Concrete RV Pads in Hickory, NC
Heavy-duty, reinforced concrete pads across the NC Foothills — engineered for the real weight of motorhomes, trailers, and boats so your rig sits on a level surface that stays that way.
RV Pads That Handle the Weight
An RV, fifth-wheel, or boat trailer puts far more concentrated load on concrete than a car ever will — and parking one on an underbuilt pad is how you end up with a cracked, sinking slab. The Foothills Concrete Company pours heavy-duty RV pads across Hickory and the surrounding counties, engineered from the base up for the weight they'll actually carry.
What Goes Into a Proper RV Pad
- Thicker pours — typically 5–6 inches versus the 4 inches used for a standard car driveway.
- Steel reinforcement — rebar or heavy wire mesh to distribute concentrated axle and jack loads.
- Engineered base — deeper excavation and a well-compacted gravel base to prevent settling.
- Proper grading & drainage — a level pad that still sheds water so it won't undermine or heave.
- Custom sizing — sized to your specific rig, with room for slide-outs, jacks, and hookups.
Why the Base Matters Even More Here
In the Foothills' clay soils, a heavy pad poured over a poorly prepared base will eventually settle unevenly — and an unlevel RV pad makes leveling your rig a constant headache. We dig to the right depth, compact a proper base, reinforce correctly, and grade for drainage so your pad stays flat and solid under load, season after season. This is the same slab-and-base discipline we bring to every driveway and heavy-load pour.
How We Build an RV Pad
1. Size it for the actual rig
We start with your unit, not a standard. Length, width, axle spacing, slide-out clearance and how you approach and turn all change the pad. A pad that fits the coach but leaves no room to open the awning or set up beside it is not much use.
2. Excavate and build a base for the weight
A loaded Class A can run 30,000 pounds or more, concentrated on a handful of contact points. The base is excavated deeper and compacted harder than a driveway base, because point loads punch through anything soft underneath.
3. Thickness and reinforcement
Five to six inches with rebar on a grid, not wire mesh, for anything carrying a motorhome or a loaded fifth-wheel. This is the specification difference that matters most between an RV pad and a car parking slab, and it is not somewhere to save money.
4. Grade, joints and finish
We set fall so water leaves the pad rather than sitting under the rig, cut joints on a layout suited to the pad size, and finish broom for traction. If you want hookups, a dump connection or a power pedestal, we coordinate the locations before the pour rather than cutting into the slab afterwards.
Sizing Guide
As a starting point: a travel trailer usually wants 12 by 30 feet, a fifth wheel 12 by 40, and a Class A motorhome 12 to 14 by 40 to 45. Add width if you want to walk or set up chairs beside the unit rather than stepping onto grass, and add length if you tow a vehicle behind.
Also think about the approach. The pad itself is only useful if you can get the rig onto it without a twelve-point turn, so we look at the approach path and turning radius as part of the layout.
Pad Problems We See
Poured to driveway spec. Four inches with mesh under a motorhome cracks quickly. This is the single most common failure we are called to replace.
Edge breakup. The edge of a slab is its weakest point, and parking a loaded rig with its wheels on the very edge is how it fails. Sizing the pad with margin prevents it.
Standing water under the unit. A flat pad holds water against tyres and undercarriage. Deliberate fall solves it.
Jack points punching in. Stabiliser jacks concentrate enormous load on a few square inches. Correct thickness and reinforcement, or dedicated thicker jack pads, deal with it.
The Foothills Way vs. The Other Guys
Not all concrete work is the same. Here's how we approach a concrete rv pad installation compared to the cut-corner crews that leave homeowners with cracked, failing concrete a few winters later.
| What Matters | The Foothills Concrete Company | The Other Guys |
|---|---|---|
| Base preparation | Properly excavated & compacted gravel base | Pour over loose or uneven dirt |
| Thickness & reinforcement | Poured to load with rebar or wire mesh | Thin pours, skipped reinforcement |
| Drainage & slope | Graded to move water away | Water pools & undermines the slab |
| Control joints | Cut at proper spacing to control cracking | Too few or none — random cracks |
| Pricing | Written, transparent, no surprises | Vague quotes, add-ons at the end |
| Accountability | Local, licensed, insured & here to stay | Out-of-town, hard to reach later |
Our Concrete Confidence Package
Every project we take on comes with the same commitment — what we call our Concrete Confidence Package. It's our promise that you'll know exactly what to expect before we ever break ground:
- Clear expectations up front — a written scope of work, finish options, and timeline before we start, so there are no surprises.
- Locked-in pricing — the number on your written estimate is the number you pay. No mid-project add-ons.
- Workmanship you can count on — we stand behind every pour and back our work, because our name and reputation in the Foothills depend on it.
- Honest, faith-driven service — as a Christian-owned company, we treat your property and your budget with respect from the first call to the final walkthrough.
Frequently Asked Questions
RV pads should generally be 5–6 inches thick with steel reinforcement, compared to 4 inches for a standard car driveway. The exact thickness depends on the weight of your rig and your soil conditions, which we assess during the free estimate.
That depends on your rig. We size each pad to your RV's length and width plus room for slide-outs, leveling jacks, and getting in and out comfortably. We'll help you plan the right dimensions during the estimate.
Yes. We frequently pour RV pads as an extension off an existing driveway or as a standalone pad. Because an RV pad needs to be thicker and more heavily reinforced, we build it to its own spec even when it ties into existing concrete.
Not when it's built correctly. Proper thickness, steel reinforcement, a compacted base, and correct control joints are exactly what prevent cracking under heavy concentrated loads. That engineering is the whole point of a purpose-built RV pad.
Five to six inches with rebar reinforcement for a motorhome or loaded fifth wheel. Four inches with mesh is a car specification and will fail under an RV, usually at the edges and the jack points first.
As a starting point, 12 by 30 feet for a travel trailer, 12 by 40 for a fifth wheel, and 12 to 14 by 40 to 45 for a Class A. We size to your actual unit and to the approach, because a pad you cannot easily get onto is not solving the problem.
We coordinate the locations of hookups, a power pedestal and any dump connection before the pour so nothing has to be cut into the finished slab afterwards. The connections themselves are made by the relevant trade; we make sure the concrete accommodates them.
Yes, though it needs more excavation, sometimes a retaining wall at one edge, and careful drainage design. A level pad is important for the rig, so on a sloped site the earthwork is a bigger share of the job than the concrete.
An RV pad is heavy-duty residential concrete construction rather than ordinary flatwork, and it is specified from the weight of the rig down, not from a standard driveway detail.
Explore Our Other Concrete Services
RV and equipment pads are common on the larger parcels around Stony Point, Vale, and Catawba, where there is room to park a rig properly. See the full range from our Hickory-based concrete crew.
We handle every kind of residential and commercial concrete across the Foothills. A few related services: