The property owner moved his Jayco to the property a few days ago and it was my assignment to help him get things set up. It is going to be here on a near permanent basis so we wanted to make sure it was set up correctly. He is fairly new to recreational vehicles so our help was well received.
The owner's 31' Jayco Bunkhouse parked next to the Old Girl
We had planned the RV parking area to accommodate 3 -4 recreational vehicles and his designated spot worked out nicely.
There were two things we wanted to do for him to make his stay more pleasant. The first involved the sewer connection. The run to the cleanout is short with a good elevation and we toyed with the idea of plumbing it permanently with Schedule 40 PVC. This might have presented problems in the future as it was more complicated so we just hit on the idea of encasing and supporting the stinky slinky with PVC.
Hard cased stinky slinky
. This will keep his young children from running over it (hopefully) and will also protect the plastic from the damaging and intense Texas sunlight which turns the sewer hose into brittle tissue
Trailer end of sewer connection
paper in one season. The trailer end of the Schedule 40 PVC is supported by a piece of rebar rod bent into a U shape to hold the pipe at the correct angle. The lower end, next to the septic tank, is pinned to the ground by a piece of U shaped rebar driven into the ground. It is a surprisingly steady configuration.
The next thing we wanted to do came from our own personal experience on more remote jobsites than we can remember. New excavation turns into a muddy mess when it rains….. and then factor in a family with 3 rambunctious pre-teens! You have to get up off the ground to escape the mud and the best way we have discovered to do that is a “mud porch” which is a simple structure of pressure treated 2 x 4’s screwed into some landscape timbers. We decided the property owner needed something a little nicer 
.
The Deluxe Mud Porch
The Deluxe Mud Porch is 12′ long by 8′ wide. it is constructed of all pressure treated lumber. The stringers are 8′ landscape timbers. The decking is 6″ wide PT decking. A couple of construction tips…
The build area should be level– lay the stringers out and make sure they are contacting the ground and they don’t rock back and forth.
Let the decking overlap 2″ or so all the way around. It looks nicer and you won’t stub your toe on the stringers.
Space the decking 3/4″ or so apart. Just enough so your camp chair legs won’t fall through. This is real important! The gaps make the mud porch pretty much self – cleaning.
Put the whole thing together with deck screws. If you ever have to move it you will be glad. Nails will work loose over time.
Make sure the cup in the decking is facing down. It will weather better that way.
Try to select the straightest lumber you can. Warps and bows make life miserable
That’s it! The porch cost a little over $150 in materials from Lowe’s and about 2.5 man hours to put it together.
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