Shed Base

[Bon]

Hi all,

If this nice weather holds up, Saturday's job will be the construciton of a shed base for my new 6' x 4' overlap timber shed.

I plan to;

1. Dig out an area to approx 80mm deep and apply liberal amounts of weed-killer to the soil (the area is riddled with dandelions and the like).

2. Create a dry mix of 1:5 cement:building sand and lay a 40mm layer of this onto the dug out area.

3. Lay 400 x 400 x 38mm paving slabs, ensuring they are square and level.

4. Stand back and feel smug!

Can anyone see any problems with that, or recommend an alternative (I don't really want to go for a poured concrete slab as I may move the shed in the future).

When building the shed I plan to rest it on treated timber bearers and nail a layer of dpc between the timber and the shed base to stop any water ingress.

One question I did have was should I make the paving slab base bigger or smaller than the shed footprint? I'd always thought bigger, but thinking about it, if it is smaller, any water running down the sides will simply run into the ground as opposed to pooling under my base!

 

[oilman]

What a lot of work, merely for a tiny shed. I put a 8x6 shed on lines of bricks laid on the soil, dpc on the bricks, and shed on the dpc. That was in 1982. It hasn't moved. I have put a 20x10 on lines of 18"x9" blocks. That went up three years ago and it hasn't moved.

You really don't need massive construction, and you certainly don't need weed killer. The lack of water and light will ensure weeds don't grow underneath it.

How do I know? Both sheds don't have any weeds under them. Put a brick on the lawn for a month. There probably won't be anything growing under it when you look.

 

[Richard C]

It’s only a bleedin shed with no weight to speak of; some flagstone or 6ft fence gravel boards in 2 inches of tamped sand is all you need. I’ve had large sheds sitting on similar for well over 20 years which are still there & will probably outlast me!

Cover the bottom of the shed in roofing felt to stop damp through the floor; it will last forever & keep the shed contents much dryer.

 

[Bon]

Thanks for the help guys. Sounds like you've just saved me loads of work!

 

[DAguy]

i agree with the others- its just a shed.
we use old 3'x2' pressed paving butt joined on a thin (2") base of semi dry concrete.
but you could probably get away with just laying a few concrete fence posts directly above the soil with a bit of crushed stone under them.