Papa Pip - after you have spent almost an hour trying to knock down pegs into concrete, I reckon you'd be glad of one of these - Either that or just put the awning back into its bag!!
As ex managers for the C&CC club and a concrete pitch, yes we did drill the concrete and put in special metal screws to hold the awning down. Over that we had a wooden floor. On extra hardstandings we now use rock pegs and a lump hammer
Our local CC site does a very good line in steel pegs. They resemble a 9 or 10 inch nail with a small cross piece for the awning loops to hook round. I've never seen them on sale anywhere else.
There hasn't been a hardstanding that's defeated us yet using these.They're about 45p each.
We use a large claw hammer with them and it all works very well.
Forgive me if I seem to be particularly dense - we are not caravanners - but it seems like it's such hard work just to peg down an awning. Would it not be simpler to park the caravan on the hardstanding (less chance of sinking in soft ground) and put the awning on the grass (easier to get the pegs in)?
------------- Tigermouse
I have a very temperamental personality - 50% temper and 50% mental
Quote: Originally posted by billy on 08/10/2007
You can get screw thread pegs you screw in with a spanner-
They are even easier if you use an electic drill/screwdriver. I bought a set this summer they cost me an arm and a leg but I should have done it years ago.
------------- I've taken a vow of poverty, to annoy me send money
Quote: Originally posted by Tigermouse on 09/10/2007
Forgive me if I seem to be particularly dense - we are not caravanners - but it seems like it's such hard work just to peg down an awning. Would it not be simpler to park the caravan on the hardstanding (less chance of sinking in soft ground) and put the awning on the grass (easier to get the pegs in)?
Most of the hard standings that I have used have space on for the caravan, the car and the awning. It makes them usable all the time and unlike putting awnings on grass there is no possibility of the pitch being unusable after the awning has been removed. I hate to see those great big patches on the grassland where someone has had an awning and a groundsheet down for a couple of weeks and left the pitch unusable.
------------- I've taken a vow of poverty, to annoy me send money
I would have thought it was rude to damage a concrete pitch with those pegs. Could the van not be positioned that the awning on at least 2 edges be pegged into the grass? We have found a few sites have banned awnings on grass now and this is what we intend to do next season. I would feel bad about driving these pegs into concrete as I would assume I wasn't meant too... Purhaps it is acceptable..
Wendy
------------- Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends...
George Bernard Shaw
In many cases the term "hardstanding" is a bit of a misnomer. Generally it refers to an area which has been cleared of grass, a membrane has been laid then either pea shingle or loose gravel spread across the membrane.Over time, these surfaces become compacted which makes it hard to use plastic pegs. In my recent experience this certainly applies at Sandy Balls, Lytton Lawn, Polmanter and Oakdown.
If I ever encountered a concrete hardstanding, I would assume that the unspoken message is that an awning is not possible or permitted and it would stay firmly in it's bag!
There is definitely a concrete hard standing at the Covert CC site. Some folks had managed to get pegs into the gaps in the ageing concrete. The site is on the old tank roads used by the Desert Rats.
There are tarmac hardstandings at Home Farm, near Burnham (Somerset) and I have seen awnings pegged into them!
Personally, we find the nail/cruxiform type of rock pegs are the best on most types of hardstanding. The ones with the plastic caps on always seem to break.
- and we remove them with molegrips (and we have the blood blisters on our fingers to prove it)
Quote: Originally posted by Patches on 08/10/2007
Papa Pip - after you have spent almost an hour trying to knock down pegs into concrete, I reckon you'd be glad of one of these - Either that or just put the awning back into its bag!!
Personally I will not use a site that does not allow me to pitch an awning on grass, I find the concrete, hardcore type pitches are not very comfortable underfoot and after all I like being able to feel the grass beneath my feet when caravanning. Get rid of the concrete and go back to moving pitches around so that the grass gets a chance to recover between uses. The concrete sites are no better than a car park IMHO and while that will suit some it is not for me, and many of my friends. These year has been extremly wet all over the country, at Bruces Cave we had several muddy areas when we had the meet there, Joan and I dropped in to say hi to the owners on the way to Runcorn last month. We took a wee run around the site and you would not have known there had been bad patches the few weeks earlier. Bruces has a mixture of grass and hardstanding which is probably why they are as popular. We are even considering getting a seasonal pitch there for 2008 and when we wish to go to other sites just picking the van up from there first. It is also good to know that they are putting back some of the money from the site takings into the site and adding to the amenities as well as restoring the old house which is nearing completion. Should be finished by the end of this year.
Quote: Originally posted by Papa Pip on 10/10/2007
Quote: Originally posted by Patches on 08/10/2007Papa Pip - after you have spent almost an hour trying to knock down pegs into concrete, I reckon you'd be glad of one of these - Either that or just put the awning back into its bag!!
Personally I will not use a site that does not allow me to pitch an awning on grass, I find the concrete, hardcore type pitches are not very comfortable underfoot and after all I like being able to feel the grass beneath my feet when caravanning. Get rid of the concrete and go back to moving pitches around so that the grass gets a chance to recover between uses. The concrete sites are no better than a car park IMHO and while that will suit some it is not for me, and many of my friends.
These year has been extremly wet all over the country, at Bruces Cave we had several muddy areas when we had the meet there, Joan and I dropped in to say hi to the owners on the way to Runcorn last month. We took a wee run around the site and you would not have known there had been bad patches the few weeks earlier. Bruces has a mixture of grass and hardstanding which is probably why they are as popular.
We are even considering getting a seasonal pitch there for 2008 and when we wish to go to other sites just picking the van up from there first. It is also good to know that they are putting back some of the money from the site takings into the site and adding to the amenities as well as restoring the old house which is nearing completion. Should be finished by the end of this year.
Sorry Papapip but we would always go for a pitch with hardstanding. Our experience has been that when using a breathable groundsheet on damp or wet grass/mud it isn't very long before the mud starts to ooze through.
Also I sincerely hope you don't walk barefoot on the grass. A consultant dermatologist once told me that some of the infections you can pick up from doing this are dire in the extreme. I did it once and caught something called pseudonomas which was very painful and took ages to clear up! The soles of my feet looked like I'd got gangrene.
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Topic: erecting an awning on a hard pitch
