How Much Concrete Padding Do I Put on a Double-Wide Trailer?

Local Codes

• Before considering the size of the landing pad for the double-wide, the smart thing is to contact your local building code authority for guidelines to ensure the trailer is up to code and is considered a safe dwelling on the land selected. In some jurisdictions, the size of land governs if the trailer can be parked there and if so, how large the pad is allowed to be or must be for it to be deemed safe. A simple phone call to the authority’s office will keep you from being cited for a zoning infraction or from needlessly building a pad that isn’t up to snuff.

Pad Size

• Generally speaking, the landing pad for a double-wide must be larger than the trailer to evenly distribute weight. If not, one section of the trailer will inevitably dip, which will potentially throw off plumbing and other connections. Again, generally speaking, a 16-by-16-foot landing pad covers enough ground under the trailer’s mooring. The pad needs to be subdivided in half, making two individual 8-foot sections.

Mark It Off

• If the land you’re going to use adheres to any local zoning laws, the first thing is to stake out the 16-foot section using wooden stakes hammered into the ground in the four corners of the “square.” Measure out a small 2-foot-wide pathway in the middle of the 16-foot section and section these two subsections off by first adding additional stakes inside the perimeter of the larger square. Run some nylon cording between the stakes to mark off the two sections.

Dig It Up

• You’ll need to dig out each section to a depth of 8 inches. The ground in the bottom of the two “trenches” needs to be flat before going ahead with adding concrete, so tamp it down flat -- check the flatness with a carpenter’s level as you go. Add about 2 inches of aggregate to the bottom to ensure the concrete will be even. If you’re a stranger to laying concrete, now’s the time to hire a contractor because a mistake will end up costing you both time and money.