Parking pad on a slope -- on a budget

[ECones]

I know "on a slope one a budget" may be an oxymoron.

RV is a 28 footer with 212" wheelbase.

The only reasonable place we have to park it is on a slope that drops about 5" every 8 feet or so.

We'd like to use 12" x 7" concrete wall blocks to build a level pad about 20' long going down the hill. The pad would be about a foot thick at the deepest end. The RV would be parked facing down that hill, so the cab / engine end will be on the deepest part.

We've been told we can just fill it with SB-2 gravel, but I'm concerned about filling it that deep.

Advice / suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated.

[ECones]

NAUTIQUE wrote:

ECones wrote:

NAUTIQUE wrote:
Econes,
I think my parking area may be similar to what you are describing.
Mine is filled with 3/4" crushed gravel.
I just spread and raked thin layers and compacted by hand with a tamper.
It has worked out pretty well for me.

That looks really nice and it appears it's about as deep as mine would need to be. I hadn't considered wood for the sides, but I see this was put in in 2007. Is the wood holding up for you?

2007! Time flys!:E 🙂
Wood has held up pretty well.
The vert posts were 8'PT cut in half & set in about 2' deep hole with quickrete.
That area of my backyard can get pretty wet in the spring, so with the winters we've had, they've seen some heaving. But I just use the tamper and bang em back level in the spring.
My intention was to eventually fill-in sloping the lawn up to the top of border, but other projects get in the way - as you can see, time flys!

There area I'm planning to use stays pretty wet this time of year as well. I had just about decided to cheap out and just do some ramps, but this looks so nice you may change my mind. Nicely done.

[NAUTIQUE]

ECones wrote:

NAUTIQUE wrote:
Econes,
I think my parking area may be similar to what you are describing.
Mine is filled with 3/4" crushed gravel.
I just spread and raked thin layers and compacted by hand with a tamper.
It has worked out pretty well for me.

That looks really nice and it appears it's about as deep as mine would need to be. I hadn't considered wood for the sides, but I see this was put in in 2007. Is the wood holding up for you?

2007! Time flys!:E 🙂
Wood has held up pretty well.
The vert posts were 8'PT cut in half & set in about 2' deep hole with quickrete.
That area of my backyard can get pretty wet in the spring, so with the winters we've had, they've seen some heaving. But I just use the tamper and bang em back level in the spring.
My intention was to eventually fill-in sloping the lawn up to the top of border, but other projects get in the way - as you can see, time flys!

[ECones]

NAUTIQUE wrote:
Econes,
I think my parking area may be similar to what you are describing.
Mine is filled with 3/4" crushed gravel.
I just spread and raked thin layers and compacted by hand with a tamper.
It has worked out pretty well for me.

That looks really nice and it appears it's about as deep as mine would need to be. I hadn't considered wood for the sides, but I see this was put in in 2007. Is the wood holding up for you?

[ECones]

pauldub wrote:
I'd use crushed rock instead of gravel. The crushed rock is much more stable that round gravel.

Thanks Paul. I'm using the term "gravel" sort of generically. I'm planning to use SB-2, which is crushed stone commonly used on roads and driveways.

[NAUTIQUE]

Econes,
I think my parking area may be similar to what you are describing.
Mine is filled with 3/4" crushed gravel.
I just spread and raked thin layers and compacted by hand with a tamper.
It has worked out pretty well for me.

[pauldub]

I'd use crushed rock instead of gravel. The crushed rock is much more stable that round gravel.

[ECones]

rvten wrote:

ECones wrote:

rvten wrote:
How about digging out to make pad level?
Should only take a couple of hours to do.(to dig out) Than gravel and then your blocks.
You will also need to put something in where you dug out. To keep dirt from falling back in.

This would be my personal choice. But not seeing you lot. Only a guess.

That, unfortunately, is not really an option. The lot slopes away from the house toward the woods. There would be no way to get to it.

Could still be done. Just need a good bucket operator.just move the high ground to the low side. Make parking space wide enough to make RV usable when parked.

You simply just need to level off the parking space. Unless I am missing something here. Did a lot of grading in my past.

I'm sure it's me missing something 😉

As it stands, we'd be turning off a driveway and heading slightly downhill towards the woods, which are about 40' from the drive. If we dug into that slope, I don't know how we'd get down to it.

My wife and I looked at it again today, and we definitely want to put gravel in that area to keep it from being so sloppy when it's wet. But I think we're going to forget about building a raised pad and just ramp the front wheels up.

[rvten]

ECones wrote:

rvten wrote:
How about digging out to make pad level?
Should only take a couple of hours to do.(to dig out) Than gravel and then your blocks.
You will also need to put something in where you dug out. To keep dirt from falling back in.

This would be my personal choice. But not seeing you lot. Only a guess.

That, unfortunately, is not really an option. The lot slopes away from the house toward the woods. There would be no way to get to it.

Could still be done. Just need a good bucket operator.just move the high ground to the low side. Make parking space wide enough to make RV usable when parked.

You simply just need to level off the parking space. Unless I am missing something here. Did a lot of grading in my past.

[Dakzuki]

I just dealt with a similar situation at my brother's house. We take out RV over there but his driveway has a significant slope which is beyond what my small ramp setup that I carry can deal with.

I made some 6 foot long "super ramps" out of lumber They are about 15 inches tall at the end. I made them tall enough for his longer wheelbase Bigfoot to be able to use them also. I just need to get up about 11 inches to be level with my RV. They work great. They weight about 55 lbs each so they are staying at that location. I just back up the driveway, deploy the ramps and drive down onto them.

[ECones]

ECones wrote:

tragusa3 wrote:
You could sink posts at the end of each ramp that stuck up high enough to be a bumper to stop your wheels from overshooting.

There are advantages to what you propose. Getting under it for service/maintenance would be easier.

I knew I'd need to do something as a stop; I like the post idea.

I hadn't thought about the increased height for maintenance. That's a definite positive.

Thanks for the link; that's one I hadn't stumbled across. I had planned to dig down and set the walls below the surface. We did a patio behind the house with them 20 years ago, and it's about the same height I proposed for the camper. It's still doing fine ... but I don't park and RV on it 😉

[ECones]

tragusa3 wrote:
You could sink posts at the end of each ramp that stuck up high enough to be a bumper to stop your wheels from overshooting.

There are advantages to what you propose. Getting under it for service/maintenance would be easier.

I knew I'd need to do something as a stop; I like the post idea.

I hadn't thought about the increased height for maintenance. That's a definite positive.

[StevenH]

Something to remember. Gravity works and is constant. Anything placed on the hill will be trying to move down the hill or fall over. The more material behind it the more lateral force. In order for a wall to stay up when a lateral force is placed against it there needs to be a sufficient base below ground to resist the force.

retaining wall

Just placing some blocks on the surface is really not a good idea. You need to anchor them in place. A post holes filled with cement(pillar) and a couple of steel rebar going into the wall will help to hold it in place.

You can save money by building a deck for the sides where the doors are.

Whatever you do make sure you have a solid tire stop at the end. Dropping a tire over the edge would not be fun.

Steve

edit fixed bad link

[tragusa3]

You could sink posts at the end of each ramp that stuck up high enough to be a bumper to stop your wheels from overshooting.

There are advantages to what you propose. Getting under it for service/maintenance would be easier.

[ECones]

K Charles wrote:
A couple blocks and a couple planks to drive the front wheels up, done. If the grass under it doesn't die move the RV and mow it, then put the RV back.

I like how you think 😉

I do want to gravel the area but it may not be necessary to ramp the entire area. One smaller concrete pad for each front wheel and one rear wheel -- it slopes both ways -- would be adequate to get it level. Hmmm...

Calisdad wrote:

They make retaining wall blocks that interlock and are pretty easy to set. Gravel would work fine and is considered 'self-compacting'. That being said I'm sure someone could get more compaction if they tried hard enough but it generally isn't done in construction.

Just remember to start well. Any errors will magnify as you go up. I have an above ground pool set on retaining blocks- half dug in, half on blocks with the highest part on 5 or 6 courses. Been there 6 years with no problems.

Don't scrimp on the size- you'll appreciate easier access and parking with an apron around it. Good Luck!

If I do the pad, the highest the wall would have to be would be two blocks. I do see your point about making it large enough to use confortably.

Islandman wrote:
Think I'd have a small contractor with a good endloader come in and partially level the site, backfill with good crushed gravel while compacting, and then place concrete blocks (or some sort of timbers like RR ties) around the sides to keep the fill end from spilling out. The finished product should be as close to level as you can make it so you can run the refrigerator while it's parked, or sleep in it if the need arises. Try to have the elevation of RV door close to the natural ground or walkway if possible so you don't have to go up/down much to get into the RV, and so the step can extend out when opening the door w/o getting stuck on something.

That's what I'm trying to accomplish without the contractor part 😉 Unfortunately, the door will be on the downhill side, but I can do a little gravel pad to step in and out on.

winnietrey wrote:
Is it that you want the MH level? or you want a level pad? or both? A 20 inch drop in in 28 ft.
I wonder if the MH is capable of backing up that without a pad. Maybe if you buried some blocks to give the back tires something to bite into.

Yeah, we want to be able to use it when we have guests over or when our power goes out at the house. It's got a generator, so we may as well put it to use. It'll be near my wife's shop too, so we can install a 30 amp service there and drop the drainage to her shop's septic tank.

You did what I did and figured a drop for the entire 28' of length. Then my wife said "Couldn't it just be big enough for the wheels?" :S

We will be pulling in forward; the front will be raised, and the rear will be at ground level. Considring a 12" or less rise I should be able to drive up on it if I ramp the gravel up some. I just have to keep from driving over it. That'd be bad. :E