covering a 40 ft motor home.

Hey Gary, I had a conference with the concrete guy today, and we are getting a sturdy mix of concrete and it will have fiber in it. So, thanks again for mentioning that tome. I had heard about it before, but it was one of those things that went in one ear and out the other. so I did a bit of research on it and discovered you were right. When I ask the man about it he started laughing and ask me if I had looked that up on line, and of course, thanks to you I had and had printed out what I found. I showed him my print out and he got a real kick out of it and then showed me on the print out the exact mix he was going to use and said he was also having the fiber in it. He has sent some of the supplies here and plans on grading on Monday. So, thank you Gary and everyone who has replied. I appreciate it.

Gary , glad you mentioned that. It does seem to me that I have heard that before. The grading is going to start here in a couple of days, so I will talk to the contractor about that. From prior talking with him, I would bet he has already figured it into his equasions. He seems to be a very sharp guy. I have seen some other work he has done and it is impressive. He was also the most expensive, but I really liked what I saw that he had done. One of the other people didn't even want to show me anything they had done. Crossed him right off the list. The other guy was cheaper, but he had just begun in this field, so I didn't want to chance him. I do know, from building my pool and patio that to keep concrete from cracking, it helps if you keep the exterior parts of it wet. If it drys too quickly from the outside in, it will crack. best process is drying from the inside out. Thanks Gary and msmith, I appreciate your thoughts and help.

Gary. wrote:
I do not know how they grade concrete, but I do know they have concrete that is mixed for different loads. I had a driveway poured and it was only 3500 and ended up with a crack. Someone told me it should have been 4000 grade concrete. So also check the grade of concrete that will be poured. Good Luck.

I'm no concrete expert either, but I've seen runways with 18" thick concrete crack too. Not to mention the freeway concrete. Yes, I realize it's a completely different use, but I think concrete is subject to cracking no matter what.

I do not know how they grade concrete, but I do know they have concrete that is mixed for different loads. I had a driveway poured and it was only 3500 and ended up with a crack. Someone told me it should have been 4000 grade concrete. So also check the grade of concrete that will be poured. Good Luck.

dcbrewer, thanks for the info regarding the plastic over the gravel and under the concrete. we are in the red clay area here and when we get rain, we get rain. the clay IS terrible. when it is dry , like it is right now, the clay is like brick. Our contractor is very knowledgeable, but I will raise the issue with him. we have a start date of either Thursday or Friday depending on how their current job progresses. We have discussed drainage under and around the pad and he has some good ideas about French drains behind the pad which will be a gentle downward slope. again, thanks. I will discuss your thoughts with my contractor.

When I built mine, used 8 inch fiber mix with rebar, in the area where the MH sets. I tapered it to 5 inch to the sides of the garage. And added sewer, water and power. Garage is 28x48 with 16.5 ceiling and 14x14 door. MH is very happy with it. Also put down 3 layers of 6 mill plastic over gravel before pouring concrete, to keep moisture down. Have taped down a 3 ft sq of plastic on floor, with no moisture after weeks of being taped down. Wanted my concrete to hold with jacks down. No cracks after10 years. Good luck with it.

msmith1199 wrote:
While it doesn't hurt to pour 10 inch thick concrete, it is an overkill. I only have a 35 foot DP, but I parked it on a 4 inch pad for years and never had any problems. The concrete was reinforced with fiberglass and not rebar and it help up just fine.

X-2, 10 inch concrete is perfect if your parking a couple of military tanks on the pad.

I hope you have good concrete contractor?
I am remodeling contractor in CA and have not seen bigger slab without a crack.
Concrete contractors blame it on earthquakes and such, but doing small slabs on my project I experienced that good concrete vibrating makes whole World of difference.
That said, never have seen driveways pours done with vibrators.
I think as well that 10" is tank-grade slab.
5-6" is well build. You want it stronger, put more steel and make sure steel is suspended, not laying on the dirt.
Sounds like exciting project

ro_sie wrote:
We are going to run only a 30 amp line because we don't plan on the rv to be used while parked.

It does not cost much more to do 50 AMP vs. 30 AMP.

When I wired my storage bay for my 30 AMP Laredo 5th Wheel, I ran wire capable of providing 50 AMP service. That was 13 years ago.

August 2015 I purchased a Class A with 50 AMP service. I swapped out the 30 AMP RV outlet for a 50 AMP RV outlet and all is good. I eliminated the need for a 30 AMP to 50 AMP adapter and have more than enough ampacity for my Class A.

The one thing I did not do when I built the storage bay - I only built it 34' long and 14' wide. The Class A is 35' long. I just added 8' to the storage bay.

If you are really concerned about cost, have the backhoe dig two deeper channels where the RV wheels will rest and just pour the rest of the concrete at 4". You can also use re-bar where the RV wheels will rest instead of wire.

msmith, thank you for your very kind replies. But, altho my husband is an air traffic controller and we have several acres of land, We have no thoughts of landing ANY aircraft here.

Our driveway will be the 4 inches thick, but for the building and the MoHO we want to go a little bit thicker.

10forty2 and Tyler0215, thank you so much for your reply to my query. It looks like we will do more than the 4 inches, but less than the 10. The building itself will be built on a slight slope and Because we saw someone else build like that, we want to go a bit thicker. They did have problems with their garage beginning to slide. We are building a retaining wall and a french drain behind the unit. Again, thank you, I appreciate your replies and your not needing to be snide.