does anyone have experience in installing hookups and RV pad on property?

[BIG JOE]

Greetings Forum!
We are considering having a 50 amp post and RV pad put in on our property...
Does anyone have experience in having this done on their own property?
We have 2 acres with an older mobile home on it.

My .03 ?

Shopped around for a Cement contractor and had a 75'x12' driveway poured from the street to a 24'x 48' pad. All, 4" deep with carbon fibers in the mix. The Pad is in our side yard, behind a gated fence. (with Permit)

I did all of the install and hook up for.. 30amp Electrical, Water and Sewer*.. all from our home (city) services.

Had a 32L x 14W x 14H Car/RV carport installed. (with Permit)

I figure I'm into it all.. for about 8K. All has been inspected by local Code Enforcement.. to meet requirements.

* the 30 amp Elect. is re-purposed from a Spa. (with permit) (sold).

  Water is from a 1" lawn sprinkler supply line. (no permit req.)

  Sewer is more of a "Dump Station", located next the RV driveway, at the front corner of the house. Tied into the home sewer line.

 

[Larry N.]

Yea, I see that now, but missed it ( the part about having self contained breakers in it) when I first read it.....thus the stupid question!   

We all have blind spots occasionally...  ;D ;D

 

[captaindomon]

Another thing to consider is that while you might be able to separately do the power, water, and sewer and be within code, you might not be able to do all three of them and be within code rules, because it may be considered a permanent residence addition to the property. Most local codes allow temporary RV use or parking the RV, but not hooking it up fully so someone can live in it, that falls under rules for adding another residence to the property. Something I recommend you figure out before you have it all nicely done and the code enforcement guy shows up ;-)

 

[regval]

Thanks for all the replies...
We really want a 20 30 50 amp post like an RV park and the water right there also.  We know we aren't going to do it ourselves.
There is a well and pump house that obviously would be a close location for water. There is also an electrical outlet in there.  Can the electric be run from there?
The biggest thing though is a need to dump the tanks.
Research shows that one should not dump into the septic and the only way to do that anyway would mean putting our motorhome on top of the drain field. Also a no no.
We don't want to spend a ton of money on this.
Thoughts?

Just my 2 cents:
Electrical:

The well pump is likely wired for 240VAC without a neutral wire (3 wire feed  240VAC with ground wire).  An RV pedestal like an RV park requires a 4 wire feed ( 2 hot wires, one neutral wire and a ground wire). It would be best to run a direct electrical cable from your main electrical panel for the RV pedestal.

For my RV pad, I ran a mobile home feeder cable, a 4-wire aluminum wire sheathed cable that would be good for 150ft, and you can terminate it in a standard RV pedestal box with connection for 50A and a 20A GFI protected outlet. If you need a 30A RV connection, you can use the usual 50A to 30A "dogbone" adapter to feed the 30A RV from the 50A receptical. The main feeder breaker from your main power source should be double pole 50A (100A total).
Most local Electrical code requires the feed cable to be buried 18-24" and be encased in grey PVC conduit.
Here is a link to some typical entrance feed wire:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-By-the-Foot-2-2-2-4-Gray-Stranded-Al-SER-Cable-13102999/205001908?MERCH=REC-_-NavPLPHorizontal1_rr-_-NA-_-205001908-_-N

I pulled a permit from the county as the homeowner. I trenched the electrical run myself, purchased and laid the electrical cable and conduit and installed RV pedestal. I paid an electrician to terminate the connections and sign off on the permit. Save a bunch by doing most of the work.

Septic: The camper waste goes directly into a septic system. I don't use black tank chemical additives.

Good Luck,
Reggie

 

[kdbgoat]

Here's some interesting reading:

http://www.woodallscm.com/2015/07/column-electric-changes-affect-your-park/

It talks about NEC requirements, and how they are changing.

 

[hoddinron]

Just had an electrician put a 30 amp exterior outlet attached to our house when he put in a new electrical panel.  Got scared when I read that some people put it in like a 220 outlet for a dryer with a two pole breaker.  So I went out to the panel and checked.  It's a 120 volt single pole breaker.  Whew.  Was planning on using it this week.

Ron

 

[tslarson]

Another thing to consider is that while you might be able to separately do the power, water, and sewer and be within code, you might not be able to do all three of them and be within code rules, because it may be considered a permanent residence addition to the property. Most local codes allow temporary RV use or parking the RV, but not hooking it up fully so someone can live in it, that falls under rules for adding another residence to the property. Something I recommend you figure out before you have it all nicely done and the code enforcement guy shows up ;-)

I agree with this, in our village it is OK to park an RV for storage, or to have someone visit for a few weeks. To be permanently parked for several months and be hooked up to all utilities would be a zoning violation. And if you were hooked to our village sewer system you would be in violation of the sewer commission ordinance.  This can all go really bad in a hurry, so do you research where you live before building all of this.

 

[RobinsBill]

Thanks everyone!
We have a lot more information to get started with.
We definitely won't do anything without finding out if we are within code first.
By saying that we didn't want to spend a ton of money, we were thinking we'd like to stay under 10,000. Of course less would be better. ?
The septic tank is 1000 gallons. The only way to use it would mean pumping uphill and a distance of 40 feet. I think we'll cross dumping on site off the list.
Thanks again for all the help. ?

 

[HueyPilotVN]

Remember me from Quartzsite a few years ago.

This might give you a few ideas about the 50 amp electric

Here is a link to a post where I documented how to do a temperary electric hook up at home.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,66762.msg611714.html#msg611714

Good Luck and read the disclaimer.

 

[RobinsBill]

Remember me from Quartzsite a few years ago.

Of course we remember you! ?

 

[Lou Schneider]

As far as the septic goes, a top loader washing machine uses 30-45 gallons of water per load, all of which goes into the septic system.  A 100 gallon load from a RV is the same amount of fluid as washing 2-3 loads of laundry, so if the septic can handle normal laundry loads it should handle the volume coming from the RV tanks without any problems.  Just don't use formaldehyde chemicals in the RV tank, and maybe stagger dumping the rig and doing the laundry so you aren't doing both on the same day.

As far as pumping the sewage up hill, that's where a Macerator pump and a length of garden hose shine.  You should have a sewer line clean out port somewhere between the house and the septic tank - that's where you put the end of the Macerator's garden hose.  It won't be a permanent installation, just a garden hose draped across the lawn when you use it, so there shouldn't be any zoning issues.

Don't put the Macerator output directly into the septic tank, use the sewer line cleanout so the in-tank baffles can work properly.

 

[kdbgoat]

As far as the septic goes, a top loader washing machine uses 30-45 gallons of water per load, all of which goes into the septic system.

Another comparison:
A standard 60"x30" bathtub with a "normal" size person in it will hold about 35 gallons of water, and a garden tub may be around 100+ gallons.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

$10,000 is a generous budget unless you want a large and elegant concrete pad.

I put down 4x8x16 solid concrete blocks to form pads for the wheels and left the rest as-is, but we have flat, sandy soil that drains well. A 2.5x4 ft area for each front wheel and a 4x4 area for the rear duals was all it took. Could even be smaller if the RV doesn't get moved often, but the bigger pads are an easier target for parking.

If the land needs drainage, you will need to scrape off some soil and put a base of rock and sand down, and maybe some drainage pipe if water flows through the area from somewhere else. That can get pricey is some terrains.

 

[SargeW]

Another tip for sewage. In my stick house I put a full service pad in the back for a destination trailer about 9 years ago. To handle the sewage I had installed an in ground sewer pump. It is about 24" in diameter and holds about 4-5 gallons of fluid. When it gets to a certain level a float kicks in the pump and it pumps it up hill to my stick septic tank.  The entry location is upstream of the tank itself by about 3'.  The whole system just plugs in to the 110 volt Pedestal that the RV is wired to. (The RV is a 50 amp connection).  Easy one time installation, works great, and is even up to code.