Driveway Apron...Residential

[vtsoundman]

Not sure if this is the right section or not.

Contractor used Quikcrete 'High Strength' Yellow bags bags to pour a couple of slabs a the base of my driveway. The lower apron slab is ~6" thick @ 7'x12.5'. He used 3" square galv wire grid (kind looks like fence material) placed on little concrete bocks spaced about 2" from the a base rock base. The upper slab is similar dimension but is only 5" thick. Much less traffic on the upper slab (only into my house).

We have a narrow single land road, our apron is frequently used as a pull off so others can maneuver around. (The total apron is 24', only did half the lower apron. The other half, while cosmetically poor, is structurally sound, and will be replaced after the house reno is completed).

Was this a mistake to use this concrete grade? Sure, I am sure a higher PSI would have been preferred, but is this something I need to have him correct?

 

[Chaznsc]

The bag claims 6000 psi. If so that's damn tough concrete.

 

[vtsoundman]

The bag claims 6000 psi. If so that's damn tough concrete.

Bag says 4000 psi... do I wish it said 5 or 6kpsi?

 

[BillK]

vt,
I just wanted to add that most of the time the apron to the street is on city/county property and has to meet their specs. When I put in a driveway at my first house I actually had to put up a performance bond and pour the apron to their specs. I think the reason is once its there, it is the city's responsibility to maintain it.

That being said, yours will probably be fine. Hard to believe he did that with bags. I figure it must have been 80 or 90 of them ?

Had to look ...... this is street view from 2012.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/5...ef3121cefac7a9!8m2!3d38.9489099!4d-76.9245009

We probably poured the driveway around 1974 ? I moved to my present house in 1978. Looks like it all held up pretty good

 

[vtsoundman]

vt,
I just wanted to add that most of the time the apron to the street is on city/county property and has to meet their specs. When I put in a driveway at my first house I actually had to put up a performance bond and pour the apron to their specs. I think the reason is once its there, it is the city's responsibility to maintain it.

That being said, yours will probably be fine. Hard to believe he did that with bags. I figure it must have been 80 or 90 of them ?

Yeah, all bags. 3 days total incl digging out the base rock and gravel, forms, and install. Not too bad, but if it were a bigger job, I'd not be happy he chose to do it by hand. Did it all with one other guy. 90 bags for the first slab, 75 or so for the 2nd. Getting a truck in here is pretty tough...have to close the road to do it. As far as the apron regs doesn't really seem to matter up here. Maybe in town...

When I did my retaining walls around the property, I had 300bags delivered. All done by small 2-3 bag mixer. 3 guys and about 3 weeks to do it all. I was the helper...6x6 posts and 3x12 lagging....lotta PT.

 

[wssix99]

Was this a mistake to use this concrete grade? Sure, I am sure a higher PSI would have been preferred, but is this something I need to have him correct?

No problem. A stationary car transfers less than 15-ish psi to the slab, so even a "regular" 3000 psi mix is just fine. You only need to really worry about strength in pavements like this when the traffic is traveling at speed or is industrial.

 

[steveo1o9]

Assuming that the sub-base was adequate, properly compacted, and the concrete was mixed correctly you should have no issues.

 

[firebirdparts]

We used to mix concrete in a little (very old) cement mixer, but we always started with sand, gravel, and Portland cement. Same deal, we lived where it was not reasonable to deliver concrete, but I guess sand and gravel didn't seem so crazy.

 

[Homerr]

The PSI capacity of the soil is the other factor, in the PNW we generally use 1500 psi as a default but some areas are 2500-4000 psi. I'm sure the apron will be fine.

 

[vtsoundman]

Beneath the pad is baserock...been in place & driven on for 3+yrs. Beneath baserock is caliche - super hard compacted clay that looks/feels like rock. Need a jackhammer to really get through it in a timely manner (pick takes way too long).

Thx for the reassurances...I hate doing 'permanent repairs' more than once.