Any Roofers in/around Hertfordshire? Looking for garage roof truss mod & 4 post lift

Do we have any roofers or anyone able to look at modifying the trusses in my garage so I can get enough height for a 4 post lift? Or any recommendations of someone that could look at if this is possible and to do the work.

It seems to be possible to replace 3 or 4 of the bottom chord's with 2x8's higher up then box in the void created with ply linings to allow the storage of a car on the lift up high. Or to raise a car high to work under with full standing height underneath.

Will go something like this I guess:
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showpost.php?p=3573866&postcount=14

A good Carpenter should be able to deal with this as its mainly internal work, call Donaldson Timber engineering 01608678771 they will supply you the pre made truss's etc if you can give them some detailed drawings, be a nice addition to any garage good luck with it.

Thanks. Indeed a nice addition. I can't wait but will need to replace the garage door with a roller door as well as currently have an up and over remote door.

I would prefer to use someone local and just one person/company to deal with the entire job really. It doesn't seem too difficult and seems commonly done for this application but will call some local roofing companies if there are no people on the forum or no recommendations.

You would still be best to get some drawings done of what you want and a structural engineer report so the correct timbers are used to support the roof. Then any competent builder or Carpinter can give you a quote from that.

I did mine myself.

Garage is approx 6m by 3.5m

Walls are 2.4m high and roof slopes up at 36 degrees.

Roof is clad in redland 49 concrete tiles so some weight.

I had "a frames" every 1m made from 6 x 2.
I cut the horizontal piece out moved it up enough to give me height I needed.

I can't stand under the lift but have about 1.5-6m clearance depending on what car is on top.

No issues in over 3 years. The sloping parts are strong enough and they won't spread as they are still "tied"
Together.

I will take pics tomorrow night if you want.

Great, thanks for that. I had considered doing it myself but really don't have any time at the best of times. Also it is not quite my day job although my dad was a builder and has offered direction on how it needs to be done.

Where are you based? Anywhere near Hertfordshire?

Can't see it would cost much for a Pro to do the job for me. I do have 16 solar panels on the rear roof projection which adds a fair weight loading. The garage is a fair size do don't fancy stuff landing on my head or my car for the sake of a few hundred quid for a Pro to do. Just wanted to do enough research so when I get a Pro in that they are actually a Pro & do it right. Too many jokers out there who don't know what they are doing.

Also got a contact now who is a specialist who can draw up any drawings and calculate any loads or necessary design. Will charge me 200 quid to do so I'm to which seems worth doing for piece of mind.

I really don't see the problem as issues are not wind and mainly snow loadings apparently. We aren't blessed with to much snowfall here or heavy. Better to be safe than sorry I guess.

This is a quick pic of garage and internal roof setup.

Ooh yours is the other way round to mine - ie making it a lot more complex.

Mine has the door on the end as opposed to the side, whilst the logic is the same I would not be as confident.

Picture

Thanks. Is the Lambo at its highest there or will go higher?

rockits said:

Thanks. Is the Lambo at its highest there or will go higher?

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I can probably get another 10-15cm out of it. The ghibli is the tallest car at about 140cm. Would say I have 3m total height.

storage was my main concern rather than working underneath it.

If you are buying a second hand lift I am an expert at fitting them - I have done two now .

If you get a lifting equipment at a place of work then it has to conform to LOLER standards and has to be regularly maintained and then inspected ever 6 months by your business insurance people. Allianz provide such a service.

If you are getting a lift for home, my advice is to get it maintained once a year and inspect it yourself every time you use it.

I wouldn't put too much faith in the insurance company's inspections having witnessed numerous over the years. Granted I was dealing with MEWPS rather than vehicle lifts, but their standards were well below par to the point where they didn't even know how the equipment was supposed to operate. In that instance how could they possibly know if it's safe or not? As Martin said, for personal use, service it once a year and carry out a check prior to each use and you won't go too far wrong.


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Lifting equipment and likes of compressors etc have to be inspected annually and in business you can do that yourself or your engineering insurer will offer the facility.
Likes of Bureau Veritas work for the major insurers.
However you can arrange it yourself and there are a few independents out there as well. The surveyors tend to try to tie in inspections so they can fill the day with as little travelling as possible so if you are not in a rush they will slot you in when in the area. Would not expect the cost to be that much but might be worth spending the money after fitting the ramp just for peace of mind?

Inspections clearly make a lot of sense, a failure is likely to hurt you and or the car underneath !

When I bought the first one, it was still fully assembled and working - the garage was closing down. The guy showed me how it worked and then left me to it.

I had taken every tool I own with me and it took me a couple of hours to work out how to take it apart, but at least you then have some idea of how it goes back together. Bradbury four post lift with the hydraulic ram in one of the uprights.

The second was already taken down - I was assured that it worked and that all the bits were there... Almost - a couple of washers were missing and some bolt heads snapped off. Laycock four post with the ram in one of the ramps.

The parts with the ram in are bl**dy heavy.

del mar said:

Inspections clearly make a lot of sense, a failure is likely to hurt you and or the car underneath !
.

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Had an incident with a garage in January where a mechanic was working on a car on a ramp but the safety lock wasn't working as it should and ramp came down and crushed his foot.
If he hadn't been wearing safety boots he would have lost toes at the very least. Turned out ramp hadn't been inspected in a number of years.

Needamaser said:

Had an incident with a garage in January where a mechanic was working on a car on a ramp but the safety lock wasn't working as it should and ramp came down and crushed his foot.
If he hadn't been wearing safety boots he would have lost toes at the very least. Turned out ramp hadn't been inspected in a number of years.

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And that's my point, there's no health and safety at Home act...

I agree with all this and the whole point of me getting a 4 post lift is safety. For me it is the safest way for me to do the work I want to do. It course the safety doesn't stop at buying and installing so I will indeed have it inspected at regular intervals. It won't get anywhere near as much use/wear as a conventional commercial unit so can't see many maintenance issues.

I have a structural engineer coming round to look at the garage roof on Tuesday. I hope it goes well & it can be pushed ahead. Looking forward to getting the Plan B worshop & the 4 post lift all in there.

Much work to do to insulate & board it all though. Also need to take out one of the up/over remote garage doors and replace with a roller type one.

Anyone do roller garage doors on here or know anyone who doesn't them?