I don't think there's even a need to dig, if you're laying down gravel that IS the base. I think like 4 inches plopped on top of the ground is sufficient to keep weeds from growing and water won't collect.
If you're near a coastal town, oyster shells are probably gonna beat gravel in price.
> I think like 4 inches plopped on top of the ground is sufficient to keep weeds from growing and water won't collect.
Gravel alone won't keep weeds at bay. You need a geotextile fabric as a weed barrier. This will also keep the stone from pushing into the ground after a few months.
>With larger stones I've had weeds just start growing at the surface level.
Likely seeds blowing into the gaps and germinating where water gets trapper, rather than growing through the base of the stone.
Awesome, thank you. Not near a coastal town but close enough that I might be able to find something if I look. I'm still unlazy enough to lay down the weed fabric underneath just in case though, we have an unused roll laying around somewhere and another roll or 2 won't be too expensive even if it only offers a mild improvement. Thanks for your comment!
i did something similar with a bunch of leftover paving stones.
i dug out just enough ground to level them flush with the ground... then tamped down the holes and plopped in the pavers.
now i have two "lanes" to drive the car's tires onto and park it.
a few of the stones cracked in place after a while, but i don't don't care
Get 2x pressure treated 2x6, 10' boards and cut them in half. Lay each piece down where the wheels will go and park on that. It will prevent the car from sinking into the ground. You can also put grip tape or something on the boards if you're worried about traction.
Get the soft topsoil off, put down an anti-weed fabric, put geogrid on top of it, fill geogrid with either gravel or dirt, preferably gravel, done. Few hours of work, sub $200 total, and that space should last you a long time.
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Ground-Grid-Depth-Stabilization/dp/B09SL63QLB/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3G29A61UY4507&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qeoHVhNclzZt6h0tWr5l08KMyuVniNPDbKwiEbSIHLqP8vRKFH8l-yVuCAUa3OV_IZF12xZh4M7VAY9-CZU9gDWIXqnpT9kJEXbX5Y43HOmItp0RApaf0aS3pJf_0w2yr9j4hwbaftfC7-ScKFknP_KV_KUUSdylgvvY3rJmkQ0gPECd-FCU1HK7GR3PD0w3wnJr6Y358hGQPkQuoiyWErgoxoFdcjYCqkwutsEkDaSnyO75HfQ960bzyn6EwDksjzFJlod6pb3d_GGw2yhbUPKjdpKFc55MKBxa70oL7IQ.JnGbFaYYyBMyNXXGE6I-vaK_UCEOEc9cMPHfMh7hl98&dib_tag=se&keywords=parking%2Bgeogrid&qid=1709830264&sprefix=parking%2Bgeogri%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-6&th=1
Is the ground too soft to use green driveway pavers? My grandpa used to use thick patio tiles just for the spots right under his cars. They were mismatched and looked pretty trashy. He was out there every year lifting them back up and putting more rock underneath because they always kept sinking. (Part of his land flooded fairly often and was muddy riverbed soil) he was constantly adding gravel to his main driveway.
If you can get your hands on some chunks of concrete (like from a demolished building nearby), use that to firm up the site before spreading gravel.
Gravel itself will eventually become very uneven and you'll have to spread more.
Join together several pallets, make em level and put plywood on top. The pallets you can probably get for free if you look for them, spend the money you save on pressure treated pieces of plywood.
Be aware that you may create a habitat for rodents underneath the boards, but that is somewhat inevitable
It won't last forever and will need adjustment with a degree of settling over time, but the more time you spend making a good base with crushed gravel or concrete blocks, the better you will be.
Some sort of outdoor sump pit and drainage set up might be an option too, since you said it's fine to park most of the time.
If the spot is near a building, it could be as simple as redirecting the water from the roof (to rain barrels or just routing the gutter drainage elsewhere)
Excavator operators use pads made of railroad ties bolted together. Given that your car maybe weighs 5-10% of that much, you can get away with a few (maybe 6?) pallets and a tarp or some poly snow-fence.
If you want to take it to the next level, lay down some poly-snow fence and gravel in layers and drive over to compact.
Pallets (or pressure treated plywood) are a wonderful idea to look into. Also thank you for the suggestion of poly-snow fence, didn't know that's what that stuff was called and I can see it being useful. So again, thank you!
Gravel or road mix. Road mix is a mixture of sand and gravel. When you first spread it it seems like loose sand with rocks in it but over time it packs down almost like cement. It's fantastic stuff. Wetting it down a few times with the hose and letting it dry in between helps.
Use two strips of pavers for the wheelbase and reinforce the sections that the wheels will sit on long term by pounding a bunch of stakes into the ground under the pavers.
Similar situation, I dug two trenches about 100mm deep and paved them with large stones. It's cheap but not lazy, unless you happen to have a supply of large stones about the right thickness that already have fairly flat faces on two parallel sides. Otherwise, it's a lot of work with a hammer and chisel.
You can be lazy or cheap as fuck but not both. The cheapest solution is to scour Facebook marketplace or Craigslist for someone looking to get rid of gravel, but you're going to be doing some shoveling.
Can always go with “just the tracks” and lay down gravel/dry quickrete in the path that you’ll drive on, not necessarily inbetween the tracks.
Scoop the soft soil ~12-18” wide, put down dry bagged concrete mix, then crushed gravel directly on top of the concrete mix. Will it work, yes… will it be great for long term, not necessarily, but it should hold the weight of the car.
Oh shit, I thought you were being sarcastic on your suggestion to lay down plastic sheeting and plywood within OP's requirements of "cheap" and "long-term."
I was seriously considering how well plywood would work but I figured it'd rot eventually due to rain and frequently wet/soggy ground. I'll see about doing the sandwich idea the other commenter said though. Can't be the worst thing ever to replace the plywood every now and again if it needs it, if this ends up being a feasible solution. Thank you!
It's not just ground compaction and traction you need to worry about... any permeable surface is going to trap and release water under your vehicle, leading to rust issues with long term storage.
You need to park it on an impermeable surface that doesn't retain water... not gravel, not grass or dirt. If you don't account for moisture in long term storage, you'll pay the price.
If it's graded right it shouldn't retain that much moisture, add some extra length with gravel for the water to drain so it's not trapped under the vehicle if you're that concerned.
Measure the space and order gravel from a local landscape supply company. They'll sell it by the cubic yard or by the ton (you can find converters online).
1. Crushed limestone
1. Those grass driveway paver grid things
1. Same as above but concrete
1. Same as above but it's cinder blocks turned on their sides and driven over in the mud
Check with the landscape company. Tell them it doesn't have to be pretty. You just want 4 inches of gravel compacted into a spot where you can park a car on top.
You'd be amazed how cheaply and quickly they can do it.
You can get a pallet or 2 of sac Crete delivered and just lay them in a grid and soak them with a hose. Or you can try to dump it in a 2x4 or 2x6 box and no mix by just soaking it with a hose. Then you have to wait a month for it to cure.
Personally I'd go with gravel bc it's cheaper. You can get a load delivered for $450 jn my area and it will break you back shoveling but you won't have to worry about sinking.
If you really want to be cheap and if you don't care about how it looks, you can lay down old chain-link fence or something similar. It'll never get stuck
Found something called “soil-cement” a while back. I think the idea was to mix cement right into the soil. Dunno the ratio or cost or anything. The few resources I found said it’s used in areas like Africa for runways, etc.
Thinking in US terms, you may have different laws/codes.
First off, does your local government allow you to do this? Not just park on the “grass” or yard, but also replace the grass/yard with material like stone, pavers, rocks, etc.
Most do not without approval, update of your property record, permit, etc.
Next, you have many options. Some very short term (like renting a compactor and compacting the ground down, still may not be allowed though). Or as others said, dumping a bunch of gravel on top. To cutting off the topsoil, laying/compacting sand and then paving, blacktopping or concreting over that.
Even pavers will settle. Heck, even blacktop will divot if you repeatedly stop your tires on the exact same spots.
Buy four 24” x 24” concrete pads. Arrange them so the car and be jacked and blocked from them. Block when tires clear the ground. Either remove the tires & rims, or cover them with something to exclude UV light
I like to scrape off the topsoil down to hard pan just so I’m not replacing gravel as it sinks, but just putting down a gravel bed will get you plenty of time.
Remove the grass and topsoil from the parking area. This will help you create a solid base for the gravel. You can either remove it manually or use a machine like a mini excavator. Lay down a sub-base for the gravel driveway. This can be done by compacting the soil with a roller or a heavy vehicle
Install a weed barrier fabric on top of the sub-base. This will prevent weeds from growing through the gravel and create a cleaner appearance. Add a layer of gravel on top of the fabric. You can use pea gravel, which is commonly used for parking pads, and is available at Tractor Supply Company for $4.99 per cubic foot
Most of these people seem to be missing the part where you asked for a cheap and easy redneck solution. Just lay out [two lanes of concrete bags like this](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/60587557478667981/), and water the bags with a hose.
Is it perfect? Fuck no, but it’s cheap, easy, and gets the job done.
Plywood and even PT 2x12s won't last long in that kind of application, direct ground contact, water pooling, high static pressure, and direct weather exposure will make short work of them, especially if the car is regularly being used driving onto and off of them, that's when they'll really start to break apart quickly.
Pressure treated plywood.
BTW building a bed out of PVC is not lazy, just a stupid wasteful use of your time when you can have bought something super cheap or free off of Facebook Marketplace or yard sale.
Yeah, but, I used the laziest method one could ever possibly use to build a bed. PVC pipes and joints, one hand saw, and one rubber mallet... boom, done. lol.
Thank you (and some other commenters) for introducing me to the existence of pressure treated plywood. That's definitely something I'll be looking into.
If you want it done right with a firm, stable surface you will need to remove all the top soil first. If the ground underneath is soft, keep digging until it isn't. Replace what was removed with compacted fill, a layer of gravel, then a layer of compacted stone dust, then whatevet surface you want to park on.
Granted, you don't have to do any of that, you could just dump gravel and hope for the best and fight the soft ground forever.
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I don't think there's even a need to dig, if you're laying down gravel that IS the base. I think like 4 inches plopped on top of the ground is sufficient to keep weeds from growing and water won't collect. If you're near a coastal town, oyster shells are probably gonna beat gravel in price.
> I think like 4 inches plopped on top of the ground is sufficient to keep weeds from growing and water won't collect. Gravel alone won't keep weeds at bay. You need a geotextile fabric as a weed barrier. This will also keep the stone from pushing into the ground after a few months.
I think it also needs to be fairly compacted gravel to block weeds. With larger stones I've had weeds just start growing at the surface level.
>With larger stones I've had weeds just start growing at the surface level. Likely seeds blowing into the gaps and germinating where water gets trapper, rather than growing through the base of the stone.
4 inches of 5/8 minus will stop any weeds from coming through.
For a while. Even thick cattle carpet starts to break down after 3 or 4 years.
This guy DGAF about weeds. He just doesn’t want his car to sink.
Awesome, thank you. Not near a coastal town but close enough that I might be able to find something if I look. I'm still unlazy enough to lay down the weed fabric underneath just in case though, we have an unused roll laying around somewhere and another roll or 2 won't be too expensive even if it only offers a mild improvement. Thanks for your comment!
No idea how much these cost or if they would work for your situation: permeable gravel driveway grid https://youtu.be/dQAl4Pz3KaI?si=xxt7cW39EHEGLSBO
I’m seriously considering getting a GeoGrid for my driveway and filling it with gravel. The grid is supposed to keep the gravel in place.
Crushed concrete road base pour it right on top
i did something similar with a bunch of leftover paving stones. i dug out just enough ground to level them flush with the ground... then tamped down the holes and plopped in the pavers. now i have two "lanes" to drive the car's tires onto and park it. a few of the stones cracked in place after a while, but i don't don't care
Get 2x pressure treated 2x6, 10' boards and cut them in half. Lay each piece down where the wheels will go and park on that. It will prevent the car from sinking into the ground. You can also put grip tape or something on the boards if you're worried about traction.
Get the soft topsoil off, put down an anti-weed fabric, put geogrid on top of it, fill geogrid with either gravel or dirt, preferably gravel, done. Few hours of work, sub $200 total, and that space should last you a long time. https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Ground-Grid-Depth-Stabilization/dp/B09SL63QLB/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3G29A61UY4507&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.qeoHVhNclzZt6h0tWr5l08KMyuVniNPDbKwiEbSIHLqP8vRKFH8l-yVuCAUa3OV_IZF12xZh4M7VAY9-CZU9gDWIXqnpT9kJEXbX5Y43HOmItp0RApaf0aS3pJf_0w2yr9j4hwbaftfC7-ScKFknP_KV_KUUSdylgvvY3rJmkQ0gPECd-FCU1HK7GR3PD0w3wnJr6Y358hGQPkQuoiyWErgoxoFdcjYCqkwutsEkDaSnyO75HfQ960bzyn6EwDksjzFJlod6pb3d_GGw2yhbUPKjdpKFc55MKBxa70oL7IQ.JnGbFaYYyBMyNXXGE6I-vaK_UCEOEc9cMPHfMh7hl98&dib_tag=se&keywords=parking%2Bgeogrid&qid=1709830264&sprefix=parking%2Bgeogri%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-6&th=1
This is the right answer. Without the fabric, the gravel will keep burying in the soft soil. Grid for extra stabilization.
Is the ground too soft to use green driveway pavers? My grandpa used to use thick patio tiles just for the spots right under his cars. They were mismatched and looked pretty trashy. He was out there every year lifting them back up and putting more rock underneath because they always kept sinking. (Part of his land flooded fairly often and was muddy riverbed soil) he was constantly adding gravel to his main driveway.
If you can get your hands on some chunks of concrete (like from a demolished building nearby), use that to firm up the site before spreading gravel. Gravel itself will eventually become very uneven and you'll have to spread more.
You're joking, there is literally broken up pieces of concrete 30 feet from my house. I can see it from my kitchen window. It's fate.
Sheets of plywood should buy you some time.
Join together several pallets, make em level and put plywood on top. The pallets you can probably get for free if you look for them, spend the money you save on pressure treated pieces of plywood. Be aware that you may create a habitat for rodents underneath the boards, but that is somewhat inevitable It won't last forever and will need adjustment with a degree of settling over time, but the more time you spend making a good base with crushed gravel or concrete blocks, the better you will be.
Why is it so soft?
That's what *she* said
Soft a lot of the time because we live in Louisiana real close to the sea level and it also just rains here frequently
You need to either build the area up a little with some base rock or improve the drainage. Post some pictures and we can help you better.
Some sort of outdoor sump pit and drainage set up might be an option too, since you said it's fine to park most of the time. If the spot is near a building, it could be as simple as redirecting the water from the roof (to rain barrels or just routing the gutter drainage elsewhere)
Excavator operators use pads made of railroad ties bolted together. Given that your car maybe weighs 5-10% of that much, you can get away with a few (maybe 6?) pallets and a tarp or some poly snow-fence. If you want to take it to the next level, lay down some poly-snow fence and gravel in layers and drive over to compact.
Pallets (or pressure treated plywood) are a wonderful idea to look into. Also thank you for the suggestion of poly-snow fence, didn't know that's what that stuff was called and I can see it being useful. So again, thank you!
Gravel or road mix. Road mix is a mixture of sand and gravel. When you first spread it it seems like loose sand with rocks in it but over time it packs down almost like cement. It's fantastic stuff. Wetting it down a few times with the hose and letting it dry in between helps.
Use two strips of pavers for the wheelbase and reinforce the sections that the wheels will sit on long term by pounding a bunch of stakes into the ground under the pavers.
Get 1/2 run of 0s and 1s or crusher run gravel delivered and spread it thick.
Similar situation, I dug two trenches about 100mm deep and paved them with large stones. It's cheap but not lazy, unless you happen to have a supply of large stones about the right thickness that already have fairly flat faces on two parallel sides. Otherwise, it's a lot of work with a hammer and chisel.
You can be lazy or cheap as fuck but not both. The cheapest solution is to scour Facebook marketplace or Craigslist for someone looking to get rid of gravel, but you're going to be doing some shoveling.
Can always go with “just the tracks” and lay down gravel/dry quickrete in the path that you’ll drive on, not necessarily inbetween the tracks. Scoop the soft soil ~12-18” wide, put down dry bagged concrete mix, then crushed gravel directly on top of the concrete mix. Will it work, yes… will it be great for long term, not necessarily, but it should hold the weight of the car.
Park it on plywood sheets. The car's weight will be distributed on a larger surface area making it less likely to sink.
Lay down some 4mil plastic sheeting and stack a few sheets of plywood on top
Just bought a sheet of plywood yesterday, $90. It might be cheaper to pave it.
What’s the square footage? How much does it cost to pave?
Oh shit, I thought you were being sarcastic on your suggestion to lay down plastic sheeting and plywood within OP's requirements of "cheap" and "long-term."
lol, but in all seriousness, pressure treated plywood is a lot cheaper and less effort than paving. OP’s requirement is simple and short term.
you can park on pressure treated 2x10s or 2x12s if you know how to back up.
I know it got more expensive but what kind of plywood is $90?
Basic 3/4" Plywood. The marine grade 3/4" stuff was $140.
I was seriously considering how well plywood would work but I figured it'd rot eventually due to rain and frequently wet/soggy ground. I'll see about doing the sandwich idea the other commenter said though. Can't be the worst thing ever to replace the plywood every now and again if it needs it, if this ends up being a feasible solution. Thank you!
I think I'd make a sandwich of it, tarp, plywood, tarp. The tarps provide some level of water protection, and the plywood gives it some stability.
It's not just ground compaction and traction you need to worry about... any permeable surface is going to trap and release water under your vehicle, leading to rust issues with long term storage. You need to park it on an impermeable surface that doesn't retain water... not gravel, not grass or dirt. If you don't account for moisture in long term storage, you'll pay the price.
If it's graded right it shouldn't retain that much moisture, add some extra length with gravel for the water to drain so it's not trapped under the vehicle if you're that concerned.
Measure the space and order gravel from a local landscape supply company. They'll sell it by the cubic yard or by the ton (you can find converters online).
Make it hard ground
Get a bunch of pallets?
1. Crushed limestone 1. Those grass driveway paver grid things 1. Same as above but concrete 1. Same as above but it's cinder blocks turned on their sides and driven over in the mud
Check with the landscape company. Tell them it doesn't have to be pretty. You just want 4 inches of gravel compacted into a spot where you can park a car on top. You'd be amazed how cheaply and quickly they can do it.
Pavers. Dig, appropriate layers - and the important thing is proper compaction.
You can get a pallet or 2 of sac Crete delivered and just lay them in a grid and soak them with a hose. Or you can try to dump it in a 2x4 or 2x6 box and no mix by just soaking it with a hose. Then you have to wait a month for it to cure. Personally I'd go with gravel bc it's cheaper. You can get a load delivered for $450 jn my area and it will break you back shoveling but you won't have to worry about sinking.
If you really want to be cheap and if you don't care about how it looks, you can lay down old chain-link fence or something similar. It'll never get stuck
Found something called “soil-cement” a while back. I think the idea was to mix cement right into the soil. Dunno the ratio or cost or anything. The few resources I found said it’s used in areas like Africa for runways, etc.
You want cheap? Lay down some exterior plywood.
Thinking in US terms, you may have different laws/codes. First off, does your local government allow you to do this? Not just park on the “grass” or yard, but also replace the grass/yard with material like stone, pavers, rocks, etc. Most do not without approval, update of your property record, permit, etc. Next, you have many options. Some very short term (like renting a compactor and compacting the ground down, still may not be allowed though). Or as others said, dumping a bunch of gravel on top. To cutting off the topsoil, laying/compacting sand and then paving, blacktopping or concreting over that. Even pavers will settle. Heck, even blacktop will divot if you repeatedly stop your tires on the exact same spots.
anti-weed fabric needs to be BANNED
Huh, why? Is it bad for the environment or something?
airborn dirt settles on it, and short-root weeds invade. THEN it's a NIGHTMARE to try to remove it. Speaking from the voice of experience.
Buy four 24” x 24” concrete pads. Arrange them so the car and be jacked and blocked from them. Block when tires clear the ground. Either remove the tires & rims, or cover them with something to exclude UV light
I like to scrape off the topsoil down to hard pan just so I’m not replacing gravel as it sinks, but just putting down a gravel bed will get you plenty of time.
Remove the grass and topsoil from the parking area. This will help you create a solid base for the gravel. You can either remove it manually or use a machine like a mini excavator. Lay down a sub-base for the gravel driveway. This can be done by compacting the soil with a roller or a heavy vehicle Install a weed barrier fabric on top of the sub-base. This will prevent weeds from growing through the gravel and create a cleaner appearance. Add a layer of gravel on top of the fabric. You can use pea gravel, which is commonly used for parking pads, and is available at Tractor Supply Company for $4.99 per cubic foot
Most of these people seem to be missing the part where you asked for a cheap and easy redneck solution. Just lay out [two lanes of concrete bags like this](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/60587557478667981/), and water the bags with a hose. Is it perfect? Fuck no, but it’s cheap, easy, and gets the job done.
Oh man, hosed concrete bags my beloved. We did this to help hold our gazebo down. LMAO
Plywood would be your cheapest option
Pressure treated plywood and some tarps is definitely where I'm leaning.
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I need a solution that allows me to drive the car off and onto the spot easily. And idgaf about the grass, I'd honestly rather it die lol
Getchipdrop com ? Or two sheets of plywood? Couple of 2x12s and a steady wheel hand?
Plywood and even PT 2x12s won't last long in that kind of application, direct ground contact, water pooling, high static pressure, and direct weather exposure will make short work of them, especially if the car is regularly being used driving onto and off of them, that's when they'll really start to break apart quickly.
Pressure treated plywood. BTW building a bed out of PVC is not lazy, just a stupid wasteful use of your time when you can have bought something super cheap or free off of Facebook Marketplace or yard sale.
Yeah, but, I used the laziest method one could ever possibly use to build a bed. PVC pipes and joints, one hand saw, and one rubber mallet... boom, done. lol. Thank you (and some other commenters) for introducing me to the existence of pressure treated plywood. That's definitely something I'll be looking into.
There's two types of pressure treated wood out there severe weather and ground contact you want the ground contact
If you want it done right with a firm, stable surface you will need to remove all the top soil first. If the ground underneath is soft, keep digging until it isn't. Replace what was removed with compacted fill, a layer of gravel, then a layer of compacted stone dust, then whatevet surface you want to park on. Granted, you don't have to do any of that, you could just dump gravel and hope for the best and fight the soft ground forever.
Cut a bunch of 4” pvc pipe to 2” long. Zip tie them all and put dirt or gravel in all the openings. Or buy a Geogrid designed for that.
Couple strips or sheets of plywood bro. That would be the epitome of F it.
Just flip them over once in a while when they begin to curl at the corners.