Concrete entry ramps for garage

[boomer4snow]

OK guys, Been searching the net for pictures/info etc and have come up with zilch so I figured if anybody will know, they will be on this great site. I built a great big dream shop a couple years back except I didnt really plan for ramps to actually get into it. I currently have 1 ramp for one 16' door made out of a big blob of gravel that sort of resembles a ramp. This has proven to not be the best deal as it makes the shop a huge mess, it settles, and it has rouge weeds growing thru it, plus it looks like heck. Now, I want to build a couple ramps for the 2 16' doors out of concrete, and I would like to do it myself to save some $$. I need to have the building side of the ramp about 2' high to reach floor level in spots. What is the way to do this properly? I have some ideas, but I usually wind up constructing things a little on the Overbuilt side (read able to survive a nuclear bomb strike) and I was wondering what exactly is the proper way to do it, and have it attach to the shop without "floating" away, sinking, heaving etc. I allready am having to re-do what I have, so I would like to do it right this time.

Thanks in Advance

 

[KiotiJohn]

Well, I'm not a concrete expert, but simply put, build yourself a a form/mold in the shape you want the concrete to be in. Dig out the area that covers this shape and put down some black underlayment, maybe the gravel fabric used in gravel roads.
Check the net for any instructions on finishing concrete and go at it. I'd recommend you use concrete that will support high pounds per square inch (PSI). Should be a fairly easy job. Just make sure you put the exact amount of water needed without going overboard or your concrete will simply run over your form. John

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never built ramps before, but I have poured some concrete pads and driveways. I also have no idea of your soil conditions or weather conditions, so I'll just through a few thoughts out and hope for the best.

First thing that concerned me in your statement was that your gravel ramp is settling. This may be a misunderstanding on my part, but it shouldn't settle.

You need to find out why it's settleing. I'd dig out all the gravel you have there now, pile it to re-use later. What is the soil like under the gravel? Is it top soil full of organic material? Is it just fill material that needed compaction?

Once you get your dirt stabalized, then start building up your ramp with good "clean" fill material. We use red clay here for most jobs that require more then just a few inches of lift.

Remember to only build your fill material in 4 inch lifts more or less. Then be sure to compact it. Getting nearly 100% compaction is extremely important to avoid settling and future cracking.

After you have the rough shape built up and compacted, then you need to cut your finished shape and set your forms. The thickness of your forms depends on your area.

Tying your building pad into your ramp will require drilling numerous holes into the pad and setting some rebar into those holes with an epoxy. Just a guessing, I'd say use half inch rebar every foot along your concrete pour and set them in as deep as you can drill the hole. The exposed rebar should be as long or longer than the epoxy side. Whole lengths of rebar would work just fine.

Using an expansion board might be advisable, but I wouldn't use it unless I had to. They allow for the pad to move with the tempeture changes. They also allow moisture to get under the pad in a critical area that will eventually lead to erosion under your pad wich will cause cracking.

The walls can be poured with a footing, or you could use blocks on a seperate footing to create a retaining wall. Then fill the blocks with concrete and rebar.

Pour the drive last just as you would a normal driveway for your part of the country.

 

[Holzster]

Eddie hit the nail on the head when he said "Tying your building pad into your ramp will require drilling numerous holes into the pad and setting some rebar into those holes with an epoxy."
If you are havine any setteling issue I would have one every 18" #4 or #5 rebar (4/8 or 5/8). this brings back bad memmories of when i was in concrete construction!!
But everything Eddie said I believe is right on.
(As ussual Eddie)

 

[boomer4snow]

Thanks for the input , I guess I should have given a little more info. The pad is a monolithic pour with 3' footers and 6" slab poured at same time. The foundation is 3' down and 16" thick all made up of 6 bag concrete fiber reinforced, and enough rebar to build a bridge. The soil is/was unmolested red clay on top of a hill, dry and dusty. The shop sits among some really tall old oak trees so it is protected. The gravel was just sort of dumped there as leftovers and I needed a quick way to get into the shop. It was CA6 gravel no fines, just literally dumped and graded into a rough ramp shape right on top of what was under it (fill, clay, water runoff from the roof) so I am not too concerned about settling, I just didnt give any real thought to building the ramps till I had the shop done and it was kind of a Hmmmmmmm what will work for the moment type deal. I primarily want to know do I need to dig footers waaaay down 3' like the foundation, do I need to make some piers or berms in the form for the concrete to have more strength besides a lot of rebar, and what exatly do I need to attach it to the pad besides rebar, just pour right up against it, or is there a coating of some kind to seal, etc....

Thanks very much, so far I have gotten a lot of info,,, keep it coming!!

 

[Holzster]

You should not need footers unless you think you might have some setteling issues later. as long as you use rebar to tie into your slab all should be OK. You should be able to use 2X6 as the form 5 1/2 inches should be enough unless you intend to bring in a HUGE piece of equipment (wouldn't that be nice).
If you create the form of 2X6 at an angle you said that there is no real setteling under so just tamp it down good to the hight you need under the form. & attached it good. I would not use expantion board but that is me. This is an argument that could go back & forth like asking "what is the best tractor" ups & downs on both sides. I do not use it because A - I can save $$ & B I never had an issue on not using it.
Hope this helps.

 

[LarryD]

I gotta go with Holzster on the form work. 5.5" of concrete should give plenty of strength for a standard 2500psi mix. In fact, I would just make the edges that thick and leave the center at 4". I've done lots of thickend edge slabs without problems. The real key is to have good compaction of the fill before placing the crete.

To keep the grade level at the shop entrance, use rebar dowels as suggested as close to center (verticle) of the ramp as possible. 18" spacing would suffice, we're doing 15" spacing at an aircraft ramp and I doubt you're going to run anything near the weight of an EA-6B into your shop.

You probably don't need expansion material since three sides of the ramp are open, but some are more comfortable using it and it certainly won't have any adverse effect on the ramp.

The last thing to remember is concrete will crack so the best we can do is control where it cracks. I prefer to put control joints (or zip strip) on any slab more than 10' x 10'.

Once again, the best prepartion is good compaction of the base material, have fun. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Junkman]

When I poured the apron for my garage, I drilled into the edge of the garage floor slab with a 1/2" hammer drill bit. The holes went in about 6-8 inches and were slightly downward pointed. I didn't bother to "glue" them in since they were tight enough with my pushing the rod into them. Then I bent the rebar rods down along the surface of where the apron pour was going to be. I placed them every 18" apart. Then I used wire mesh and tied that to the re-rod. My apron is poured on gravel fill that had about 4 years of natural compaction. I formed the apron with 2x6's and poured 3000 # fiber reinforced concrete. screed it and after it was almost dry, gave it a rough broom finish. It has been 3 years now, and the last 2 have been very harsh, but no cracks or heaving problems. I only wish that the front apron that was poured by the contractor was as good. It heaves every winter and doesn't go down in the summer. It is beginning to present a problem for me, so I might just have to break it up and re-pour it.

 

[bebster]

Here's a photo of my barn slab and apron outside the 16' garage doors. The apron is formed with 2x8's (on the left).

In this case we were able to run rebar from the slab on the right to the apron on the left to key them together.

But you can see the rebar dowels coming up from the footer (actually a 3' wall down to a footer below the frost line) and bent to key into the slab. These could be drilled into your existing concrete and bent to key into your new apron.

 

[GATC35]

bebster,

Is the looped piping ty-wrpped to the rebar floor heat ? If so what is used as the heat source. Nice looking project.