I've long wanted a mechanic's garage lift installed in the garage to ease vehicle maintenance. (I've also long wanted enough room in the garage to actually put the car, but that's another problem to be eventually soluted by a small front-end loader and a large skip or catapult.)

The idea is to combine a garage lift with a full elevating platform; an ideal combination for an underground garage silo. And vice-versa. (It's a given that both mechanic's-lifts and car-elevators exist, this idea puts them in the same space-time coordinates.) The lift either lifts the mechanic's frame thingie (whatever), or the mechanic's frame thingie plus the platform.

The garage is vehicularly accessed by a circular platform that pops up out of the driveway next to or in front of the house through a pair of semicircular flat or clamshell doors, which descends into a more standard rectangular room, and is personally accessed through a door in the basement. The flashing lights, and pre-recorded "Thunderbirds are Go !" at each egress, are almost a necessity, at least until such time as the neighbours can get an injunction to stick.

Of course the property then requires a separate toolshed for gardening paraphernalia, etc. but that's more than made up for by being able to move any-sized stuff into and out of the heated workshop in the basement of the house proper without having to navigate up and down cramped basement stairs.

While a little more work is required to actually dig a garage into the ground (namely the actual "digging into the ground" bit), the amount of materials required is about the same.

Needless to say the circular platform is a turntable.

Also needless to say, the first person who comments "And to keep snow off the clamshell doors just build a little house around the top" gets a smack upside the head.
-- FlyingToaster, Sep 26 2013

Pretty close to this http://freshome.com...und-garage-parking/
[pocmloc, Sep 26 2013]

check this out http://www.perfectp...ystem-overview.html
[xandram, Sep 26 2013]

Actually [poc] most of the car elevators look like that. But they're either for huge underground garages where you drive off the lift, or they're just holes in the ground with no access except by raising the elevator.

The new thing about the post is that it combines a garage lift with the elevator. Other than that it's mostly just me having one on at what looks like a nuclear missile silo in the front yard.

But not completely: apart from the initial excavation cost, it would pretty well cost the same; there is increased (secure) access to the house basement where you could put a proper workshop without worrying about having to duplicate some tools in the garage or manhandling a 3x4x5' crate down a thin set of basement stairs and through 3-4 sets of doors; you could even stick a (very) lightweight gondola or greenhouse on top of it, etc. etc. the main point being you don't need natural light in the car hole so why bother putting it up top ?

Or, in retrospect, you could park another car on top, though that requires a more powerful set of hydraulics than needed to double as a simple mechanic's lift.
-- FlyingToaster, Sep 26 2013


//there is increased (secure) access to the house basement where you could put a proper workshop // This comment caused me to think about how much more sensible building a boat in one's basement could become.
-- jurist, Sep 29 2013



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