Community Forums

clifford j · 03-21-2016, 11:23 AM

Hi, wondering what folks do when storing their RV's. Moisture is a bad thing under your rig, some have cement pads ,some have barns with a roof, but what's the best surface to store if you don't have these luxuries.

CLIFFORD

BFlinn181 · 03-21-2016, 11:26 AM

A gravel or compacted 'fines' allows water to drain. It doesn't have to be a concrete pad, anything other than grass or weeds is O.K.

vsheetz · 03-21-2016, 11:58 AM

I have a DG driveway and parking pad. Works great.

BFlinn181 · 03-21-2016, 12:17 PM

DG is decomposed granite, a mixed fine surface. It depends on the OP's location, in our region limestone is common, granite incurs long distance shipping, so costs are much more. Pavers, bricks, asphalt, also serve a good parking spots. It might be something to check with local authorities, some areas require permits and they might have opinions as to what you can do.

dayle1 · 03-21-2016, 06:43 PM

Unless you live in a low humidity area, don't store the RV in a fully enclosed building that lacks moisture control. Better to have a well ventilated site so moisture levels under the RV are no higher than elsewhere. This will minimize condensation issues under the RV.

Mr_D · 03-21-2016, 06:50 PM

Have a gravel pad beside the stick house. Have stored 6 MH's on it since 1988 and TT's before that. Never had any trouble with rust or any other water related problems and we live in the Pacific NorthWet.

clifford j · 03-21-2016, 08:01 PM

Thanks for responses. I'm rural in eastern Pennsylvania, no zoning controls.
The 5er is on gravel and wheels up on treated 2x12s. No vegitation underneath. Will spread stone this spring and weed killer so no vegetation will grow. Area is open and no shade so moisture will be limited to ordinary humidity.

CLIFF

Cover Dog · 03-21-2016, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifford j

No vegitation underneath. Will spread stone this spring and weed killer so no vegetation will grow.

You might also want to put down landscape cloth, this will keep anything the weed killer didn't kill from coming up through the gravel.

Namlehse · 03-22-2016, 09:36 AM

I store mine on grass lol.

It gets moved weekly, so nothing builds up under it, has sank a bit once. I keep my landing gear on large pads so they don't sink. I'm pushing 16k parked, I have had any issues yet.

I don't own the property that I use for storage, I've thought about offering to buy a few loads of screening to put down in that area, but haven't really bothered yet. For now I live in a HOA that would have kittens if I tried to park it in my driveway.

I thought I'd add, the only thing I cover is my tires. Dry rot will ruin trailer tires quicker than anything else.

Half Dimes · 03-22-2016, 09:46 AM

Down in our part of the country, the sun proved to be very damaging to our first rig. So as soon as it was practical, we had a 20x40 steel 'RV port' installed. We had an extra 4' of steel panel installed on each side to keep sun damage to a minimum. Still plenty of beneficial air circulation around the rig. Driveway and pad consists of #57 gravel on top of about 6" of clay fill. Keeping sun and rain off the rig during storage pays big dividends in longevity.

Bigd9 · 03-22-2016, 10:29 AM

My coach is in a soft area so I put down geotextile fabric and 6 inches of #2 stone. Then I placed 2 railroad ties side by side for the front wheels, 2 railroad ties for the rear wheels, and one railroad tie for the front stabilizer and one for the rear stabilizer. Then I filled in the center with (dense graded aggregate). This made a very stable area and it is perfectly level. On top of the railroad ties where the wheels touch I placed a small section of roof flashing to act as a barrier between the tires and railroad ties.

Timay · 03-22-2016, 02:20 PM

I park mine in the back yard on the grass - well, it used to be grass, but a lack of sunshine under the trailer and nothing grows. It is so dry under the trailer the dirt got so fine that the neighborhood cats were using it for a litter box and my dog would go find the 'tootsie rolls' and eat them then have a puke day, so I put down some chicken wire and that stopped that. Tires are sitting on the good ol' dirt, one side on a 2X10 to level things out.

No problems since 1985 or so.

Tim

Barlow46 · 03-22-2016, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Namlehse

I store mine on grass lol.

It gets moved weekly, so nothing builds up under it, has sank a bit once. I keep my landing gear on large pads so they don't sink. I'm pushing 16k parked, I have had any issues yet.

I don't own the property that I use for storage, I've thought about offering to buy a few loads of screening to put down in that area, but haven't really bothered yet. For now I live in a HOA that would have kittens if I tried to park it in my driveway.

I thought I'd add, the only thing I cover is my tires. Dry rot will ruin trailer tires quicker than anything else.

Devils advocate here. How will covering tires prevent dry rot? Always figured non use caused most dry rot problems and although I use covers for direct sun protection, I have not figured out how to cover the inside of the tire if covering does prevent dry rot.