New Concrete Driveway....Is It Strong Enough?
Just had a new concrete driveway poured. The driveway will average 4" thick, will cure in 30 days (it's been 32 as of today) to 3,000lbs per square inch. Buckeye Fibers were also added and mixed int...
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IMO only, I think it all depends on what is under the concrete as to how it holds up and what it will support.
SOP for me is re rod or heavy gauge mesh (not the flimsy wire stuff, I use 'Cattle Panels' for reinforcement on a sub gravel base with power tamped sand on top of that. Last one I had poured was 4 bag mix, 5" thick and it's been in there at least 10 years of Michigan freeze-thaw and not even one tiny crack I did power saw (expansion-contraction-crack) joints in the pad and true to function, the cracks went in the cut lines (not on the face of the pad.).
I found out (by accident) from a cement contractor that you can saw expansion-crack joints in concrete with an ordinary circular saw and a dull carbide tipped general purpose wood blade.
I was watching the contractor cut the joints in a job and walked over and asked and much to my surprise he showed me his DeWalt with a wood blade on it.
I thought he was using some kind of abrasive wheel. He wasn't.
It works, it dusty so wear a dust mask and blow the saw off a lot (concrete dust is abrasive). I did my own pad and the saw still runs fine. of course the blase went in the trash but it was headed there anyway.
I set my camper directly on the pad with nothing under the jack feet except the concrete, never had issue one.
Now if it was blacktop, I'd have spreader pads under the camper feet.
SOP for me is re rod or heavy gauge mesh (not the flimsy wire stuff, I use 'Cattle Panels' for reinforcement on a sub gravel base with power tamped sand on top of that. Last one I had poured was 4 bag mix, 5" thick and it's been in there at least 10 years of Michigan freeze-thaw and not even one tiny crack I did power saw (expansion-contraction-crack) joints in the pad and true to function, the cracks went in the cut lines (not on the face of the pad.).
I found out (by accident) from a cement contractor that you can saw expansion-crack joints in concrete with an ordinary circular saw and a dull carbide tipped general purpose wood blade.
I was watching the contractor cut the joints in a job and walked over and asked and much to my surprise he showed me his DeWalt with a wood blade on it.
I thought he was using some kind of abrasive wheel. He wasn't.
It works, it dusty so wear a dust mask and blow the saw off a lot (concrete dust is abrasive). I did my own pad and the saw still runs fine. of course the blase went in the trash but it was headed there anyway.
I set my camper directly on the pad with nothing under the jack feet except the concrete, never had issue one.
Now if it was blacktop, I'd have spreader pads under the camper feet.
