Plan your garage with a lift carefully!

As part of a home addition project, I couldn't wait to build my own hobby/detail garage for a couple of Porsche cars I really enjoy. I wanted an oversized "one-car" garage, high ceiling, with a lift.

If you aspire to do something similar, the golden advice is this..."CHOOSE YOUR LIFT FIRST, THEN PLAN AROUND IT!"

Instead of doing it the right way, I based the garage dimensions off my existing garage space. I figured 14' width was plenty big enough, and 22' depth gave me what I needed for a small work area. These dimensions were all relative to the space I had grown accustomed to in my existing garage.

After the foundation was poured, I started shopping for my lift. I wanted a 4-post, primarily because I expected to store a vehicle on top for half the year. I also wanted a rolling jack so I could change out tires conveniently. I wasn't shopping long before I realized the mistake I made. In the end, I had to find the narrowest lift possible (BendPak HD9ST) so that I had a free walk area all the way around the vehicle. The problem with this is that in order to achieve the space around the perimeter of the cars, the posts are located inside the garage door opening. This makes the in and out movement of my car--the one I park under the lift--very precise.

My recommendation--Never buy a lift for a residential garage whose posts aren't at least in line with the opening of the garage door! My garage should have been at least 17' wide, 3' wider than it is.

I love the look of the garage, but it could have been so much more convenient had I planned better.

Start with the lift specs, then build around it.

FWIW

Just as a suggestion, using Sketch Up can be a real advantage in the planning phase for most any project. Free down load from Trimble (formally a Google sponsored product) for both Windows and Apple platforms. Is accurate to 1/64".

One of the renderings for the standalone garage shop:



More on post # 125 in the below link.

domer911,

Your garage is very nice and looks to be well appointed, especially with your P-Cars!

Im a bit confused.
Not sure the size of lifts over there due to the larger cars but most 4 posts here are 9ft wide. Bradbury and bendpak are 9ft2" That still gives 2.5ft either side.
A garage thats 17ft wide could even store two cars side by side as long as the cars arnt too big. Often houses in the uk with double garages are only this width.
Are you also saying 22ft is too small a depth? Im also a little confused by this as for 30 year ive been using my bradbury lift (similar size to bendpak HD-9revM) with less space.
What can also help is the door type, sliding doors, barn type doors or a roller doors are far more convenient with a lift than a section door.
Nice clean looking garage you have created.

GBsnoopy said:

Im a bit confused.
Not sure the size of lifts over there due to the larger cars but most 4 posts here are 9ft wide. Bradbury and bendpak are 9ft2" That still gives 2.5ft either side.
A garage thats 17ft wide could even store two cars side by side as long as the cars arnt too big. Often houses in the uk with double garages are only this width.
Are you also saying 22ft is too small a depth? Im also a little confused by this as for 30 year ive been using my bradbury lift (similar size to bendpak HD-9revM) with less space.
What can also help is the door type, sliding doors, barn type doors or a roller doors are far more convenient with a lift than a section door.
Nice clean looking garage you have created.

Click to expand...

If I had purchased a 9' wide lift, then it would have cleared the overhead door opening = GOOD. However, it was a priority for me to leave ample "walk-around" space between the lift (posts) and the garage wall. A 9' wide lift would have cut that space down to about 22-24" on either side. That wasn't going to be enough to make much use of the space.

So I went narrow. My lift is 7'4" wide (inside the posts), which makes it 8'4" wide at the outside of the posts, leaving the aisle space between the posts and the garage wall at a more manageable 34"-35". It makes a big difference.

When I pull into the garage, navigating the garage entry is nothing compared to navigating the inside of my lift posts. It ***** and requires too much care and TIME.

If I had it to do over again, I would have purchased a lift that's 9' wide on the inside, hence its outside measurements would have been about 10', I'd have had a 3' aisle between the posts and the garage walls on either side. This would have required me to build it a minimum of 16' wide. 14' is PLENTY wide for a single car garage, but not with a 4-post lift if you want to have room to move around in your garage.

Again, my point is probably elementary for most, but not for this ignorant consumer. There are a finite number of lifts out there, but you can size the room however you like. I sized the room first, and worried about the lift later. Big mistake for me in my case.

My garage depth is fine. And my door is perfect. 13' ceiling and the door is a side-winder that hugs the ceiling. It's also a nice design from the exterior.

Yep - it's an old problem. It's never as big as you think it is.

Grimly said:

Yep - it's an old problem. It's never as big as you think it is.

Click to expand...

That's what she said.

Since like your 997 is too wide for the lift...

I have a similar width lift and just park the narrower cars on/ under it.

My addition where my lift is housed is only 12' wide by 22' deep, which makes it 11'6" by 21' inside. I have a Bendpak HD9 lift in there and the columns have only about 6" clearance to the walls, there is sufficient space between the columns and my wife's car to ease past. It's not ideal, but workable. I would have preferred to build wider, but that was all I could get a development permit to allow. I went with the widest lift I could fit so that my wife would not have as much difficulty getting the car parked under it. Fortunately I have the original 24' by 32' space to house my workshop and park my truck in.

LandR said:

Since like your 997 is too wide for the lift...

I have a similar width lift and just park the narrower cars on/ under it.

Click to expand...

The 997 fits fine, parking under the lift just requires more care and caution than I would like. Lesson learned.

How wide is your single door? 8ft i'm guessing?