im considering having a new shop built & was wondering what the best ceiling height for a lift & absolute lowest i could have & still have a lift would be ? thanks
The rafters in my new place are 16 ft. I would prefer 18 ft but 16 ft is what whoever built. I think that I could run a lift in there but it would be close to the rafters when it was up.
Im thinking 10' with trusses over the most part and conventionel rafters where the lift is. higher is always better it really does not cost much more to go higher so go as high as the town will let you. oH YEA i am only 4 feet tall too
I have 14ft sidewalls with 12' x 12' rollup doors and 17ft roof peak. Its plenty and I have a full height hoist in there. Go as tall as you can - not as low otherwise you may end up regretting it....
Mine is 12ft and a pick up truck on the lift just fits. A little higher would be better, but 12ft works
My ceiling is 15 1/2 feet. I have a Direct 4 post lift and I can run my '54 up to the top of the lift just fine. I also use overhead radient heat and that also works great at that height....
My ceiling is 13ft-9in off the slab. I have my slammed 55 Chevy truck on the ground, and a 33 Ford truck (unchopped, mild drop) on a lift above it and the roof JUST makes it under the ceiling. Another 4 or 6 inches for a light bulb would have been less stupid of me.
I have a bend pac 2 post it requires 12'1" .My shop has no finished ceiling, except for really tall vans nothing gets even close to the cieling.
I would say 12' minimum. Radiant heat likes at least 12' in height, watch where you put a lift with radiant heat, it can fry paint when the car is on lift if too close. Once you get over 8' on door height you have to go to commercial doors & openers, which cost way more then non commercial ones. Consider putting in floor pots/tiedowns also.
When building new the cost of studs at 8' or 16' is really not all that significant. The other cost of course is siding with the higher wall height. I used heavy duty insulated "home" style garage doors which work fine they are 8' x 8'. My ceiling height is 10' and I curse myself for not asking the questions you just did prior to building mine. Good luck with your project.
I had a neighbor put 4 post lifts in his 10ft ceiling garage. He had corvettes in there so he didn't need to utilize the full height of the lift which is why I think it worked for him. I was thinking of doing a lift in my garage which is the same just so I can squeeze one more car in there however I'm no sure it'll work as well with early fords as it did with vettes.
i don't have photos but one of my friends has a cutout above the hoist in the trusses where he had the contractor redo it so that it had plenty of strength but the roof of a vehicle can be raised up in the cutout. At the time he was servicing raised roof vans on a daily basis and needed the clearance. it's all boxed and sheetrocked in and works pretty good.
Consider a 116 5/8" wall stud instead of standard. You can use 4x10 sheets instead of 4x8 and keep the garage proportional.
Mine came out at 12.5', slab to ceiling. Easily fits the 2 poster, with my Taco all the way up. The coupe fits no problem, obviously. Sort of wish I only made the high ceiling on one side, for heating efficiency reasons, but I don't have any heat yet anyway, and it's nice having the full 2nd floor unobstructed.
I have 11 ft walls with scissor trusses (13'-2" at center) over the lift area, cars, pick-ups go all the way up, suv's and 4 wheel drives not quite, but high enough to work under. I have a bend pak 4 post that goes up to 78" clear under the wheel runners, 84" to top of wheel runners
I have 12ft ceilings. My lift is 11 foot 9 inches. Whew! They also make lifts for shorter heights. But if you have the choice when your building, go with at least 12. Make sure if you are putting in a lift to see if it needs 4 inch slab or 6 inch slab. I put 6 in mine, just the 2 spots where the lift posts are, the rest of the floor is 4.
I don't know how cold it gets by you but if you're going to heat your shop remember the higher the ceiling the more it will cost you to heat it. My ceiling is about 12 or 13 foot but I have a Rotory portable lift, so I don't even need what I have.
I just got plans approved for my garage. It has 10 ft walls with a 6 12 roof pitch and a 24 ft long shed dormer with a 13 ft side wall over the 2 post bend pak lift and scissor trusses were needed. It has two 10 ft wide by 8 ft 9'' tall doors. It will have insulated and finished walls and garage doors, a couple of skylights, a whole building fan, plenty of 220v outlets and room for storage. Thank god I am able to do a lot of the work myself.
I haven't done it as of yet but when I get moved up north I plan on putting fans (like ceiling fans) up toward my roof. I am also planning a larg ventilation fan in the gable away from the shop door to pull heat out in the summer.
I've got 14 ft side walls, 13 ft high by 10 wide doors, with trussed roof, sheetrocked, and finished, with radiant heat. Have a 12000 lb, 4 post lift, and can lift my 4x4 dually to full height with no problems. The radiant heat does need to be watched when the vehicle is up, as stated in an earlier post, the cost to go 14 ft, over 12 ft was not that much, and worth every penny. It costs a whole lot less to do it right the first time than to have to redo it, or regret not going with enough height to begin with.
12 feet is the minimum for comfortably working under most cars. If you work on tall vehicles 12 feet may not be enough unless you are unusually short. The posts on some hoists are slightly taller than 12 feet. If the roof structure is open you may be able to position taller than 12' posts/plumbing/structure in open space. If there is a celing, a box relief around the over 12' parts is an option. Of course the hoist would need to be positioned where that could be done with altering structure.
I have the same measurements in my building and have a lift that has my Suburban go to top with no problem. Also I built a 2nd floor over the 12 x 20 office area that almost doubles my storage area Pat
I just had plans drawn up. I compared it to my business shop which is 27 deep 29 wide and 12 tall. I use a four post lift 12k rated. The ramps are 7 inches thick and when raised fully it gives 6 foot under it. Most cars are only 5 foot tall, with it raised fully and a car under it 12 is fine. If a fullsize 4x4 goes all the way up it gets tight. It all really rides on wether you want a car to go under the lift. My home shop will be 30 deep and 32 wide. I am using approximate 20" stem wall and 12' walls. That will given to me about 13.5 interior height. I am also using heeled trusses that will offer a 22' wide 30' deep storage room above with 8' ceilings
My four post lift at work has posts that are maybe 8 foot tall at most. You may want to consider this style if height is an issue.
finishing up 30 by 60 garage with 10 foot walls, 1/4 of garage has scissor trusses creating a vaulted ceiling. Plan is for lift. Garage track and opener angled up vault for clearance.
Here in Tennessee I have 12' 1" ceiling height and a full sized pick up truck on a 2 post lift clears fine. When I was living in lower Alabama, I had a 16+ ft. ceiling. All that said, the higher ceilinged garage was much cooler when the weather got really hot and humid. You're in East Texas, think about that.
The Jalopy Journal
