My Garage
I will attempt to give tips for setting up your own garage. My opinion is that the garage is another room in the house.
If you are a real car nut like I am, you need a nice place to store and work on your cars.
Equipping a garage can become costly but I found ways to get a garage that I wanted without staggering costs.
Here are a few links that helped me research my garage:
Griot's Garage <-- This is one of my favorites!
Ultimate Garage <-- I got lots of ideas here!
Basically my goal was to design a garage like the ones shown in Griot's Garage and
Ultimate Garage, but without the astronomical costs.
Step 1: The Lighting.
Good lighting is paramount. These will light in the cold of winter and are very bright (see pic below).
Step 2: The lift.
Because I was planning on installing a tiled floor, I had to get the lift in first. The lift was purchased by me years ago from
Eagle Equipment. It is the P6 model. This lift is manufactured by Bend Pak and can also be purchased direct.
There are also some other pretty cool lifts in their sites. I picked my lift for several reasons. The first is the fact that it comes in 3 units.
Each side of the lift is one unit and the pump/motor is the third unit. This made setting it up and moving it easier for me.
Keep in mind that each side is at least 400 pounds in weight! The second reason I picked this lift is because it is a low rise lift.
The ceiling height made a full rise lift impossible. This lift will allow me to get under the car and will get all four wheels off the ground.
The lift has hydraulic lines that need to be buried in the floor. I spent a good week of air hammer chiselling making
a channel in the floor for the lines. I then covered the lines with fresh cement. The lift units are then bolted to the concrete floor.
Above: The two main units of the P6 lift.
Above: The motor/pump and fluid tank.
Above: Pressing this button will raise the lift. A 20 AMP circuit is required.
Above: The lift in its full up position.
Above: To lower the lift, disengage the safety locks and then press the lever.
Click Here for the next step.