Since moving to our new home in Payson AZ I've been parking our 24' Class C along the south edge of our concrete driveway {the ability to park the toys on our new .57 acre property being a huge benefit}. Unfortunately with the coach there our access to the attached garage is somewhat restricted. To gain more clearance I had been trying to come up with some more space but there is a fairly steep slope that falls away from the edge of the concrete driveway.
I finally came up with a solution. I dug down 3 to 6" along the south edge of the slab and framed the opening with 8', 6 X 6" beams creating a "box" for lack of a better term that was 24' long and 3'wide. I secured these beams by drilling and driving 2' pieces of 3/8" rebar 18" into the ground and tying the beams together with steel straps and brackets.
I had to remove nearly 2 tons of compacted clay with an assortment of some fairly large rocks that were embedded on the slope. The last step was to backfill my "box" with 1.5 tons of gravel which I compacted by driving over with the Rzr SXS. I still need to do some additional compaction and wet it all down a couple of times but once the passenger side tires are sitting on 2 X 10's the coach should be dead level with the existing slab.
Here is a shot of the finished project:
As you can imagine this was a lot of very physical labor for this 69 year old but I have succeeded in improving my garage access. Here is a shot of the coach in its new parking location. As you can see the the garage has a much easier entrance and though smallish handles my new Can Am Spyder along with my brides car:
:C
I finally came up with a solution. I dug down 3 to 6" along the south edge of the slab and framed the opening with 8', 6 X 6" beams creating a "box" for lack of a better term that was 24' long and 3'wide. I secured these beams by drilling and driving 2' pieces of 3/8" rebar 18" into the ground and tying the beams together with steel straps and brackets.
I had to remove nearly 2 tons of compacted clay with an assortment of some fairly large rocks that were embedded on the slope. The last step was to backfill my "box" with 1.5 tons of gravel which I compacted by driving over with the Rzr SXS. I still need to do some additional compaction and wet it all down a couple of times but once the passenger side tires are sitting on 2 X 10's the coach should be dead level with the existing slab.
Here is a shot of the finished project:
As you can imagine this was a lot of very physical labor for this 69 year old but I have succeeded in improving my garage access. Here is a shot of the coach in its new parking location. As you can see the the garage has a much easier entrance and though smallish handles my new Can Am Spyder along with my brides car:
:C
OP here with a final update. After compacting the new pad several times, first with my Rzr, then the Honda and finally with 11,000# of coach and gently wetting it down a couple of times it was down about an inch from completely level with the existing concrete driveway. Nothing another half ton of gravel would not cure... so off to the yard onece again. I went with the concrete rock this time, all rock/gravel {no dirt} and aesthetically it nearly matches the driveway.
After spreading and leveling I rolled the coach up and down it at least a dozen times and then parked it using a pair of yellow Leggo blocks under each of the passenger side duallies. The coach is now dead level not only from side to side but front to back as well. My 25,' 30 amp extension cord is due in today and will enable me to connect to the dedicated 30 amp outlet my electrician installed at the front corner of the garage. The coach now sits 12' back down the driveway from the front of the garage and I gained a full 3' of additional clearance on the south side.
Like the man said... "Mission Accomplished". My bill for the beams, hardware and rebar at Home Depot was $245. The gravel yard got me for an other $28 and I get my Ibuprofen for free from the VA. :B Here are a couple of pics:
I
After spreading and leveling I rolled the coach up and down it at least a dozen times and then parked it using a pair of yellow Leggo blocks under each of the passenger side duallies. The coach is now dead level not only from side to side but front to back as well. My 25,' 30 amp extension cord is due in today and will enable me to connect to the dedicated 30 amp outlet my electrician installed at the front corner of the garage. The coach now sits 12' back down the driveway from the front of the garage and I gained a full 3' of additional clearance on the south side.
Like the man said... "Mission Accomplished". My bill for the beams, hardware and rebar at Home Depot was $245. The gravel yard got me for an other $28 and I get my Ibuprofen for free from the VA. :B Here are a couple of pics:
I
Yes, we live in Payson Arizona which is a smallish town, probably with less than 20,000 people. We are at 5,000' but the Mogollon Rim is nearly 8,000' and just 30 miles up highway 260. As far as zoning or parking restrictions that just does not happen up here. Probably 7 out of 10 homes have an RV, a couple of utility trailers not mention ATV's/UTV's {we have my Honda Ridgeline, my brides Toyota Solara, the Can AM Spyder, our Class C, the Rzr SXS and my cargo trailer}.
The best part is that they all reside on our property, no more shelling out $100+ a month for storage and being told when and for how long I could park in front of my home
When we paved our driveways there were no permits required, up here it's your land and Zoning is almost an urban legend. :B One of my major motivations for the move was to get as far away from an HOA as possible... and 175 miles seems to be working.
Here are a couple shots of my 17 Ridgeline, GVWR of 1,477# loaded with 2,100# of gravel. The loader at the gravel yard got a little carried away when I asked for half a ton. I still had to go back for another half ton as the 2,100# wasn't enough and the truck came through it all just fine. Having a tail gate that wings out as well as dropping down enabled me to just back it up over the hole and drop the gravel using just a rake, no shoveling involved.
:C
The best part is that they all reside on our property, no more shelling out $100+ a month for storage and being told when and for how long I could park in front of my home
When we paved our driveways there were no permits required, up here it's your land and Zoning is almost an urban legend. :B One of my major motivations for the move was to get as far away from an HOA as possible... and 175 miles seems to be working.
Here are a couple shots of my 17 Ridgeline, GVWR of 1,477# loaded with 2,100# of gravel. The loader at the gravel yard got a little carried away when I asked for half a ton. I still had to go back for another half ton as the 2,100# wasn't enough and the truck came through it all just fine. Having a tail gate that wings out as well as dropping down enabled me to just back it up over the hole and drop the gravel using just a rake, no shoveling involved.
:C
