The inspection hole in the garage is an invariable attribute for a car owner who independently maintains his own car. Therefore, the construction of a garage often begins with the arrangement of the pit. How to build it in accordance with all the rules?
General rules for the performance of work
Digging a hole in the garage is half the battle, as it must be comfortable to work with. For this, some nuances in the construction should be taken into account:
- It is important to pay attention to the interior decoration of the walls, it should be done so that groundwater does not penetrate into the pit. Often, for this, an internal waterproofing is installed under the finish.
- The material for the pit floor should not be slippery, as oil and other automotive fluids are often spilled onto it.
- When calculating the size of the inspection pit, the size of the entire garage and the car itself should be taken into account.
- For comfortable work, you should take care of the lighting. Often used portable equipment, which is mounted on one of the walls.
- If necessary, the pit should be closed, so it is worth considering what material the coating should be made of, it should be sufficiently strong and stable.
All the nuances of the construction should be thought out before it begins and only after that proceed with work.
Pit marking
Experienced builders recommend that before starting work, take time to mark up on paper with an indication of the size. The inspection pit must have the following parameters:
- The width of the inspection pit should be 70-80 cm, this will be enough for the track of an average car and there will even be space between the wheel and the pit for maneuver.
- The length of the pit is determined by its own convenience, as well as the size of the garage. This parameter has no relation to the size of the car. The standard length is about 2 meters.
- The depth of the inspection pit is determined from your own height - standing on tiptoe or bending your knees, you can’t do much. Therefore, the best option is a distance of 25-30 cm between the head and the bottom of the car. For example, with a height of 180 cm and a vehicle clearance of 16 cm, the depth of the pit should be 170 cm.
Observing these parameters, you can build a pit in which it will work comfortably.
Excavation
Digging a hole is considered one of the most time-consuming activities when arranging a garage. In this case, you will need to dig about 9 cubic meters of land. If you do not want to do it yourself, you can hire workers. In this case, it is important to make markings using pegs for orientation in size.
Excavation work is carried out as follows:
- when digging a hole, part of the earth (about half) must be left to fill in the sinuses that will appear during construction, the rest can be taken out;
- it is important to level the floor with a building level so that the depth of the pit is uniform;
- then a layer of gravel about 5 cm high is poured onto the floor, it must be rammed into the ground;
- at this stage there is the possibility of arranging niches in the walls for storing tools and other necessary things.
The future convenience of the pit and its functionality depend on the correctness of the excavation.
Pit Wall Equipment
For the construction of walls, there are two common materials - monolithic concrete and brick. Experienced builders recommend paying attention to concrete, it also performs the function of internal waterproofing, and its cost is much less.
The work is carried out as follows:
- To prepare a concrete mix for one cubic meter of wall, 300 kg of cement, 680 kg of river sand, 120 l of water, 1200 kg of crushed stone of a small fraction will be needed. To prepare a homogeneous mixture, it is important to use a concrete mixer, since it is quite difficult to mix such an amount of materials yourself.
- The size of the inspection pit should be calculated taking into account the pouring of walls, the thickness of which is about 5 cm.
- As reinforcement, a mesh is often used.
- To fill the walls, it is necessary to build the formwork from the OSB, which can then be used for sheathing the gates, assembling racks and shelves.
- After pouring, the concrete should dry for 14 days, after which you can start other work.
Building concrete walls is a painstaking job that does not endure rush.
Pit flooring
Like walls, the floor is also formed using concrete mortar. In this case, the following nuances should be taken into account:
- It is important to make a substrate before filling the floor. To do this, a 5 cm thick layer of sand is poured onto the rubble and carefully compacted.
- Then, as in the formation of the walls, reinforcement is placed, the role of which is played by the building mesh.
- Concrete is poured onto the grid, the layer of which is 5 cm.
- Using the building level, the floor is leveled while the solution is still liquid.
- 2 weeks are allowed to freeze the floor, and it is important to periodically wet the surface with water to prevent cracking.
When arranging the floor of the inspection hole with your own hands, you should take into account the level of groundwater. With their close proximity, more attention should be paid to waterproofing.
Pit lighting
For comfortable work, lighting should be provided in the pit. often its role is played by a carrying lamp, which, if necessary, can be hung in any place. Also, lighting can be made stationary, for this niches for lighting devices should be provided at the stage of excavation. The size of the inspection hole significantly affects the number of fixtures.
The fastening of the wire, which extends to the portable lamp, must be carried out using clamps. If it is not fixed, then it can interfere during work in the pit. In addition, you can purchase a portable tripod, with which you can direct the light in the right direction.
Step formation
Entrance to the inspection hole is most often carried out using steps. They can be built from wooden boards or poured out of concrete mortar. The optimal number of steps is 6-8, the height between which is about 20-25 cm. In this case, the lower step is lower and wider than the others for a comfortable descent.
For the construction of steps, a wooden formwork is made, between which rods for reinforcement are fixed. The concrete composition for the construction of the stairs repeats the mortar for walls and floor. Since the width and depth of the steps are quite significant, pouring takes place in several stages. It is important that the previous concrete layer has completely dried out.
Many people when installing a garage with their own hands instead of building stairs prefer to use an ordinary portable wooden staircase. This option is very convenient if the dimensions of the inspection pit, or rather its length, are insufficient to accommodate a stationary staircase.
Waterproofing
When arranging a garage with your own hands, great attention should be paid to waterproofing, especially if groundwater is located nearby. It is carried out as follows:
- a waterproofing film is laid on the entire floor surface with an overlap of about 15 cm on the walls, while it is important not to damage its integrity;
- only then can you start concreting the floor;
- with a close occurrence of groundwater instead of a sand cushion, you can use well-packed fat clay;
- Experienced builders recommend adding hydrophobizing additives when mixing concrete, which will prevent the destruction of walls and floors under the influence of moisture.
Waterproofing should be of high quality, therefore, when choosing materials, special attention should be paid to their characteristics.
Conclusion
The work that is carried out in the pit should be safe for humans, so some recommendations should be followed:
- When working on unstable ground, special attention should be paid to strengthening the walls, otherwise in the future they may collapse at the most inopportune moment. Instability will be noticeable even at the stage of digging a hole - the ground will crumble, sag or crack.
- Work should be carried out using personal protective equipment - work boots, durable gloves. When using a grinder, welding machine or jackhammer, safety glasses should be worn to prevent damage to the eyes by flying particles of metal, soil, stones or dust.
If you follow the detailed instructions, there is nothing complicated in arranging the pit. For convenience, there must be two people. With the correct calculation of the size of the pit and the correct strengthening of its walls, you don’t have to worry that there will be no room for maneuver of the car or the floor will sag under its weight.