Bringing boat to the house need ideas

Its time to bring the boat to the house and stop paying storage fees and I've done a ton of searching on here for ideas. I'll include the posts I've found for future help.

I have 18 feet of fence between my property line and the brick wall of my garage. I'm planning on bringing the fence to the front of the garage but I'm unsure of what to do for a "slab".

Aside from the obvious concrete, would landscaping rocks be a bad idea? I'm talking about the small pebble kind, about the size of a dime or so. Would these hold moisture and cause humitidy? What else can I use BESIDES concrete?

I got a "quote" for putting in a 3rd garage and going back about 30 feet enclosed or even partially enclosed and it was around $15K. I'm not putting that into it, I'll just keep paying to store it.

What are the downfalls of storing it outside with the cover on? Is it going to tear up the interior and the tower?

Thanks for input!

Here are the posts I've referenced for ideas:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/386927.html

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/203414.html

(Message edited by trainwreck on July 21, 2008)

(Message edited by trainwreck on July 21, 2008)

What do you want the slab for? If you're just parking the boat on it those stones should be sweet.

trainwreck
just use 3/4 minus gravel as a base and that will be just fine. No need to spend all the extra money on concrete. Especially if noone will really see it behind the fence.
Just keep the boat clean and waxed regularly and it will be just fine. Don't let water sit on your cover. If the boat is moist inside I would get a fan or air circulating the air and prop it up in a few spots to get circulation through it. You could also consider buying one of those cheap car tent things and keep it under there..... downfall is taking the tower down each time to get it in under the tent...
good luck

Go talk to a company who sells, and delivers gravel. They will have an easy recommendation for you. And probably have it around for you to check out.
The one I've seen is a sharp edged gravel that comes in a variety of sizes. Some guys will spread it by hand, then sprinkle cement on it & mix it in a bit. Then water it. The result is easy to drive on, walk on, etc., almost like a cement floor.

Like Air junky says.. I got chat gravel and sprinkled portland cement over it and watered it in and have never had any trouble.

everything on your tower that is polished aluminum is going to get eaten alive by that salty air if you store outside. Just be prepared to polish it all very frequently ( once a week) to keep it looking decent. I woudl coat everytign aluminum that is going to be exposed in something??? check with marine max down there.

I posted in another topic, but bring your boat to the upper san jac sometime if you still want to sell it. I've had quite a few people ask me about my boat...pricing/options, ect.

3/4 is a bit rough on the feet, unless you do it like airjunky.

What about pavers? the ones you pour into the mold 3'x3' or so. then move the mold and repour. Flag stone is pretty high, but that would work too.

as far as your tower, get a tower cover and you'll be set. I think I saw one on buywake. I think the idea about the "carport cover/tent" thing is a good idea. I'm sure you can find them that is tall enough to not have to fold down your tower each time! if not I'm sure you could fabricate it a bit to make it taller.

^^^ I have covers on most of my accesories on my tower and have yet to find one that protects the aluminum enough to keep it looking as good as if I stored indoors. My baot sits on a covered lift (boathouse style). The anodized tower does pretty well.

The bugs/spiders will also get all in your boat.
Before you think about storing outside, come take a look at my boat first. I know your really picky about keeping your clean.

I have a great cover that I alway keep on the boat but down in the south the humid air and sun will eat it alive in a matter of years. I would suggest the gravel then some small mats (or something of the sort) just large enough to get the trailer tires onto. This will keep the tires high and dry. As far as keeping it out the sun I would get one of the RV (these are generally taller so you could keep you tower up) metal carports. Here is a link in case you don't know what I am talking about http://gaport.com/regular.covers.htm

I don't live anywhere near salt water so I guess I don't know what it really does to things. but if its gonna mess things up...then I'd consider either building a third garage, or keeping it in storage. if your planning on stayin at your house for a long time and staying in boating, it might be cheaper in the long run to go ahead and build a garage anyway, especially considering storage payments over howmany years and depreciation of your boat if its kept outside and messed up.

Finlay my building knowledge can be put yo use. hey train for your pad you want to use 5/8- crushed rock. put down a layer of filter fabric prior to the gravel. the gravel should be at least 4 inches thick. 6 would be i deal but not mandatory. smooth it out with a rake and shovel then go rent a plate compactor and grab a half dozen bags of non-shrink grout. compact the gravel first. you will find some low spots. re rake it and pack again until it is flat and smooth. then sprinkle the grout on the gravel as even as possible. then fill the water tank on the compactor and run it over the pad a few more times. you might need to add more water during this part. the compactor will wet the gravel and grout affectively binding it together in to a temporary slab. temporary means no permits. as far as a cover goes get a nice big tarp from home depot and make a frame from the gas piping dept. attach to your garage on one side and the fence on the other. wallah a temp car port for your boat. as long as you do the Major work you should be able to get it done for less than 1500 dollars and if you mount the tarp high enough no need to drop the tower.

I bought my canopy from here. http://www.shelterlogic.com/ Custom so I don't have to fold down the tower. 23' long by 12' wide by 14' tall. Its awesome. Huge and expensive (about $1600), but awesome. My boat is under Oak trees, so I had no choice but to cover it.

I recently purchased a new house with and awesome side yard. I went with 3/4" crushed granite. It was much much cheaper than concrete. Grade the ground before you start for proper drainage, VERY IMPORTANT. I had 6 tons I believe delivered for under $400. My brother and I raked it out in less than an hour...the boat was sitting on it in less than two. Compacting it after the fact sounds like a good idea in retrospect...also so does the concrete/grout ideas. I didnt do that, didnt have any advice to. The 3/4 crushed is a little rough on bare feet but I like how the rough corners of the rock end up locking together. Mine is about 4-6" deep. Very simple, no dust, no standing water, and not permanent...if the next people in my house want dirt again all they have to do is shovel it up.

Checkout http://www.grasscrete.com/docs/paving/grasscrete.htm

Interesting you bring that up, dude. I used to live in some condos where we had that stuff on the ramp. By the time I moved in, the stuff was probably 20+ yrs old. Every spring the grass would grow thru it & it looked great, and was still plenty hard enough to drive trucks & boats on it every day. Usually in the summer, the grass in it would start to die off though, probably due to the summer heat and more people driving on it more & more.

Parking your boat on it might keep the grass from growing very well. And if it did, you'd have to move the trailer every time you wanted to mow it.

This stuff is great, low maintenance, strong enough to support fire apparatus, still provides a drainage to the area, and not permanent. Just use a weed eater or edger to cut the grass, but in Cali the grass wouldn’t survive w/o irrigation past winter.

I just added some leg extensions to this http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200333772_200333772
so I would not need to fold the tower anymore but just park on the sand/dirt under it. It is probably the best (cheap)canopy on the market, Ive researched pretty much all of them. It is wider then most at 12' and longer then most at 26' with a replacement cover available. It is also fairly easy to assemble for 2 people. It is by no means as good as an aluminum shelter but you wont pay under $300 for even the smallest one of those. Ive been thinking about going with some of those pavers myself.

I helped a friend put black poly vinyl down and put stabilized sand, then the pebble stone. Put runners for the tires and a 3x3 for the front trailer wheel. Worked fine. We put the fence up and a large gate with a wheel on it. No problems at all. Covered it with a canpoy with leg extension on it. Worked fine