I think most caravanners like to have a concrete floor for their annex/awning. (I do) I just run my guy ropes and pegs beyond the concrete.

My peeve is that the slabs are rarely reinforced (the real reason for the breaking up) and the owners whinge about caravan/RV wheels running over the slab when backing onto a site. I can only recall one instance where the slab was chamfered on the front corner to prevent this happening.

I've seen the battery drill trick in WA on the compacted coral/shell ground that's common there. I think one needs a long shank masonry drill for this.

NeilandRaine wrote:

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I like a slab if I'm staying for a while: The nice grassy spot gets all dead under the floor matting if you use it or the grass grows and raine hates it when it gets walked into the van.
Also you can bet if we are on grass it will rain and I don't care how well the walls are pegged down the ground will get wet in the annex.
I always try to park with one end of the awning at the front or back of slab so one end can be pegged down, usually slabs are only an awning wide so you can peg down outer walls. Always put guy ropes out well pegged down.
From an old park managers point of view, a slab site is so much easier to maintain.
If we are only in for a day or two I don't care. I do carry a battery drill with a long masonary bit, it comes in handy in lots of bush spots.

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Ditto to the above.

I align the rear end of the annex to the rear edge of the slab. 

Where the slab is longer than the annex, I use one of the two long ridge poles that I carry (the extendable tent poles with a hole in each end) to extend across the slab in line with the front end of the annex.

Long steel pegs thru the eyes into the ground  hold the ridge pole in place.

It is a simple matter then to hold down the annex wall to the ridge pole with cable ties.

If rain is about then I put a couple of folded up old towels on the slab under the ridge pole.  This blocks any rain falling on the slab from seeping thru into the annex area.  (If I was organised I suppose that I could use pool noodles or similar threaded over the ridge pole to do the same thing)

I often erect a lean to roof out from the awning roof over the exposed slab area.  This blocks the rain from falling on the slab & also  is a great spot to put the BBQ for outdoor cookling & a shady place to set up my camp chair.

ps. 

Why do I carry 2 ridge poles ????  ....  I can install one across the slab at each end if I want.

 

Have stayed in the Corindi Beach van park a couple of times now (north coast NSW) and they have permanent eco matting on their annex part of the sites.

Makes things a whole lot easier.

Concrete slabs seem better to park on, prefer to have grass underfoot. Best surface when it rained a lot was a blue-metal gravel one... shoes stayed dry, tent-pegs went in, just looks a bit ordinary.

I really have no preference as we are set up for both, however we DO like a level site so that wheel risers are not required.

Concrete slabs or grass, all the same for me, I just roll out the Camec matting on any surface that I'm not happy with or, if i feel like grass I just use 3 of those interlocking rubber mats, one for the caravan door step & one for our feet below each chair.

Cheers
Jon

Vic wrote:

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Or like one park I know of that has bitumen......do know of one RV owner that carries a portable battery drill and just drills his holes for the pegs when nobody is looking......not that I am recommending that........

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What brand drill do you use Vic?  

 

I prefer a slab for the annexe, and parking on concrete is certainly better for levels.
In Broome the park I lived in had double slabs with chain in the pad for tying down in case of cyclones.
In Cairns the slabs are a bit shabby and broken, but I was lucky to have a reasonable, stable site.
I used a rope threaded through the eyelets of my annexe walls and tied down with pegs into the ground at the ends. It stayed there for more than 2 years.
When it rains in either Broome or Cairns it's very hard to keep that water out. My van sunk about 6cms in just over 2 years, despite being propped up on the stands.
In Adelaide slabs seem to be replaced by gravel. I haven't seen any slabs in SA yet. The site I'm on is just dirt and grass. After a while the grass under the van and annexe floor dies anyway. The van is on stands, and I use shade cloth for the annexe "floor". The soil goes a bit boggy when it rains, but if I don't drive on it when it's wet it's ok. I have grass either end of the drive-through site and I've prepared and planted garden in the 3 months I've been here.
Parks sites like this one have been set up by the long-term tenants over the years. Some are nice, others not so nice.

with a tent style camper trailer we do not like slabs at all.

Park owners complaining about campers flattening the grass is a bit like store owners complaining that customers coming through the front door are wearing out the floor!

I always understood that the caravan was parked next to the concrete pad.Awnings etc were then erected over the slab.Most pads are not built to take the weight of a heavy van.

Well thats interesting. I always thought the slab was for the van. After reading right through this thread which is the right way now.
If there is a lot of wet around and probably mud the slab is to park on to keep up out of it , I thought.

The Top Tourist in Gunnedah has slabs set up for parking the van rather than the annexe. Even the owners don't know why it was set up that way as it was done before their time. Inverell CP has double width slabs as does Fraser Lodge (from memory) at Hervey Bay. This arrangement is very easy to set up on and the rig can be positioned to suit awning guy ropes etc. The one down side is that in heavy rain the run off from the van roof sometimes pools on the slab. The grass surrounding the slab can be kept in tip-top condition as neither the van or annexe are on it.

-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 24th of February 2011 06:04:53 PM

Ordinarily, the slab is for the awning unless told otherwise by the CP (We have just been advised by the CP to park on the slab in Mittagong also)