Some Shed advice please

[baluachrach]

Hi I have been given a timber shed 16'x9' which currently sits on a concrete slab. As the only place convenient for me to place it is on a slope I was planning on building a raised deck using 4" posts and treated 6" x2"s. Do you think this would be strong enough for a shed this size?
Also as there is currently no floor in it could you give some suggestions for what to make the floor out of?

 

[Barbara33]

Well, about the floor, I've seen rubber granulate tiles in some places now, installed outdoors on terraces (the same tiles that you see so often on playgrounds), they seem to be really long-lasting. The are resistant to frost, and really easy to clean, so maybe it's worth trying them out.

 

[baluachrach]

Hi thanks for the suggestion but would these not leave the floor bouncy?

 

[Barbara33]

I was surprised when I first walked on them how hard, pressed-in they are. You can place anything on them (like chairs). Also, some companies specialize in making these tiles specially for terraces; then, they're a bit harder than tiles on playgrounds because they use different rubber granulate (EPDM I think).

 

[ABCwarrior]

I built a framed floor for my shed (18'x12') using treated 8x2's, only needed 6 pads to support the whole lot.

If you build it on posts 6x2's should be ok for a 9' span, but you'll probably need a joist every 600mm so probably 9 joists (making 8 bays @ 2'x9'). At 600mm the max centres for structural loading for say a house is 2.61m, so 9' would be @2.7m and it's a shed not a house so would be fine...

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/load-bearing_walls.htm

Worth a read....on a slope you'd want the minimum amount of headache with fewest posts and doing it this way you'd get away with 6 posts/support points as long as the frame was well put together...

 

[baluachrach]

Thanks ABC - You mention only needing 6 posts would that be 1 in each corner and the other 2 in the middle?
Also if you don't mind me asking, what did you use for your flooring?

 

[ABCwarrior]

Yes six posts will mean less hassle and a max span of no more than 9feet.the shed i got was second hand and is 18mm ply on the flooring. the original bearers below were rotten think it had been on a flat surface like tarmac, bearers were only 90mm high and untreated so the whole frame needed replaced. thankfully the ply wasn't too bad some needed the edges cut off where water had got into them. ply is your best bet, far more durable than osb or chipboard flooring....[/code]

 

[big-all]

Yes six posts will mean less hassle and a max span of no more than 9feet.the shed i got was second hand and is 18mm ply on the flooring. the original bearers below were rotten think it had been on a flat surface like tarmac, bearers were only 90mm high and untreated so the whole frame needed replaced. thankfully the ply wasn't too bad some needed the edges cut off where water had got into them. ply is your best bet, far more durable than osb or chipboard flooring....[/code]

feel rather impotent when it comes to using posts as i have never used them so cant give advice

i assume the posts have a large footprint off concrete
i was asked to use metposts spike in the ground and i refused as i explained whilst the metpost wont suffer from sideways movement on a shed the weight would tend to sink into the ground as unlike a fence with virtually nill downwards weight a shed is about 98% downward force

thanks for you post

 

[joe-90]

Build it like a deck and stick your shed on top.

 

[ABCwarrior]

Thats pretty much what mine is like. so that the whole shed overhangs the whole thing so the rain doesnt run back and into the floor you'd be best making the floored frame 30-40mm less than the hard sizes of the outer dimensions of the shed frame and totally square using the diagonals and3/4/5...

 

[baluachrach]

Again thanks for the replies - If i was to use Plywood would I need to use additional bearers or simply lay it direct on top of the joists?

 

[big-all]

12mm ply support at 16 inch centers 18mm at 2ft centers