Apron Question

[kcombs]

Concrete/Apron Question

I am in the final stages of building my new playroom, a 28 by 32 foot shop with ten foot plate height and scissors trusses to accommodate a Bend Pak two post lift. I want to pour an apron outside the two roll-up doors, and the ideal size would be 28 wide (the width of the building), and 25 feet deep, the only problem is I am running out of money! I am considering using concrete bricks over well compacted roadbase and sand. These bricks are not designed for the purpose, but I would not drive over them frequently and they would be well supported. They are not "pavers". Anyone have any experience using these decorative concrete bricks to drive on, and if so what were the results??? They would cost about $2 a foot compared to $9 for concrete! Any comments welcome.

Kurt,

ps. I'm in Nothern California where it does not freeze below ground level.

 

[kbsouers]

Kurt Ive seen these pavers used in outdoor malls, high trafic areas. with police crusers and delivery vehicels driving on it. Well packed ground and proper drainage and just the right amount of sand ,, dont go crazy with sand depth.

 

[trovato]

Well, I have no idea how those bricks would last. To do the job properly, you need a compacted base of crushed stone. One option is to install the base and just leave it like that until you can afford to do the pavers. Don't put the sand down until you're ready to put the pavers down, of course. When our house was built, the driveway was just a crushed base like that. It held up pretty well as long as it wasn't subjected to very heavy rain runoff. Of course, those little rivers would have wiped out anything.

 

[kbs2244]

I have always liked this idea for a lightly used driveway.

//www.ephenry.com

Maybe you could streach out your uaseage by leaving a lot of space between each paver?

Or make a mold like theirs and cast your own when time and money meet.

 

[kbsouers]

Trovato is wright. use crushed stone with stone dust. compacted.Most pavers are just colored concrete. I would use a water block\sealer on them.

 

[kcombs]

Fourteen years later and I finally had concrete poured and am getting back into finishing my shop. Walls were insulated when the shop was built, but not the ceiling. Local hardware store contractors’ counter guy recommended 5/8” t & g OSB to cover the ceiling after I have it insulated. I don’t want to use sheetrock because it has gone way up in price and I can’t find anything else to span 24” trusses. I would really like something cheap and white, with white being the most important consideration, to reflect light. Any ideas?

 

[racecougar]

You've just perfectly described liner panel.

 

[Bill T]

I would use compacted crusher run (CMBC-Compacted Macadam Base Course, for you nit-pickers)) for the apron. After you have saved a little "nest egg", I would usee the CMBC as a base for your shiney new concrete apron.

 

[dfiler2]

As mentioned the liner panels are really the best choice for a ceiling, IMO

 

[Skooterj]

I just (Finally) had my garage foundation monolithic slab poured. Because of budget constraints, I was planning on leaving my apron as gravel for at least a year. But my employer gave us all a mid year bonus, so I told the concrete guys to go ahead and put me on the schedule for the apron pour. They had just finished the garage and were waiting for me to get off work to hand them a check. They pulled out their schedule book and told me they would be back in September for the apron. So until then, I'm going to have a gravel approach, 4 inches below the entry to my garage and the end of my driveway. Not a problem for my truck, but I'll probably need to lay a 2x6 along the drop when I drive my MGB into the garage (Assuming I get the garage dried in before September, which I probably won't, but maybe)

 

[Bill T]

Very nice shop. Now, if you really want to upgrade the neighborhod.... I have a TRIUMPH TR-3 for sale.