I meant to include this in the last post…when I was working out how big to make the gravel pad (and before I do most stuff), I always like to do a little sketch before I start doing too much work, to make sure I get everything right.  It’s really easy to miscalculate or mis-measure, hence the old adage “measure twice, cut once.”

I took a picture of my workbook, I guess it just looks like the scribblings of a madmen, but just thought I would show a little insight into my process of doing stuff.

You can (perhaps) see that I worked out, I’ll see about 11 cubic yards or 22 tons of gravel, to create my level pad (50’1″ x 9′ x 8″ thick).  This should give me about a foot of extra pad beyond the extents of all the racking and concrete ballasts.  It also means I’ll be shoveling out about that amount of topsoil, or perhaps a little more, to get down to the bedrock.  A good honest workout, to be sure.