Concrete thickness for truck

[5er4ever]

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

[jaycocamprs]

TomG2 wrote:
Avoid the rookie mistake of ordering "cement" or that you want to "pour some cement.

LOL after 20+ years in the Cement industry I wish I had a nickle for every time I was asked for X yards of Cement.

[jffnkrn]

As previously said, PROPER Prep work is the best way to bet a quality product. A simple 4" slab with 3000# concrete should provide you with a nice parking area. Additional thickness and some reinforcement is going to depend on what part of the country you are in. Expansive soils are problematic in most cases and if you don't compensate for them you will just be disappointed in the future. So as said earlier, prep it right, get rid of the unacceptable soils you have and get a professional to do the work. If not, just put some rock down and call it good. Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

[TomG2]

Avoid the rookie mistake of ordering "cement" or that you want to "pour some cement.

Cement is the cementitious material that bonds the aggregate together in Portland Cement Concrete. We do not "pour" concrete, we place it. Enough water to make it pourable kills the strength of the concrete by increasing the water/cement ratio. One can add all the joints you want, but remember that concrete does two thing. It gets hard and it cracks.

Seeing that you are in Canada, I strongly suggest air-entrainment in the concrete and for heavens sake, avoid salt for at least a couple of years.

[Grit_dog]

For the most part, I agree with the posts about sub prep for the slab, and likely the OP doesn't know what he has for soil conditions, but barring expansive clay or excessive moisture where the drive pad will go, a 4" residential drive pad will survive just just fine on graded and compacted native materials without a base course.
If care is taken to place mesh correctly or use fiber reinforce concrete with tie bars at the contraction joint (only 1 transverse joint needed in a 12x20 slab) I wouldn't expect issues.

But to the OP, don't expect to back the mixer up into the lawn, dump a load of concrete and think it will be fine. You need to do it properly or it won't last.
Edit
My bad OP never came back.

[drsteve]

Dick_B wrote:
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.

I did this at my old house to park my TT on, and it works great. I used 23A crushed limestone, which has a lot of fines, and it packed rock solid and held up really well. Much cheaper and way less hassle than pouring cement.

[tinner12002]

Concrete may be his only option as some communities state you can't park cars/trucks on grass or gravel...has to be a solid pad. As others have mentioned, the base under the concrete is more important than how thick the concrete is.

[TomG2]

With forty years in the construction/paving business, I recommend professional help when it comes to concrete projects. The OP has a good idea what he wants, which is often the hardest part. Site preparation is just as important as the finishing operation in getting an attractive long lasting home improvement like a parking pad. Personally, I would go with four or five inches of crushed, well graded limestone. At the minimum, strip all sod from the area. There are some great do-it-yourself books on this subject. Much more than can be related in a fifty word forum post.

To answer your headline question, four inches of mesh reinforced PCC (Portland Cement Concrete) on a properly prepared base will be sufficient for a parking pad. (A 2 x 4 is not four inches).

[1492]

[Dennis12]

Don't be stupid, good base, 4000 psi concrete, rebar or mesh installed and saw cut. Cut it 1/4 the thickness if you cut within 24 hours of pouring and cut 1/3 the thickness of the concrete after 24 hours. Saw cut not to exceed 12'. Do your homework and look it up and do it right.

[gafidler]

If you don't want to prep area put 6 mil plastic down use treated 2x6 and fill with gravel or crushed rock.

[Old-Biscuit]

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]

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]

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]

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.