Parking Pad

Learned a new lesson about car care yesterday, the hard way. My car has accelerated corrosion of the chassis which the mechanics say is a result of my parking the car for extended periods over grassy areas.

I've got about a half acre lot. Driveway is single car wide. Although I could extend it I can't widen it very easily.

Instead I'm considering building some sort of parking pad in the backyard where I was parking the car. Likely concrete, concrete pavers, or perhaps asphalt.

Any recommendations or suggestions? Low cost, low maintenance, and durability all a plus.

Reply to
Jim
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Corrosion is probably result of moisture migrating up & out of soil. Thus, you might want crushed stone covered with poly below a concrete slab. TB

Reply to
tbasc

Concrete - durable, looks good, low maintenance, high initial cost Asphalt - durable, some maintenance, cost less than concrete Pavers - Some maintenance, weed growth in cracks, low cost gravel - high maintenance, low cost

Reply to
Phisherman

I believe for a small scale pad (assume 8' x 16') asphalt will cost considerably more than concrete due to the need for specialty equipment for placement vs. a 2x form and a screed board.

Pete C.

Reply to
Pete C.

i would go with gravel if you are trying to keep costs down. have an excavator strip the organics down to native soil, and use a geotextile fabric. you could also use paver edging to somewhat limit weed growth. hit it with roundup every few years. BTW, i parked a fairly decent pickup in the weeds for three years, and pretty much ruined it with underbody rust.

Reply to
marson

I will throw this one out for your consideration. Minimal cost and a DIY project all the way.

One of the neater things I saw a picture of in a very dated "concrete projects" book was a casual parking pad built out of concrete blocks and filled with earth so that you had green space but a durable surface. In the example shown they pretty much had the blocks butted together end to end and side to side with the opening up. For what I am going to suggest you might be able to decrease the block quantity by spacing them apart a bit more except around the perimeter.

For your purposes I would modify that concept like this. Excavate to 6" or so, making sure to allow for drainage as you site lies, lay down a heavy layer of plastic, sit the blocks on a finely crushed rock base which has been spread over the plastic, fill the blocks and all gaps with "road grade" crushed rock. You will have some weed growth after a few years but an annual application of a herbicide will control it.

Let me know what you think and how it works out if you do it.

Reply to
Colbyt

When I got a price for a similar parking pad, the asphalt guy wanted almost as much for the small pad as for doing an entire driveway. Near work there is an outfit that will line up a number of jobs in the same area and do them all in the same day or two at more reasonable cost, but he does not come down to my town. If you have a neighbor getting a new drive, you may be able to piggy-back cheap. Otherwise, concrete is probably best.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Those guys that advertise sheds and garages for less than a thousand bucks do a wonderful job for the money and they are fast.

And the corrosion problem is all due to road chemicals, not parking on grass.

Reply to
JimL

No, grass helps. I've seen the difference on my two cars the same age and use, one is sometimes on grass, the other never is. The road chemicals may start, but the moist environment helps it along.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I used something vaguely similar on a yard shed I erected a few years back. The Home Depot type where they want to also sell a wooden floor kit. Others prefer a concrete pad but in my area that qualifies the shed as a permanent, aka taxable, structure,

Instead I excavated the depth of concrete blocks. Using the blocks has been quite handy in the winter time because as the snow thrower thaws any water easily can drain away.

Reply to
Jim

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