Opinions sought:I want to add a pad beside my house 12x20'I want to avoid all the prep work (sub base, gravel, tamping and hauling away dirt... etc.). It is now a 50yr old normal lawn with nice grass! Basic question: Do you think it would be OK If I box it in with 2x6 and pour 6" with pressure cracks every 5' with a 1" slope for rain water to run totally away from the house. Only thing ever to be parked on it is my 2500 truck (maybe with a load of wood in back once in a while). 7,000lb + wood should be under 10k. Don't want a lot of overkill. Just don't want it to look bad in a few years. Near Toronto. Thank you

NO!It will look bad fairly quickly.Ground heave because of sub-concrete moisture will do you in. Specially on Clay soil.Do you think companies would go to all the trouble of doing site prep if it was not necessary.Seehttp://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/CanBldgDigests/cbd026_e.html

Frame it in directly over the grass? IMHO, 5x5x6" concrete slabs can distribute a bunch of weight if the sub-base is firm and unforgiving. I would put the difference between the cost of 6" vs 4" in the site prep. At least get the sod and loamy soil out of there.

Frame it with 2 x 4, put down plastic to hold down the weeds, and fill it with #8 limestone. Forget the concrete. At some point in the future you could probably take away the wood. Every couple of years add some more limestone.

darsben1 wrote:NO!It will look bad fairly quickly.Ground heave because of sub-concrete moisture will do you in. Specially on Clay soil.Do you think companies would go to all the trouble of doing site prep if it was not necessary.Seehttp://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/CanBldgDigests/cbd026_e.htmlYep, right on all points. It's cheaper to do it right than doing it OVER and Over and over....

Basic question: Do you think it would be OK If I box it in with 2x6 and pour 6" with pressure cracks every 5' with a 1" slope for rain water to run totally away from the house. The sub base is almost everything when it comes to concrete. Ask for concrete rated at 3000 pounds per square inch or more. So, if the base is good four inches would be plenty for a pickup truck. Don't just put down concrete, prepare the base first.

Concrete thickness for truck | Good Sam Community

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Jul 02, 2017
I want to avoid all the prep work (sub base, gravel, tamping and hauling away dirt... etc.).

That ^^^^^^ is going to be your Number 1 issue
jmtandem
Explorer II
Jul 02, 2017
Basic question: Do you think it would be OK If I box it in with 2x6 and pour 6" with pressure cracks every 5' with a 1" slope for rain water to run totally away from the house.

The sub base is almost everything when it comes to concrete. Ask for concrete rated at 3000 pounds per square inch or more. So, if the base is good four inches would be plenty for a pickup truck. Don't just put down concrete, prepare the base first.
pigman1
Explorer
Jul 02, 2017
darsben1 wrote:
NO!
It will look bad fairly quickly.
Ground heave because of sub-concrete moisture will do you in. Specially on Clay soil.
Do you think companies would go to all the trouble of doing site prep if it was not necessary.

See
http://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/CanBldgDigests/cbd026_e.html
Yep, right on all points. It's cheaper to do it right than doing it OVER and Over and over....
Dick_B
Explorer
Jul 02, 2017
Frame it with 2 x 4, put down plastic to hold down the weeds, and fill it with #8 limestone. Forget the concrete. At some point in the future you could probably take away the wood. Every couple of years add some more limestone.
korbe
Explorer
Jul 02, 2017
Frame it in directly over the grass? IMHO, 5x5x6" concrete slabs can distribute a bunch of weight if the sub-base is firm and unforgiving. I would put the difference between the cost of 6" vs 4" in the site prep. At least get the sod and loamy soil out of there.
darsben1
Explorer
Jul 02, 2017
NO!
It will look bad fairly quickly.
Ground heave because of sub-concrete moisture will do you in. Specially on Clay soil.
Do you think companies would go to all the trouble of doing site prep if it was not necessary.

See
http://web.mit.edu/parmstr/Public/NRCan/CanBldgDigests/cbd026_e.html

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