A collector's garage at home: car lift, floor and ventilation

How do you equip a garage for a car collection at home?

Start with the cars and the lift, and only then the finishes. A collection garage is an engineering room: the slab must carry the weight of the lift and the cars, the air must be renewed under the CTE, humidity and temperature must be stable and the wiring must cope with several charging points. Beauty comes last.

The order of decisions is this. List the cars with mass, wheelbase, width, height and ground clearance. Choose the type of lift and its dimensions. Give the data to the structural engineer so he can check the slab. Design the ventilation and climate control. Define the fire measures. Calculate the electrics and charging. And only then order floors, walls, lighting and doors.

Why this sequence. Mistakes in this room are expensive: replacing a lift after the floor is poured means breaking out concrete; raising the ceiling after the door is fitted means redoing the structure. It suits villas and underground garages in houses. A garage in a multi-unit building also depends on the community statutes and the parking rules.

Which car lift should you choose and how much height does it need?

For storage the usual choice is a four-post lift, which holds the car by its wheels, or a two-level platform. For servicing you need a two- or four-post lift with access from below, and for moving between floors, a car elevator. The choice depends on purpose, height and mass.

What to consider. Storage: posts hold the wheels, so suspension and bodywork are not loaded, which matters for classics; a two-post lift raises the car by its sills and old bodies need the right adaptors. Height: two cars one above the other usually require a clear ceiling of about 3.6–4.0 m; the exact figure depends on the height of the upper car, the platform thickness and the margin. Width: cars with wide wheels and low clearance do not fit every platform, so choose the model by dimensions, not by a "standard" catalogue.

If the lift is recessed into the floor (scissor type), you need a pit with waterproofing, drainage and moisture protection. If cars move between floors, an underground garage is linked by a ramp or a car elevator. A car elevator needs a shaft, fire doors, an emergency lowering function in a power cut and a service contract; whether it needs registration and periodic inspection like a passenger lift should be confirmed with the supplier and the engineer before ordering. There is a separate guide on lifts in private houses.

Leave a margin in height and width. The cars in a collection change, and a lift fitted to the current one may not suit the next.

What loads can the floor take under a lift?

The CTE's standard load for cars is small and does not include a lift, so the slab is designed from the supplier's data. Table 3.1 of DB-SE-AE for traffic and parking areas for light vehicles (total weight under 30 kN, about 3 t) sets 2 kN/m² uniform and 20 kN concentrated over a 200 mm square. The same document says expressly that loads from heavy equipment are not covered by its values and must be determined from the supplier's values or the owner's requirements.

That means three things. First: the lift and the car on it are point loads that must be checked by calculation. Second: cars over 3 t (large SUVs, electric vehicles, armoured cars) leave the "light" category and are calculated separately. Third: each lift model's data sheet states the load per post, the base plate dimensions and the required thickness and class of concrete.

What suppliers usually require. A monolithic reinforced slab at least 15 cm thick, concrete no lower than C25/30 per the model's data sheet, no joints under the posts, on a flat base; chemical or mechanical anchors set back from slab edges. For slabs on the ground add waterproofing, a vapour barrier and insulation, and on the coast, for example in Castelldefels or Gavà, take the water table into account. The exact numbers come from the structural engineer, not from the catalogue.

If the lift goes on an existing slab, it must be surveyed: thickness, reinforcement, condition of the concrete, joints. Moving a lift to another place after installation is expensive: the posts are tied to the calculation.

Which floor finish should you choose and how do you control dust, humidity and temperature?

Choose a dense, dust-free finish and keep the air stable. For a collection garage the usual choice is an epoxy or polyurethane coating 2–3 mm thick over ground concrete, or polished concrete with a densifier. Both remove concrete dust, can be washed and withstand spills of oil and brake fluid.

Finish details. Over time tyres leave marks on light polymer systems: before ordering, make a test sample and check how the coating copes with wheels turned on the spot. You need a fall of 0.5–1 % to drains or channels so wash water leaves rather than stands. Slip resistance with wet shoes and flatness under the lift posts are checked separately. Slab joints are filled with elastic sealant, and walls are painted with a durable paint or clad before the concrete starts to dust.

Climate. Collections are usually kept at 15–22 °C and 40–60 % humidity, but the target depends on the cars: leather, wood, electronics and rubber react differently. In practice: insulated walls and door, a dehumidifier or a system with humidity control, airtight doors, temperature and humidity sensors that alert your phone, and separate filtered supply air. By the sea add protection against salt-laden humidity and condensation.

Dust. Sealed floors and walls, car covers, a filter on the supply air, a clean zone at the entrance. A garage where cars are driven and one where they are only stored are designed differently, and getting it wrong is costly: the first needs extraction under the code, the second needs stable air.

Does the garage of a private house need ventilation?

Yes. CTE DB-HS 3 requires garages to be ventilated, naturally or mechanically. The section refers to "residential buildings", designers apply it to garages of single-family houses, and the town hall may require compliance. The exact answer for your house comes from the technician.

What the code says. For a small garage (up to five spaces and 100 m² useful area) intake openings at the bottom and extraction openings at the top of one wall are allowed, at least 1.5 m apart vertically. For larger garages, mixed openings on opposite facades or mechanical depression ventilation are provided. The flow rate is 120 l/s per space. At least two thirds of the extraction openings are placed within 0.5 m of the ceiling, the distance between neighbouring extraction openings is under 10 m, and there is one intake and one extraction opening per 100 m². With 15 or more spaces, two independent extraction duct networks are required on each floor.

CO detection. In garages of more than five spaces or 100 m² useful area, a carbon monoxide detection system on each floor switches the extraction on at 100 ppm (50 ppm where employees are expected).

What a collector should do. If the cars are not started inside, the code flow rate is excessive, but that decision is made by the designer, not the owner. In practice: combine code extraction with climate control so the supply air passes through a dehumidifier and a filter. Fit a CO detector even where the law does not require it: warming up an engine in a closed room is dangerous.

What fire safety requirements apply to a garage in a house?

Formally, CTE DB-SI excludes garages of single-family houses from "Parking use", whatever their area, so the general rules for car parks do not apply to them. But a garage with expensive cars, fuel and charging stations needs measures of its own.

What the code says. Annex SI A defines "Parking use" as a building, establishment or zone of more than 100 m² and excludes garages of single-family houses. In grouped or terraced houses, the common structure must have the fire resistance required of a residential building (DB-SI SI 6, table 3.1, note 2). For a garage under a multi-unit building the full parking rules apply.

What is added in practice. A partition and slab between the garage and the living area with enhanced resistance, normally EI 60 or more, a door to the house with an automatic closer, smoke and heat detectors that alert your phone, extinguishers at the exit and, if desired, sprinklers. Charging stations go on a non-combustible base, away from paint, cans and rags. Do not store large amounts of fuel or solvents in the garage.

Insurance. The insurer of the collection often sets its own conditions on alarms, detectors and storage. Ask before the design to avoid rework. The requirements of the town hall and the fire service for your particular project are confirmed by the technician: they depend on the garage's location, height and proximity to living areas.

How do you design the electrics, charging and security?

For charging, plan a dedicated line, not a socket in the garage. Under ITC-BT-52 of the low-voltage electrical regulations (Royal Decree 1053/2014), in new single-family houses with parking an exclusive charging circuit is installed under scheme 4a. Existing installations to which a station is added are also subject to the same section.

The figures. A single-phase circuit does not exceed 9,200 W. A three-phase circuit of 32 A (22,170 W) is sized for 1 to 6 stations, and one of 40 A (27,713 W) for 1 to 8 stations of 3,680 W each; the designer may justify another power. For a collection with several electric cars this means a three-phase line, load management and a check of the permitted power of the house's feeder. There is a separate guide on charging points in villas.

The rest. Sockets for battery maintainers at each space, a compressed air line or compressor, luminaires giving even light of 300–500 lux and high colour rendering so paint reads honestly, independent emergency lighting, cameras and an alarm, an insulated sectional door with anti-trap protection, backup power for the lift, the door and the climate system. A water point and a drain for washing.

Ramp. If the garage is underground, check the slope and transition sections against the ground clearance of the lowest cars in the collection: a gentle change of gradient at the top and bottom of the ramp prevents scraping the underside.

What should you check in the estimate and how does BCN YARD handle such garages?

In a collection garage estimate, check six lines. The structural engineer's slab calculation using the lift supplier's data. The lift data sheet with load per post, anchors and concrete requirements. Ventilation under DB-HS 3 with a CO detector. The floor finish with a test sample and falls to the drains. The charging circuit under ITC-BT-52 with a check of the incoming power. Fire measures between the garage and the house. If one line is missing, the estimate is incomplete.

Red flags. A contractor who asks you to choose the lift "later". A slab without calculation. A coating without a sample. Ventilation "like the neighbour's". Charging sockets on the same line as the kitchen. A promise to finish within a week of pouring concrete: the slab needs time to reach the strength the lift data sheet requires.

We run renovation and construction of private houses on the coast and in the province of Barcelona in Russian and Spanish, and the garage with its technical rooms goes into the estimate as separate lines. One person responsible for the site, our own crew and trusted subcontractors, payment by stages under the contract. Project signatures are provided by independent specialists. Send us the list of cars and the plan of the house, and within an hour we will tell you which data to collect before design. The exact price is in the estimate after a visit and measurements; guide prices excluding VAT: Luxury from 2,000 €/m², Signature from 3,000 €/m².