Garage: Lift and Load

I never thought I’d get this excited about a piece of garage hardware.  The lift arrived this week, and it is gorgeous.  Lest you forget what this project was all about, M&J were stealing their former two car garage to make a family room, and that means their cars have to go somewhere.  Since the lot could only accommodate a one car footprint, the new space is getting a lift, literally.  The blue hardware you see below is the car lift, designed to “park” one car on top of the other.  It is a surprisingly cost-efficient and modern way to solve a space problem in this one-hundred year old neighborhood. 

The parking lift has arrived. Cue the theme music!

After the lift is professionally installed by the garage door mechanics, it will require an electrician’s attention.  It also requires a heater mounted in the garage, since the hydraulics require a temp of at least 41 degrees to operate.  The operation is surprisingly simple, J to set the stop so that the car parked on top and the car parked below both have enough space.  This a 12+ foot ceiling, both cars will fit just fine.

If you are asking, like I was, do you have to be a gazillionaire to own one of these things, the answer is no.  The gadget costs roughly $5K, which is reasonable, especially if building another bay simply is not allowed by code or physics.  I can’t wait to see the cars using it!