Suggestions for concrete ramp

[roger440]

I need to put a small concrete ramp in front of my garage. At its deepest it will be 3.5 inces deep, but will taper out over about 2 feet to meet some existing pretty rough concrete.

My concern is, where it tapers out and becomes quite thin, it will quickly break up. Is there an additive i can add to the concrete to help it resist breaking up?

There are lots of additives, but im really not sure what exactly i need!

Winter temps will be below freezing, so have that problem too!

Any suggestions welcome!

 

[bigbubba]

Could you not dig down below grade and keep it the same thickness all the way out?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Could you not dig down below grade and keep it the same thickness all the way out?

That's exactly what I did with my garage apron.

 

[dcuthill]

Make sure to add some SM insulation to keep it from heaving at the door

 

[roger440]

There is another layer of concrete further down that the ramp will sit on top of. I dont really want to mess with this as it looks to be part of the base on which the garage is built.

Just sit the new concrete on top and join/meet the rough older concrete apron out in front of the garage.

This is just an old garage i keep junk in, so dont want to do too much, but dont want to do a poor job either that will just fail later.

Ive added the picture below. On the left side you can see the step/crack in concrete, which moves away from the garage a bit as it goes across, but in the pic, its mostly full if dirt/mud. The step is bigger than it looks.

 

[wssix99]

There are special concretes including polymers for this kind of thing. You can get this stuff at some home supplies: http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/ConcreteResurfacer.asp

This stuff may crack and chip on you at some point, but its the easy thing to lay down. There's no substitute for using a saw to cut off the old slab, remove it, and re-lay a proper full-thickness slab - but it may get you what you are after.

 

[kbs2244]

There is a difference between freezing and frost, or frozen ground.
Mass will fight the cold air, so digging it out so as allow a thicker slab and then some light reinforcing wire will help.
(No wire so thick it would pop a tire if it comes through the concrete.)