Seeking wisdom from those who have installed a lift

JDMopar said
The pics may be deceiving, but it looks like a pretty good sized shop. I would do some measuring to see if the lift will fit kitty cornered just a little bit back by the bathroom. That will keep a lot of floor space open on that side if it will work. You may have to move 1 light, but that shouldn't be too big of a deal. Wherever you put it, see if you can figure out where the water and sewer pipes are before you go to drilling holes for the bolts that hold the lift in place. If they run under the slab, that may limit your choices of where to put the lift. If you haven't already done it, I think I would see if you could reach an agreement with the landlord that if you guys ever move out of the building, he will give you X number of months free of rent just prior to moving if you leave the lift in place when you go. That may be a win-win for both of you.

It's pretty decently sized, so I have that working in my favor.

We haven't talked about an exit strategy yet, but I have definitely thought about the possibility of leaving it just like you mentioned. He's a very reasonable man and I wouldn't be surprised if he was open to an agreement like that.

txstang84 said
It's not only the thickness, but the composition and where the rebar or reinforcement is. Seek out the requirements as set forth in your lift. Most of the ones I've seen require minimum 4" 3K psi concrete...that's what mine is, and I've had no issues. Overtorquing the anchors, poor reinforcement, and porosity in addition to overloading is what makes the floor spall crack and fail.

My footers are (i think) 18", so if yours are 12", you might wanna find a way to verify what you have for a pad...if it's anything less than 4" consistently, you'll need to remedy that first...

I have a 10K overhead beam Atlas lift in my 30x40x12 shop. There is always a car in the air and one parked under it. I had to use the lower of the two beam settings because it was about 5" too short to accommodate the higher setting for the crossover cables...YMMV, but if you have less than 10' walls, choose your lift wisely as most of them require a minimum of 11' walls, unless you go with the non-joined versions specified for low ceilings

I also check the anchors periodically to make sure they haven't shifted or loosened.

Make damn sure your posts are perfectly flat (shimmed) before drilling/setting anchors

Measure twice, drill once-can't say this one enough...if you're not positive, remeasure. Everything needs to be square, parallel, and plumb

The lift will always be a little in the way because of it's footprint, but give yourself at least 24-30" in every direction...enough room to push a toolbox through or carry something somewhat awkward.

Depending on the model, you'll need at least a 30-40A 230V dedicated breaker...make sure your box can handle that.

Probably the best thing I ever did for my shop...

I walked around the perimeter yesterday and I saw at least 12" of stem wall, so it's likely thicker than that. The landlord seems much more on board than I had anticipated -- he's going to check to see if he can pull up the plans from when his dad built the shop and he also mentioned drilling a pilot hole to confirm thickness.

I'm definitely anticipating the lift being somewhat in the way, but I'm banking on its usefulness off-setting any inconvenience the posts might cause.