Will my Porcelain Tile driveway support my 3500kg campervan ?

[pappajohn]

My campervan is around 2940kg (unloaded but full tank of fuel and one person)
Rear axle is 1260kg
Front Axle is 1660kg

Nothing to do with tiles but You have the weights wrong somewhere.
Axle weights are always slightly higher than the gross weight so you're already 20kg overweight unladen.
1260kg + 1660kg = 2920kg
Your unladen weight = 2940kg
20kg more than the axle gross.

 

[pappajohn]

Just realised you quoted the actual axle weights, not the plated weights

 

[buzz1]

As everyone said it all depends on foundation,
Good 6” of hard core and couple 2” of mot Wacker plate all over then laid on sharp sand and cement,
Look at in door shopping areas environments all sorts of commercial traffic driving over it . Some of it will be porcelain tiles ,

 

[KNWH]

What size are the tiles? The larger they are, the more prone they will be to cracking.
They will have more than enough compressive strength but, as others have said, they need to be evenly supported, as they will be brittle and not able to resist much of a bending load.

 

[oozzie]

Can we see a picture of the said tiles? Is there a nice pattern/design?
Not heard of anyone having porcelain tiles as a driveway.

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[dash300]

You have never been told to 'point Percy to the porcelain' (to avoid splashes)

I have, but my brain didn't make the link with toilets!

 

[gus-lopez]

Were they dab and dot or a proper layer of mortar and hard core beneath that?

Good porcelain tiles are immensely strong.

This^^^^^^^^^^
Dab & dot should never be allowed anywhere even inside a house. drop a cup & the tile cracks. full bed on anything,floor,walls,ceilings is the only way to lay tiles. all else is cutting corners. Externally it should be a concrete base & tiles laid on neat cement

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Mr Chrysalis - you like maths, fancy a go at this one?

Thanks for the offer, but Minxy has already done the maths and given the correct advice re the substructure. But don’t follow ericroy’s advice please.

Jim ‘s suggestion is the only way to prove it, but I would bet that it will end up in a crack or two.

 

[Sandancers]

The pressure exerted by the human foot is much more than you might think; and almost certainly more than the van in question. Too many variables and too little time to do any math, but I remember being told once that elephants exert less pressure than a human, on account of spreading the load so much better..

As an interesting fact to back up the above. (Yes, I should get out more).

The instruction manual for the Tiger 1 tank in WW2 told the crew that if they suspected the ground was too soft for the tank then two crewmen should perform the following task.

One crew man should get on the back of the other crewman and then they should walk on the suspect ground. If the feet of the loaded crewman didn't sink into the ground then the Tiger wouldn't either !

 

[Laughing Gravy]

Nothing to do with tiles but You have the weights wrong somewhere.
Axle weights are always slightly higher than the gross weight so you're already 20kg overweight unladen.
1260kg + 1660kg = 2920kg
Your unladen weight = 2940kg
20kg more than the axle gross.

Yeah it is odd but that was the printout I received. I suppose I should have questioned it at the time

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[Laughing Gravy]

Can we see a picture of the said tiles? Is there a nice pattern/design?
Not heard of anyone having porcelain tiles as a driveway.

 

[Guigsy]

Yeah it is odd but that was the printout I received. I suppose I should have questioned it at the time

Scales are only accurate to a few percent. Only a 20kg difference is pretty good (although it could be the the accuracy was poor, but all off in the same direction).

 

[peterc10]

It will depend upon what is under the tiles. A properly laid and compacted subbase will be needed. And the tiles should be laid on a continuous bed of suitable suitable adhesive or mortar.

The problem is that this not may not be the case.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

And porcelain flags need priming on the back or they might pop up.

 

[tribalbrit]

As others have said, with all paving preparation is the key.
Remove all vegetable matter and top soil.
lay minimum 150 mm of hardcore 20mm down to dust makes for more compaction.
Roll not whaker the hardcore in both directions at least twice during the laying, ie; every 75 mm.
mix and lay cement/sharp sand mix minimum 75mm for a drive 3 to 1 mix to full area. ..
dampen porcelain tiles
cover back of porcelain tiles with the correct primer.
And lay while the sand/cement mix is still wet.
tap into place to level.
If all the above was carried out it will be fine.
If not. Who knows?
If you do drive on it avoid excessive use of steering wheel, especially stationary

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[Dutch 68]

Here is a an interesting question (for me anyway !) …

My campervan is around 2940kg (unloaded but full tank of fuel and one person)
Rear axle is 1260kg
Front Axle is 1660kg

My tyres are 60PSI each

My Porcelain tiles can withstand around 200IIbs per sq inch

Is there a way of estimating whether the porcelain tile driveway could withstand the weight of the camper ? I appreciate there are other factors at play such as how they are laid etc

Thank you !

It’s not the porcelain you have to worry about, it’s what’s underneath it

 

[PeterCarole29]

And porcelain flags need priming on the back or they might pop up.

Surely not if flexible exterior tile adhesive is used

 

[Northernraider]

Sometimes slabs or red chips made sense.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Surely not if flexible exterior tile adhesive is used

They are bedded on mortar not tile adhesive so need a cementious primer on the back to prevent the porcelain sucking the water out of the bed before it cures.

 

[CAB96]

What did he do to stop the slipping, cover it in green cloth?

Chalk on the tyres

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[Mike001]

Porcelain driveway?
Be carefull of skid-marks
(Someone had to say it)

 

[PeterCarole29]

They are bedded on mortar not tile adhesive so need a cementious primer on the back to prevent the porcelain sucking the water out of the bed before it cures.

happy to be corrected but are you confusing ceramic with porcelain
Porcelain doesn’t suck water in

 

[Simon Meadwell]

happy to be corrected but are you confusing ceramic with porcelain
Porcelain doesn’t suck water in

Maybe i am . I work on sites and when laying porcelain flags you have to prime the back with a slurry type primer.
Im no expert but have seen flags pop off the bedding.

 

[Landy Andy]

Yes you have to slurry/butter the back of porcelain, but not for suction, it is almost the opposite. Because they won’t suck in the moisture they likely to just lay on the cement, not adhere to it, and then just pop off.

 

[PeterCarole29]

Maybe i am . I work on sites and when laying porcelain flags you have to prime the back with a slurry type primer.
Im no expert but have seen flags pop off the bedding.

It would make absolute sense to prime the back of the porcelain flags with a slurry type primer
I have only ever laid normal sized porcelain floor tiles
I do have to lay at home some flags and appreciate the tip of using a slurry would you know if it’s latex mixed with cement

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[Simon Meadwell]

It would make absolute sense to prime the back of the porcelain flags with a slurry type primer
I have only ever laid normal sized porcelain floor tiles
I do have to lay at home some flags and appreciate the tip of using a slurry would you know if it’s latex mixed with cement

Not sure its just called paving slurry.

 

[Nanniemate]

Maths might help, but you know there's only one way to find out don't you

Before and after pics please good luck

 

[tribalbrit]

Porcelain is none porous, if laid without a primer they will lift. There are various primers, some are a powder that you just add water and others are a liquid that you add cement, I have used both with good results but prefer the powdered version. I have also seen people add cement to PVA with reasonable effect.
Laid thousands during the 46 years in the trade.
Personally think I prefer the Indian stone flags to lay.

 

[Jake Royd]

It's wise tho not that up to now the discussion has centered on the static load of the motorhome and the stress applied on the tyre contact patches.
This is probably ok.
However the tiles will see a dynamic load when the van drives onto them.
This load will be much higher than the static load.

 

[Clive Mott]

It is the strength, depth and ridgidness of what is underneath that will determine this. if you have at least 6 inches of solid concrete below and the tiles were laid on a screed then probably yes. But if the tiles were laid individually on a wiggle of adhesive then very likely no. That is my opinion.

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