concrete wedge?

[wrigh003]

That's the best way I can think of to describe what I want to do. My one-car bay is in the basement of my house, and I have an old RX7 that I am working on (not a lot of ground clearance). Problem is that there's a significant differential between the dirt outside and the concrete slab of the basement floor, so I scrape when driving the car in and out about 50% of the time. My proposed solution is to pour a concrete ramp, probably about 18" deep, 4-6" tall, and 8' long- is there anything I should consider before I do this? What would be the best way to go? Should I buy a couple of sticks of rebar and put in there? Finally, when I get to making the ramp slope, should I build a frame out of lumber and fill it up, then screw down a piece of plywood on top so it doesn't deform/ leak out, or should I just shape it up with my shovel/ trowel and keep after it until it starts to set?

Never have poured any big pieces of concrete.

 

[twostory]

I would make the ramp 5 inches min thickness and have it thicker at the top of the ramp. So it would be 5 inches at the bottom and 9 to 11 inches at the top of the ramp. You suggested an 18 inch thick ramp, well, 18 inches is very thick, unless you have a deep frost line to deal with.

Rebar, yes, use it. I would use #4, 12 inch OC. You could go with 16 inch OC. but the cost is not really much different for your small ramp. Place the rebar 2 to 3 inches from the bottom of the concrete's base. If the rebar is near the surface, it does not do any good.

As for forms, make the bottom of the concrete level. If you slope the dirt/gravel base, the ramp may move at a future date. Then form the sides of the ramp, so you have a ramp shape. i.e. the forms rise as they goto the garage door.

When you call the redi-mix concrete company, have them to mix a dry concrete mix. Tell them what you are doing, and you will probably need a 2 to 3 inch sump. 4 inch is slightly wet, so get less than 4 inch. Do not let the driver add water, that will make it too wet and it will not keep the ramp shape.

If you hand mix the concrete, you can trail and error to figure out the right amount of water to mix, for the right consistency (sp?)

Goodluck

 

[wrigh003]

I meant deep as in front to back. So 5" sould be the minimum thickness, eh? Sounds like this is shaping up to be more than a couple bags of Quikrete and a couple of beers on Saturday afternoon.

Also, frost line? What's that? (See location)

 

[twostory]

I meant deep as in front to back. So 5" sould be the minimum thickness, eh? Sounds like this is shaping up to be more than a couple bags of Quikrete and a couple of beers on Saturday afternoon.

Also, frost line? What's that? (See location)

Since you are driving over it, 5 inches will make the edge last. If you made a 3 inch edge, it will probably crack over time.

As for the "frost line", I did not see you location. I live near Atlanta, and the frost line is 12 inches over here. So you are the same. As for your small driveway slab, 5 inches will be fine, we do not really have frost heave in the south, like the northern guys do.

 

[boiler7904]

If possible, I would cut the edge and remove 18" of the existing driveway. Once you remove the existing piece of driveway, pour a new chunk of concrete that is a minimum of 5" thick at the low end and ramp up to the garage slab. Do everything else like twostory said. A piece of concrete that is 6" high at the garage side and 0" at the driveway side will start to crumble relatively soon with car traffic. Why not just do it to last from the start?

 

[wrigh003]

If possible, I would cut the edge and remove 18" of the existing driveway. Once you remove the existing piece of driveway, pour a new chunk of concrete that is a minimum of 5" thick at the low end and ramp up to the garage slab. Do everything else like twostory said. A piece of concrete that is 6" high at the garage side and 0" at the driveway side will start to crumble relatively soon with car traffic. Why not just do it to last from the start?

My house is a little weird (raised ranch with a half basement underneath)- my garage isn't attached to the driveway. It's a garage door that opens onto the yard, so there's no driveway there and the only traffic that it sees is my RX7 when I take it in and out, and every now and then the lawnmower.

I intend to make it last, but like I said before, this is starting to sound like it'll take the best part of a yard of concrete, once I account for a few inches of base and then build the ramp part on top of that. I may just wind up throwing some dirt down just to even the transition and then put out some grass seed.

 

[PAToyota]

If there isn't a driveway, I'd be tempted to just grade the dirt up to the edge or use some stone. I'm just picturing that over time that 18" x 5" piece is going to rotate and you'll end up busting it up and starting over again anyway.

 

[wrigh003]

If there isn't a driveway, I'd be tempted to just grade the dirt up to the edge or use some stone. I'm just picturing that over time that 18" x 5" piece is going to rotate and you'll end up busting it up and starting over again anyway.

Sometimes the obvious answer is the best one.

We'll probably eventually finish the basement and replace that garage door with a door/window unit anyway, so not having that concrete there is probably for the best.

Thanks for helping me think out loud, all.

 

[PAToyota]

Hey, not a problem. I've often had ideas running around in my head that once I started talking to someone else about them the answers became instantly obvious.