The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Tue May 02, 2006 4:08 pm**

Having spent the last few weeks browsing , i am now convinced of two things. Firstly , my usual addage of 'how hard can it be' which i apply to most DIY tasks , cannot be applied to what i am about to undertake. Secondly , i made a good choice to look here & see what i was letting myself in for.

My scenario is this, after having a fairly large extension built on the side of my house , i need to re-instate the blocks that were taken up. Its fairly obvious that i need to make a complete new job of it , and as most of it is to the side & rear of my property , functionality rather than aesthetics is the order of the day.
However , i need to park two rather large vehicles on the new paving, and as i only have around 5 inches clearance each side , i am very worried about sinkage.

The Pavior that did the original (and very good) job is booked solid , but i want to get on and sort it.

Bearing in mind i will know exactly where the vehicles will stand , as they only fit one way , is there a good way of preventing localised sinkage by using a more solid base in these areas?

Posted: **Wed May 03, 2006 10:27 am**

I'm no expert, but I would say no.

You should use a "more solid base" over the entire area.

I would think that any difference in the base would cause differential settlement eventually anyway, and a truly solid base won't sink at all.

As for the most solid base...

200mm of road base compacted to refusal in 2 layers is what I would do but I'm sure someone else will know for sure. Depends on what your sub-grade is like, drainage etc. etc.

How heavy are the vehicles?

Posted: **Wed May 03, 2006 2:13 pm**

Ones a 6 wheel camper , payload is around 4000kg plus the vehicle, the other is a big van 3500kg plug the van.

Main issue is the size of the area , relative to the bit i actually need to strengthen . They only fit one way, so the bit taking the load will only need to be the size of a newspaper , in ten places, relative to an area hundreds of times that size.

Existing fences & the house wall also stop me being able to dig in massively too, which is a blow. I think i'll be having to raise it up , rather than dig out, which at least means i dont need loads of skips to remove the soil.

I think whatever i end up doing, it will be a compromise.

Posted: **Wed May 03, 2006 4:39 pm**

Given that the ground has been disturbed and that you have two relatively heavy vehicles, I'd be tempted to consider using a lean-mix sub-base. 100-150mm of ST1 concrete would probably be more reliable than 200mm of DTp1 with such localised trafficking.

The Brew Cabin

Strengthening .. what are the options?