to Jaynen :
Just noticed something else in your first post picture...
The construction joints in that slab might cause you trouble. The joint going side to side looks like it is centered in the bay. That might put the posts on the joint. That would be a no-no for a location for a 2 post lift.
SVreX said:In reply to SlowNB :
This was the generalization I referred to:
Any modern house should meet that...
That's not a true statement.
Also...
In residential construction, 4" is often referred to as a nominal dimension. A 2x4 is not 4"- it's 3 1/2". Concrete forms are usually built with nominal dimension lumber- it is very common for 4" concrete slabs to actually be 3 1/2" (with potential grade variations that could decrease it further).
When a manufacturer says "minimum 4 inches ", they MEAN minimum. They do not mean nominal.
Anchors (and all of their specifications) vary widely.
This is true, and if it was built during the boom it could be anything. Ive had to break out slabs that had no reinforcement and went for 9 inches to 2 inches deep before.
FWIW besides the overfinishing the slab looks good from the pic. Control joints arent heaving so its probably reinforced decently, the mottling looking like the used a sealer probably for curing purposes plus i see some expansion strip along the edges.
But if it was me i would still cut and add a thickened footing because you never know how bad the guy that poured it originally was.
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