Steep transitions on driveway?

[kingcobb]

Planning out driveway for shop, there is a significant dropoff from where my shop stops to the road. 14 foot distance with about 2 foot of drop.

I drive a 4 wheel drive F150 so clearance isn't a big deal but still a 14% slope seems a bit high. Could I do a steep transition type ramp at the road, a more gradual "driveway" and then a steep ramp at the shop...also considering putting a slanted transition coming into the shop at the garage door?

 

[kingcobb]

Here's a pic.

 

[manwithtools]

A lot of work now, but could you practically reduce your floor height?

I would think one slope would be best.

 

[JuncleJohn]

One slope makes more sense to me. Too bad your garage isn’t back another 10’. Less slope and room to park a vehicle.

John

 

[Fav Onefour]

Brutal.
Not much driveway length to help you out. Are you talking about "about" two feet from the slab surface to the street surface? Somebody must have measured a real number before laying out a spendy build like this one.

I have a steep drive at the house. Average slope is 16% over fifty feet and it meets a flat street. The drive is a pain in the begeezus. It's pretty much **** to use for anything. Most vehicle doors slam shut just from gravity. Heavy vehicles hit and drag well before the 14' mark. Your pickup might be fine, but the trailers and straight trucks hauling whatever won't like your slope. Is that a big deal? Maybe not, but remember that means most of your stuff going in and out with a truck will need to be lumped from the street.

 

[Smilodon]

Easy to armchair quarterback here, so take it with a grain of salt.

I have both lived in a house with a similar setup to the attached garage and it was a miserable thing that was cursed frequently. I have also inherited my Dad's shop in recent years which is "up on a hill". It is not great, but at least there is the room to make it better with some earth moving (somewhere down on the long list of projects related to it).

But either compared to my "home" shop with a long flat(ish) drive leading to it is night and day for convenience.

A lot depends on what you are going to do with the shop. But if big heavy stuff is involved or stuff on wheels, you may have regrets.

It looks too far along, but I would even consider a smaller shop (horrors!) with better access. It's that much of a daily grind.

Don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but that's a tough situation. I would put "access" up there with electricity for anything I was doing in the future.

 

[PCustoms]

Why so much fill?

And is that clay?

Where does the garage start in that pic? Almost looks like to put fill in the approach are, otherwise that doesn't look like 14' from the road

 

[Lassen Forge]

IF you have enough ground clearance on your vehicles (F150, jeep, etc.) then run it like that. Otherwise I would reduce the front part of the slab 1' and ramp up to the back part of the shop, that way you have flat and level slabs and easier transitions between back and front and street.