I know many of you actually BUILD things for a living (unlike so many-paper-pushers here in the concrete jungle) so I thought I would ask-- if I were going to put in a concrete driveway, what design elements are necessary? I mean:
1) Do you need to pour footings like a foundation? Below the frost line?
2) Or is it just a slab, like a garage floor?
3) I assume you use rebar just like a garage floor and tie the rebar together. Does it just lay parallel to the direction of the driveway, or perpendicular, or does it form a box shape with the concrete placed around it?
4) Geotextile layer between subgrade and concrete?
5) Pitch, crown, etc?
6) Finish- broom finish, pressed to look like brick possible also?
7) What mix? I used 4000 pound for my barn floor and it fired off in about 2 hours.
8) What thickness?
9) I assume same kind of subgrade, I used 4" of #2 aggregate and compacted it down with a plate tamper before placing the vapor barrier. I understand that the better the subgrade the better the performance and longevity.
A few rough calcs-- if the driveway is 4" thick, 12 feet wide and 450 feet long, that is 67 yards of concrete. And the subgrade is the same amount. At $100 per yard that is probably $7500 for the material with a 10% overrun.
Thanks in advance- this project is years away from being "shovel-ready" but I have started thinking, planning, budgeting. . .
