I’m going towards the cheaper option to prepare a pad. The state of Ohio allows for compacted stone and ABS pads. The cost of concrete runner are expensive and full pads are very costly.
What are parks doing that makes the most sense? Can anyone justify the cost of a full concrete pad?
I’ve never had to replace an entire pad and probably wouldn’t if I didn’t have to because of the cost. I’ve used the ABS pads a few times when homes that I’ve moved in extend beyond my existing pads. I haven’t had any issues so far. If you have any questions about how well they work (or don’t work) try asking your installer.
Hi. I’m going through the same thing also in Ohio. I’ve heard of issues of settling after a couple years if the soil/gravel isn’t compacted properly under the abs pads. Have the setter block under doorways as they may settle. Not sure if code but double blocking will more secure than single blocking.
The challenge is the cost of concrete for runners and pads. The compacted stone and ABS is less costly, but the question of settling is the main concern.
Here in NY State the home sellers used to in fire homes quick and slipshod and actually set many right on sod and they settled and caused a lot of problems. Therefore I started preparing gravel pads by removing top soil and putting in 9-12" of compacted crusher run and had no problem with those.
Now we can only use piers or slabs which I haven’t done yet, but my competitor has done several. He started with a 24" auger and poured piers faster and cheaper than pads. But after he had to crawl under a few he progressed to slabs and uses a mechanics creeper with rollers to scooch around under homes.
If I didn’t have to uses slabs I would probably take extra care to get a crushed run pad smoothed out and do a neat job with a 6 mil vapor barrier.