RV parking cement pad question

[BGlidewell]

The contractor recomends added thickness and steel in the area where the wheels and stands are on the pad as well as extra beams in the pad. Any thoughts about this or experience with cement failure due to weight? My RV weighs about 15k dry.

 

[The patriot]

I'm not expert, but I believe if you put it down 8" thick with steel caging in it you should be GTG. Your base is most important!

The guy across the street has a 40' Dutch Star, and this is how they did his.

I was looking into putting in a concrete driveway for a class 8 rig a while back, and this is what they reccomended.

Check with a few masons (estimates), and you should get a good idea of what's needed.

 

[GFritsch]

As long as you have a well compacted base = 6 inch of base rock @95% and #4 rebar @ 12 inch o. c you should be fine with a 6 inch slab. This is the standard for building pads. We drive equipment much heavier after 3-4 days cure time. As long as the contractor is not charging extra let him put as much extra rebar as he wants.

 

[donnier]

Last summer, I had a pad put in beside the garage for our future trailer.

The contractor asked what weight was going on it.

They ended up installing four inch base andfour inch thick concrete with #3 rebar on 2 ft center.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bob Cochran]

On my pad they brought in material for packing that in my case had to be almost 12 inches thick minimum to several feet because of unlevel ground big slope and with 6 inches thick concrete with no rebar. Been using it since 2003 and no problems with trailer weight of 15,000#. Rebar would certainly make it better.

 

[Grizzly]

The contractor recomends added thickness and steel in the area where the wheels and stands are on the pad as well as extra beams in the pad. Any thoughts about this or experience with cement failure due to weight? My RV weighs about 15k dry.

First of all it's a concrete pad, not a cement pad. Cement is an ingredient that goes into concrete. 4" thick, 3500 lb, well cured concrete over 6" compacted granular base is more then enough. I would in addition place a 2x6x2' under each jack. I built mine that way some 15 years ago and still have no cracks. I'm a retired civil engineer and a general contractor and it kills me when someone calls concrete, "cement". Cement is to concrete as flour is to bread.

 

[Grunt]

First of all it's a concrete pad, not a cement pad. Cement is an ingredient that goes into concrete. 4" thick, 3500 lb, well cured concrete over 6" compacted granular base is more then enough. I would in addition place a 2x6x2' under each jack. I built mine that way some 15 years ago and still have no cracks. I'm a retired civil engineer and a general contractor and it kills me when someone call concrete, "cement". Cement is to concrete as floor is to bread.

First of all It's flour not floor Sorry. . couldn't help myself.

 

[The patriot]

Dont gotta cause a neucular war over it. :-laf

 

[robertyoke]

If you don't ever want it to crack then do a post tension slab. Post tension slabs have cables that are under tension and keep the slab together. Concrete will shrink and crack no matter what the psi mix or thickness. usually it will crack at the joint and that is it, but depending on the soil underneath, it may crack all over.

8 inch or 12 inch is just a waste of concrete 4 or 5 inch is plenty. It is your base that is just as important as your slab thickness. Steel wont keep your concrete from cracking it just keeps it together after it cracks.

Drainage,expansive soils, freeze and thaw cycling is in most cases is why most slabs fail. It not the weight you put on it unless the base has washed out.

-robert

 

[bjonesAZ]

I guess not everyone is "blessed" with caliche clay.



Bob

 

[BGlidewell]

I guess not everyone is "blessed" with caliche clay.



Bob

We have that here too, but in my neck of the woods we have what we call "black gumbo". It's hard as rock when dry, but when it rains, tires sink and collect it on their treads so that the size of the tires snowball quickly and you get mud wedged into your fenders



Thanks for the good information yall!

 

[BGlidewell]

First of all it's a concrete pad, not a cement pad. Cement is an ingredient that goes into concrete.

Well, it's going in right next to maw ceemint pond...

 

[Byershome]

It is all about your base, if your soil is good and properly compacted you can pour a 4 inch slab with 6x6 wire mesh and not have to worry about it. I've have poured a loading dock area for heavily laden chemical trucks (semi's) with just 6" of concrete and no reinforcing at all. If you are worried I'd just go 6" with wire mesh. As long as you get the wire up in the concrete, the soil conditions won't be much of a factor as long as it is not muck or something nasty like expandable clay :-laf Make sure it is wide enough that you won't be rolling across any corners or the edges.

 

[Prairie Dog]

First of all it's a concrete pad, not a cement pad. Cement is an ingredient that goes into concrete...

Hmm, how comes they callem "cement trucks" then?

(Thats a rhetorical question by the way. )

 

[GFritsch]

I'm a retired civil engineer and a general contractor and it kills me when someone call concrete, "cement". Cement is to concrete as flour is to bread.

O. K. according to the American Heritage Dictionary: :-{} http://www.bartleby.com/61/37/C0193700.html



SYLLABICATION: ce·ment

PRONUNCIATION: s-mnt

NOUN: 1a. A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine powder, which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used as an ingredient in making mortar or concrete. b. Portland cement. c. Concrete. 2. A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue. 3. Something that serves to bind or unite: “Custom was in early days the cement of society” (Walter Bagehot). 4. Geology A chemically precipitated substance that binds particles of clastic rocks. 5. Dentistry A substance used for filling cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations. 6. Variant of cementum.



Grizzly, I hope you have a good sense of humor, I just couldn't resist. :-laf



Now, is cement. . er. . I mean Concrete poured or placed?

 

[Grizzly]

Hmm, how comes they callem "cement trucks" then?

(Thats a rhetorical question by the way. )

I have always known them to be "concrete trucks", or better yet a "concrete transit truck". That is the proper acceptable language in the engineering world.

 

[Grizzly]

O. K. according to the American Heritage Dictionary: :-{} http://www.bartleby.com/61/37/C0193700.html



SYLLABICATION: ce·ment

PRONUNCIATION: s-mnt

NOUN: 1a. A building material made by grinding calcined limestone and clay to a fine powder, which can be mixed with water and poured to set as a solid mass or used as an ingredient in making mortar or concrete. b. Portland cement. c. Concrete. 2. A substance that hardens to act as an adhesive; glue. 3. Something that serves to bind or unite: “Custom was in early days the cement of society” (Walter Bagehot). 4. Geology A chemically precipitated substance that binds particles of clastic rocks. 5. Dentistry A substance used for filling cavities or anchoring crowns, inlays, or other restorations. 6. Variant of cementum.



Grizzly, I hope you have a good sense of humor, I just couldn't resist. :-laf



Now, is cement. . er. . I mean Concrete poured or placed?

That's what I said, cement is an ingredient in making concrete. You can mix it with water and aggregate (sand and gravel) to make concrete. You can also make concrete by mixing cement and water. That is also called grout. You place concrete and you pour water.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I have always known them to be "concrete trucks", or better yet a "concrete transit truck". That is the proper acceptable language in the engineering world.

:{ :{ :{

Try to picture a very loud, long raspberry sound rite now. .

 

[GFritsch]

That's what I said, cement is an ingredient in making concrete. You can mix it with water and aggregate (sand and gravel) to make concrete. You can also make concrete by mixing cement and water. That is also called grout. You place concrete and you pour water.

Good to know the proper terminology. I have "placed" tens of thousands of yards of "concrete" over the years. I have also dealt with many engineers over the years. Some even have a sense of humor.

 

[Grizzly]

Good to know the proper terminology. I have "placed" tens of thousands of yards of "concrete" over the years. I have also dealt with many engineers over the years. Some even have a sense of humor.

I do have a good sense of humor and I also like to design structures with the use of concrete and other building materials. I too have been involved in the placement of many cubic yards of concrete on large structures in my 34 years with the US Army Corps of Engineers and smaller structures in my Contracting business.