Building a Gravel Parking Pad on a $700 Budget.

I needed a place to store my boat and a trailer to be ready for the 2022 gold mining season. For those who are also on a budget, I hope you can get some ideas for your own gravel pad projects! This was a lot of work, but on top of being useful, it will also help increase the value of my home.
I was annoyed with how the grass would always grow up around my stuff while it's parked, and it also helps when moving trailers around by hand, since the tires used to sink into the grass over time and make it hard to wheel things around. I'm so happy with how it turned out, I gave my fence a coat of paint to complete the look!
UPDATE OCT 06, 2022: The pad and concrete has held up excellent so far. I had a few little weeds poke through here and there but nothing a few sprays of weed killer couldn't keep under control.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Update as of the end of the summer in 2022: The gravel pad has held of great! the bit of landscape fabric I placed near the lilacs has kept anything from growing through in that area, and the rest of the pad with just the gravel has been pretty good. There was a few weeds that came up, but not very many and I just sprayed them with a little hand spray bottle twice to keep them down. The gravel is a much nicer surface than the old grass and weeds and makes moving my boat around by hand a much easier task. Thanks for watching!

[@Mumumama205]

Wonderful video, looks amazing! Great job, I’m inspired, I need a camper pad and this looks perfect for that purpose. I love that you saved the lilac, they are such gorgeous trees and they smell so good. Extra plus for being to the point and pleasant to watch and listen to.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks so much! The lilacs are still going strong and I'm so happy I kept them!

[@aloofbit338]

the three trillion dollar sheet of plywood, i felt that

[@unsilentzone3357]

awesome content, thank you.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Glad you liked it!

[@monarch1957]

I did something like that years ago built a carport beside the garage using ashphelt for a pad and built the open carport and finally closed it in when finances allowed me too.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Step by step you got er' done!

[@vdubskiee5356]

clean parking pad! you did a great job!

[@goldentroutprospecting1821]

I thought for sure you would order the gravel from Edmonton so you could highbank it first.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

I should totally do one pan of it just to see... haha!

[@dew9423]

Great job 👍. Looking forward to more of your future projects.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

More to come!

[@KDD8]

Jamie Lannister lmaooo

[@bartbley1269]

I done something similar in my back yard to set some storage sheds on . I used a aluminum grain shovel. Got her in a day . Weeds will try to take hold eventually . They tried to do such on an open area I graveled. You made one mistake . Your electrical conduit going into the garage was completely covered by concrete . Your concrete will go up and down as much as a inch or more over the year . I lost my garage power one day because of that movement looks good Kyle

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Well, I hope that my conduit stays together over the winter... Time will tell! It's sure going to be a useful space!

[@mohammednovalija]

What is your day job ?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

At the moment I sit at a desk and press buttons most of the day... If I look at the majority of where I've spent my time working over the years, I think I could most easily identify as a carpenter by trade.

[@mohammednovalija]

@@UtmostOutdoors Okay. I was curious how you seem to be able to tackle and complete various unrelated Huge tasks like this one and jon boat. My brother was like that - I guess it just a mental issue in wanting to get somewhere better rather than just drifting along with our present lot.

[@CASG93]

No fabric 😢

[@randydinglehopper62]

Inspiring. Thanks for making and sharing. Useful to me thank you

[@brad238899]

They make a tool to round the concrete edges. A perfect 90° corner will eventually chop off.

[@janebray9392]

Awesome! Good job!👍🏼 watching from Vancouver Island🙋‍♀️🇨🇦‼️

[@Nttt739]

Not that you did anything wrong but.... Not sure why you didnt use concrete ready in bags? I guess you did not rent skid steer to spred gravel is cost. Delivery fees are outrageous.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

The reason I chose to mix my own concrete was due to cost. Since I had a big dump truck deliver my road crush anyways, the cost of mixing that with Portland cement worked out to quite a bit less than buying ready mix bags which are about 1 part Portland cement to 5 parts gravel and sand. I was also lucky a neighbor leant me his concrete mixer, that sure helped!

[@iSTAYuGO]

Id run it true the high banker just to be sure ;) Nice job- nice done!

[@Pa.PatriotProspecting]

Very nice brother! For not knowing what you're doing you did well!

[@UtmostOutdoors]

I appreciate that!

[@Pa.PatriotProspecting]

@@UtmostOutdoors nuthin to it but to do it! 🍻

[@Pa.PatriotProspecting]

Hell of alot of work for one guy! How long?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

@@Pa.PatriotProspecting I did it over five days if you include getting the material and painting the fence. I'd say the middle 3 days were full days and the first and last were sort of partial days.

[@Nttt739]

I've been fixing problems for years, you have a good grip on what your doing .

[@B.Salcon]

cheers from mexico

[@grapplerguy2007]

was curious how something like this setup like this would hold up against heavy rainfall

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Crushed aggregate mix works great in the rain, but as the ground bellow it gets wet, it will become soft. The solution to this is to go thicker. Much thicker. This same crushed rock is used as a patio base about 4 to 6 inch's thick, but for use under a vehicle you should probably aim for 12" thick if it's not very hard ground beneath it. If you go thinner, it will still work great, but your tires will dip into it a bit. I think the thicker recommendations are more for if you plan on putting pavers on top and don't want much flex.

[@jrparker4804]

Thanks 🫡

[@lfuentes4098]

Update?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

So far the pad has been great. The concrete is all still very strong and the pad has remained level. Only a few small weeds popped through some of the thinner spots, and maybe a fifth of a little spray bottle of week killer has the pad back to looking like it did on day one.