[Archived]

When I used cement for my bus I laid down 6″ of 6 sack with 10-10 wire mesh in it…it has held up fine! I would be cautious of anything less…that is unless you have Gypsy Pavers in the hood from time to time. You know the drill, guy comes to your door, says they have just completed a huge paving job…bla, bla, bla. They had a shaved down (done well) 2X4 and agreed to 4″ of asphault at a very good price. I brought out a “real” 2X4 and made certain they set the machine to that…they did, lasted forever and held the bus. Think they liked it that I new their game…either Gypsy’s or Travelers….easily identified by their fancy chrome wheeled Peterbilts and the jewelry hanging around their collective necks. FWIW

[Chas]

There is nothing more important than a well compacted base. If you are pouring concrete over top soil or something equally soft there is no substitue for thickness. As the base is stronger, such as compacted mix 4″ is probably going to be OK. The cost is in the prep work and if you have concerns about the base go thicker. If you ever intend to support the coach, for whatever reason, such as changing tires or putting stands under it so you can safely go under it go with a thick slab. You do not want to risk a thin layer of concrete getting perforated by the small footprint of a jack or stands. Blacktop is probably OK if the base is well engineered and the driveway is not a slope but with that I would use a coarse mix for the first 5″ and a 2 or 3 inch finish (fine) mix. Don’t expect blacktop to be good for supporting stands or jacks and if the bus sits on one spot all the time it is likely to develop indentations where the tires sit.

It probably doesn’t matter if you use re-bar, 3/16″ mesh or chicken wire because all the wire is going to do is hold the broken pieces together. The mesh or re-bar doesn’t contribute to the strength unless it is tensioned which it is not going to be.

Specify the mix by compressive strength. a 3000 PSI mix is for sidewalks. You probably need at least a 3500 or 4000 PSI mix. Concrete is best when you can take advantage of it’s compressive strength as in when it overlays a strong compacted base. But if it has to bridge a soft base such as soil you are depending on tensile strength and concrete has very poor strength in tension so you have to compensate with thickness.

My driveway is 7″, my shop floor around the pit is 8″

[Richard]

I think a 5 sack mix will give you a 3500 psi strength. I am like Jon, I would use a 6 sack mix with the heavy mesh and a very compacted base with 6 inches of concrete. The base is the real key.

[Chas]

A typical driveway is 3000 psi and most only 3″ thick. I know that mine wasn’t coach ready. Installing 6″ of 4000# with rebar now. Also as someone else said, base compaction critical.

[Mike]

I have no problems driving and parking our bus in our concrete drive way. See avatar picture.

Gerald

[Archived]

When I built the bus barn and drive, I used 4 inches of 4000# mix with fiber on a compacted clay base. I’ve had no problems. I only have rebar in the building footers not in the slab or drive. No wire mesh in the drive either. Metal leads to corrosion which leads to swelling which leads to cracks.

I only increased the thickness to 7 inches in a section of the drive where I essentially had to bridge a spring. I wanted more support over the gravel bed and french drain.

Given the older home nature, unless you have a wet area underneath which changes things, your compaction should be fine and I suspect the thickness will be fine also.

[Mike]

Thanks all. I was curious because I parked in a campground in Charlotte on pavement & left “my mark” with all eight tires. They weren`t happy.

[Paul]

And how are you to blame for their crappy concreting job?

[Archived]

On several occasions I have been in RV parks while they were installing pads or working on a second phase of the park and I have watched them use 2 X 4’s for the framing on the RV pad so they weren’t even getting 4″ of thickness.

Then the classisc mistake was made in that they allowed new concrete to bake in the hot sun with no attempt to keep it moist. The process of creating concrete is a chemical reaction and the longer it cures the stronger the end result. But curing stops if it freezes or dries out and once that happens, whatever the compressive strength of the concrete is at that point it is all it will ever be. And in every case the concrete pads were poured over compacted sand or dirt so they never created a strong base. No wonder the pads get cracked.

[Andy]

Your conctrete will only be as good as the ground you put it on. its all in the prep work. a good base will yeild good concrete.