Making a parking spot for coach?

[Tully]

Going to be parking the coach at home / side of garage.

Any special thoughts on how and what I need to do to prepare to park the coach.

Was thinking concrete or brick pavers.

Instead of going 10 or 11 feet wide, thought I might just have two strips of either concrete or brick pavers at around 3 feet wide per strip. Would this be enough area to pull and park coach on?

Any input would be nice.

Tully Lee Garrett

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Hi Tully, what part of the country are you in?
A picture of the potential site would help.
Pavers and concrete strips can work, but regardless of what you use you will need a properly prepared base, with good drainage.
If you want the pavers and strips for aesthetic reasons that is one thing, but if you are trying to save money, it will probably cost more than a broadly paved area.
Give us a little more info and you will get some good ideas back.

[Tully]

I am situated on an 1.2 acres. Village zoning says unit has to be on side of garage or back of home. Since there is a creek towards back of home, do not want to chance flooding.

Now drainage will not be an issue since this is on a slight dip and naturally the water will drain away.

Now I never thought about pea gravel. May not be an bad idea.

I just did not want to dump $5 or 6K into this project. I would like to keep cost/s down. On the other hand, I have no problem with doing things right. My thoughts are the next party looking to buy my house probably does not want a 40x10 concrete slab taking up the yard.

Tully Lee Garrett

[garyde]

Ok, here's the issue. Depending on the wieght of your Prevost, you will need
6"-8" of crushed rock and a minimum of 6" of Concrete w/ rebar. Your approach to the pad also needs Crushed rock as well. In wet weather, you don't want your coach sinking down to the axles, so it would be best to consult a grading & paving contractor.

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Tully, what I meant by what part of the country, was, New England, Mid West, South Central, Pacific Northwest, stuff like that.

Does it freeze where your at, rain a lot.

Your dealing with a vehicle weighing in at aro 50,000#, that's 12,000# on each corner(nominally).

Just to get to your pad you had better have a good existing drive, or it is going to hell fast.

At the very least you need to excavate the area to remove the topsoil, and get down to firm subsoil.
Upon that you need a layer of large gravel, not P gravel, and on that a finer gravel. (any P gravel you put in without the base will disappear, over, and over again!)
That surface should be compacted.
Your finish pavement or pavers would go onto that.
Get 3 estimates from contractors and then pass it buy us again for more ideas. At least that way you will know what the correct job will cost.

[Tully]

Will do just that. Will get three estimates and jump back to the boards with numbers/info.

Live South of Chicago. Brutal cold winters.

Tully Lee Garrett

[rfoster]

Tully: Gary ain't kidding about 6" of concrete with rebar. To be safe I would recommend a minimum of 7" with rebar. I built a new house 6 years ago and spent mega bucks on concrete driveways. Just this past year I spent another 10 big ones repairing the concrete behind the house due to the weight of the bus and insufficient concrete thickness.

Pay me now or pay me later.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Tully I work with these types on a daily basis. Ozinga is the big guy, Davidson concrete is just as reliable but less expensive. A load of stone for base delivered is gonna be around 22 ton @ 8bucks a ton plus delivery, around another 100. You want CA-6 for base. The closest quarry to you is Vulcan Laraway Rd.

Concrete delivered is, I'm guessin here between, 75 and 100 bucks a yard. If you call a concrete co. with dimensions they will tell you how many yards you need.

I could steer you to a concrete contractor or I do not know how ambitious you are but with a bobcat rental to remove the topsoil you could do this yourself and save a bunch. Do you have somewhere to loose the spoils out back? If not you could hire an excavator to remove the topsoil and haul it away. I can bring you the CA-6 and frame it yourself. Then hire a concrete finisher for a couple of hours the day of the pour. That is how I would do it.

I can help with any or all aspects of that job, just ask.

I park on a bed of CA-6, period. Pavers would be nice but you would almost have to have them on a concrete pad to keep them from cracking, sinking and shifting. At minimum you would have to go that extra mile in base preparation. I would not suggest pavers. You could however have concrete dyed and stamped to look just like pavers with the right finisher.

[Ray Davis]

No one mentioned it, but I would assume that if you ever want to get under the coach, that it would be much easier on a full concrete bed, rather than a row of pavers?

Ray

[Tully]

Joe (Cannarozzi):

I may need some help or referal on this job. Will hold tight first and see what the first estimate comes in at. Should have by the end of the day and will post.

Thanks everyone.

Tully Lee Garrett