Parking Pad/Driveway Questions

[RoysRV]

Good morning all!

I am ready to build my separate driveway and parking pad for my newly acquired class A motorhome. I am doing the new drive and pad where the RV will park on the side of my property, basically out of the way.

A friend of mine has a construction company and had one of his guys come out to see my project and quote me a very fair price.

I have regular pavers for my driveway, and I am planning on adding a new driveway and pad that connects up to the pavers.

The idea: Roughly 14 ft limestone driveway that opens up wider connecting up to the paver edge to allow for easier backing up.

The Pad: roughly 16 ft wide by 60 feet deep. (Getting quotes now for a car port)

The base will be approximately 6 inches of baserock, and then he recommended either 57 rock or 87 stone to put on top. He preferred the 87 stone. He said it would look better and not track as much white dust.

When I asked him about the 89 stone staying in place, his response was: "The base rock will be compacted in place with the machine grading it as it goes. The pea rock will also stabilize after some time. The pea rock will be spread at about 2 1/2 inches thick."

Estimated material to be imported
1) 9 loads of baserock
2) 2 loads of 57 rock or 89 stone

What is everyone's opinion on this? Questions? Comments? Opinions? Thanks a lot everyone!!!!

[dpinvidic]

Will the motorhome be driving on any of the existing pavers?


I would think that would cause a problem. There is a big difference between compacting with a vibrator plate and driving a 5000 lb car over the paver vs. a 25K pound motorhome. I would be concerned with changes over time.


Dan

[RoysRV]

Originally Posted by dpinvidic

Will the motorhome be driving on any of the existing pavers?


I would think that would cause a problem. There is a big difference between compacting with a vibrator plate and driving a 5000 lb car over the paver vs. a 25K pound motorhome. I would be concerned with changes over time.


Dan

Dan,

Yes, the motorhome currently drives on just a small portion of the pavers before I turn onto the side grass. The pavers are holding up great with no bad effects.

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by RoysRV

Good morning all!

I am ready to build my separate driveway and parking pad for my newly acquired class A motorhome. I am doing the new drive and pad where the RV will park on the side of my property, basically out of the way.

A friend of mine has a construction company and had one of his guys come out to see my project and quote me a very fair price.

I have regular pavers for my driveway, and I am planning on adding a new driveway and pad that connects up to the pavers.

The idea: Roughly 14 ft limestone driveway that opens up wider connecting up to the paver edge to allow for easier backing up.

The Pad: roughly 16 ft wide by 60 feet deep. (Getting quotes now for a car port)

The base will be approximately 6 inches of baserock, and then he recommended either 57 rock or 87 stone to put on top. He preferred the 87 stone. He said it would look better and not track as much white dust.

When I asked him about the 89 stone staying in place, his response was: "The base rock will be compacted in place with the machine grading it as it goes. The pea rock will also stabilize after some time. The pea rock will be spread at about 2 1/2 inches thick."

Estimated material to be imported
1) 9 loads of baserock
2) 2 loads of 57 rock or 89 stone

What is everyone's opinion on this? Questions? Comments? Opinions? Thanks a lot everyone!!!!

Sounds like a good foundation. I would put a lot of emphasis on the drainage. I would also recommend adding some conduits or sleeves across it in a couple locations. I'm not sure about the screen sizes you mentioned. I used 8" of base material and 3/8" crushed stone to top mine. It tracks worse than I had hoped but part of that is because it is angular. It gets in tire treads as well as shoe treads. If it was smooth river gravel it may not be as bad. If I did it again, I would use a larger smooth gravel. The topping is intended to be temporary, but I'm not sure if I will ever get arouind to pouring concrete. I elevated my piers for 6" of concrete if I choose to pour it later.

[mwwade]

Sounds good to me. Once you compact the rock the surface will become stable. Watering the rock will help pack the gravel. How big is a load? Sounds like a lot of gravel.

[Gordon Dewald]

Angular (crushed) gravel will compact much better and provide more stability. Round rock will be a PITA as it will not stablize until the spaces between the rock get filled in with sand or dirt.

[RoysRV]

Originally Posted by Gordon Dewald

Angular (crushed) gravel will compact much better and provide more stability. Round rock will be a PITA as it will not stablize until the spaces between the rock get filled in with sand or dirt.

Gordan, are you saying "Angular (crushed) gravel" will be better than pea gravel for the top layer?

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am trying to find out also how much is in 1 load of rock.

[vsheetz]

My driveway and parking pad are DG (decomposed granite). Has been in place for several years and has held up well. No dust whatsoever, very firm surface - can even roll a creeper on it.

16' wide cover? Suggest to go wider if possible. Bigger is better.

[RoysRV]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

My driveway and parking pad are DG (decomposed granite). Has been in place for several years and has held up well. No dust whatsoever, very firm surface - can even roll a creeper on it.

16' wide cover? Suggest to go wider if possible. Bigger is better.

I have a tight area, and didn't want to cut down more trees than I really needed. Im actually hoping I can at least make it 18' for the main pad area..... Yes, bigger is better!!!

[timetogo]

I like railroad track ballast capped with 3/4" crushed base. Very strong. I wouldn't use pea gravel or river run.

Concrete Treated Base also makes a good solid pad.

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by RoysRV

Gordan, are you saying "Angular (crushed) gravel" will be better than pea gravel for the top layer?

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am trying to find out also how much is in 1 load of rock.

The angular gravel will compact a little tighter but none of them will consolidate permanently unless you introduce a binder. That can be cement or emulsion based or a slurry from the road base below. Other than that, it will unravel and track. I rolled mine with a 72" smooth drum roller (as seen in photo). If I had wetted the road base enough to make a slurry on the top couple inches, then pressed the gravel into it with the roller, it would bind somewhat but would eventually unravel anyway. The smaller the aggregate, the more refined the surface, but the more likely it will track. Decomposed granite was mentioned also. It is excellent material but not available in all areas. Personally, after 2 years, I'm finding the small angular gravel a little annoying. It's sharp on the knees and doesn't cooperate when trying to sweep up, after tracking it into other areas.

[Deny]

Originally Posted by Scottybdivin

The angular gravel will compact a little tighter but none of them will consolidate permanently unless you introduce a binder. That can be cement or emulsion based or a slurry from the road base below. Other than that, it will unravel and track. I rolled mine with a 72" smooth drum roller (as seen in photo). If I had wetted the road base enough to make a slurry on the top couple inches, then pressed the gravel into it with the roller, it would bind somewhat but would eventually unravel anyway. The smaller the aggregate, the more refined the surface, but the more likely it will track. Decomposed granite was mentioned also. It is excellent material but not available in all areas. Personally, after 2 years, I'm finding the small angular gravel a little annoying. It's sharp on the knees and doesn't cooperate when trying to sweep up, after tracking it into other areas.

I layed a paver pad, down here in Fla- the pavers are sinking where the wheels lay. I plan to pour a concrete pad on all 4 corners where the wheels rest. The rest of the pavers are fine with the occasional traffic . I am going to do that as soon as this cold snap passes ( it's 61 degrees here)

[Mike and Cha]

Scotty, what is a ballpark price on the cover you built, if you are putting it on a concrete pad, is there anything you need to do extra to support it, and is the side portion coming down enough to keep the MH clean in the rain/wind ect. We too are planning on putting a pad on the side of our house, that would join with our driveway pavers, we currently keep the MH parked on the pavers with no issues...so this info has been very helpful...Thanks

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by RoysRV

Gordan, are you saying "Angular (crushed) gravel" will be better than pea gravel for the top layer?

Thanks everyone for your comments. I am trying to find out also how much is in 1 load of rock.

Gravel of any sort does not provide a good wearing surface. There is nothing to bind the particles together. A well graded material will have very few voids so the stability is higher. Crushed rock has angular faces which have a higher friction between the particles.

On the other had a uniformly graded material (all one size without fractures) is like a big pan of marbles. It is clean but has less lateral stability.

Concrete will provide the best wearing surface, asphalt is number two.

Concrete will crack eventually, asphalt will crack as well but because of it's elastic properties a lot of the cracks are self sealing. Asphalt will age and become brittle over time at which time it will not seal itself.