Building shop on sloped driveway

[waterboy222]

The previous owners of our house poured a very nice 16' wide concrete driveway down the side of the house to hold their motorhome. I have been doing some measuring for building a shop on this pad and realized there is a pretty severe slope to it. The slope goes from the foundation of the house and drops to the edge of the 16' wide pad to divert rain water. There is a sidewalk down the side of the house that is flat then it starts dropping off. From what I can tell there is a 10" of drop in the 16' wide pad.

What are my options for this? I'm just not sure its in the budget to jackhammer it all out and pour a flat pad. Do I need to start hunting for an alternate building site or is there a way to pour concrete over the top of this pad to level it up?

The shop will be used for my woodworking equipment and a place to work on my project vehicles.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[APEowner]

Putting your location in your profile will help a bit with this as construction requirements and legalities vary with location. Regardless of location however, it's unlikely that a parking pad has the necessary footings to support a wall and building.

 

[readhead]

You might be able to saw cut the slab and pour new footings and then place a new slab over the existing one. Location is pretty important as mentioned. Different answer for Arizona vs Maine.

 

[waterboy222]

Ok, good thinking. I updated my profile. I am out in the country in Oklahoma, no zoning or HOA issues to contend with.

 

[waterboy222]

If a pad was poured by a concrete contractor to hold a 45' Freightliner tag axle motorhome, would it be safe to assume its built sturdy enough to support a building addition? Not sure how to verify if it has rebar in it and all that.

 

[readhead]

No. Two entirely things.

 

[Bondo]

Nope,.... Parkin' slabs, 'n driveways are rarely poured to foundation quality,...

 

[waterboy222]

Ok, so let me ask this... Since I have the space, would this be an option:

Extend the size of the building out 18" and pour a footer alongside the parking pad to use as the foundation for the walls and roof

There is room all the way around the slab to pour a footer other than the entrance to the shop which would be a garage door anyways.

Viable idea or not?

 

[readhead]

See post #3.