How to Convert a Single Car Garage into a Two-Car Garage
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40-72 hours
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Intermediate
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- 2,000-4,000
Residential garages are spaces built as part of a house or a similar building to store cars. There is quite a simple way to turn a single car garage into a two-car garage. The problem that needs to be solved in these cases arises when the user of a garage would like to park another vehicle, and for spatial reasons, he cannot. The solution would be turning the garage into a two-car garage thanks to a car lift.
The ordinary car lift that is used in residential areas is aimed to increase the availability of space, especially airspace. Car lifts can handle vehicles as heavy as 12,000 pounds and they most often come in four different sizes and shapes: tall wide, tall narrow, short wide, and short narrow.
Step 1 - Choosing and Equipping Your Garage with a Car Lift
You should select one of these sizes according to your personal needs. This solution to parking more cars in a garage is a rather logical one; you should simply think that you are going to use space in a more efficient manner, but the garage should have a high ceiling to install the car lift in it.
Car lifts can be installed almost everywhere, not only in houses but also in the basement of an apartment house to allow more common parking space.
Step 2 - Parking the Car on the Lift and Hoisting it Up
What you need to do if you want to park two cars inside a one-car garage is park the first car onto the lift, get out of the car and then hoist the lift up with the car on the platform.
Step 3 - Parking the Second Car Under the First Car
Now that you have hoisted up the lift, you can then park your second vehicle under it. This can be also done if you want to park 3 cars in a two-car garage.
A typical residential car lift is generally made up of a large platform that can be hoisted and lowered according to where the user wants to put his or her vehicle. In order to move, the lift uses chains and these chains are similar to those of a bicycle. It can move vertically, but it can also rotate in a vertical motion at a maximum of 180 degrees, to facilitate the driver’s access to his or her own car. The driver can easily get out of the residential car lift as well.
As has already been mentioned, the principal advantage of car lifts is that you can park more cars in a restricted space. The main disadvantage is that they cannot be used for tall cars.
