shed slab

greetings, i would like to have a 10x10 slab poured for a shed. what would be the recommended thickness? and how much concrete(yardage) would it take? also, would it be a good idea to buy the concrete in bags and mix it myself or would the concrete start to set before all was mixed. thanks cj

Reply to
cj
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4" is good

Did you have math in school? This is a 6th or 7th grade problem Hint: 27 cubic feet to a cubic yard

Call for the Reddi-Mix truck. Mixing by hand is tedious, heavy, and must be done quickly and it is a lot to do by the bag. If you have no experience with pouring concrete, get at least one experienced person to help with screeding, floating, etc.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Four inches, unless you're installing heavy machinery.

10' x 10' x 1/3' = 33 1/3 cubic feet, or about 1.25 yards.

You may well find that hiring someone with a small cement trailer to come pour the slab is just as cheap as buying the 56 bags of ready-mix you'd need, retail.

If you can find someone that can do 1 yard, but not

1.25, then the resulting slab would be around 3 1/4" inches, which is probably workable, and still better than trying to do it yourself with bag-mix. Esp. if you've got a couple wheelbarrows full of clean, smaller-than-fist-sized rocks to bulk it up with.
Reply to
Goedjn

Quick shortcut... 81 sq/ft to the yard at 4" thick.

Reply to
gfretwell

To calculate concrete yardage (actually, cu-yds), do the following:

L = length of slab W = width of slab D = depth (thickness) of slab V = volume of concrete needed (cu-yds)

NOTE:

1 ft = 12 in 1 cu-yd = 27 cu-ft

Make sure that you are working in the same units for L, W, and D... If you measure L & W in ft and D in inches, divide D by 12 to get the equivalent inches (i.e. D = D / 12)... In this case, the formula would be:

V = (L * W * D) / 27

If you measure everything in inches, you can use the following formula:

V = (L * W * D) / (36 * 36 * 36)

Which is equivalent to: V = (L * W * D) / 46656

Parentheses added for readability, not because of being mathematically necessary...

Personally, I would put a footer around the slab... Might not be really necessary, but I figure that as long as you're going to do something, you might as well do it right... It's not like you're going to want to be moving the slab, right? I would use a footer that is

12-18 inches deep on the edge, at least 6 inches across on the bottom, and sloped at a 45-60 degree angle up to the rest of the slab...

Awh, 'ell... I've gone and overengineered it something *again*... Never mind...

Reply to
Grumman-581

A question to the group. For a simple shed, with nothing bigger in it than a couple of people (in other words, just for small tool storage), do you even need a slab.

I've been toying with the idea of building a shed, put down 3/4-minus gravel, several concrete blocks, some type of supporting lumber for a plywood floor and going ahead and building....

Reply to
timbirr

Most of the sheds I've seen are not set on a slab and I don;t think I would use one. It doesn't buy you a lot, and it's a big pain in the ass if someone wants to move or get rid of the shed.

Also, it's probably a good idea to check local codes. Some places require a permit for a shed or have other particular requirements. And you might escape some of those requirements if it doesn't have a slab.

Reply to
trader4

Nope, dirt floor or pressure treated plywood works. Depends ow permanant you want to get and local bilding codes. In my town, up to 100 sq ft you can do pretty much what you want, but larger, you need a permit and other qualifications may apply.

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Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Wood floors invite rodents and other troublesome pests.

aboiut 9 years ago my neighbor thought I was stupid for putting in concrete slab for my 16 by 20 shed he went ahead and used pressure treated wood today hs shed is listing the wood rotting despite its pressure treated seal.

he just mentioned tearing his down and laying a concrete slab. he has had trouble with animals undermining his shed to make a burrow for their home

Reply to
hallerb

I know ground-contact PT will rot out around my area, which is why I figured I'd take the shed off the ground with the concrete blocks. Rodents can certainly find their way in, if I had a concrete slab or not, although I do think a slab would probably cut down invasions.

But, if the shed is off the ground, with a gravel underlayment, and open pretty much all around, I figure that will discourage some rodent activity. A few tin cats, as well as a couple of real cats and a couple of rottweilers ought to discourage most of the varmints.

And, for the cost savings, I think it might be worth it.

Reply to
timbirr

Darn it. Now you guys have actually got me excited about this....Did some poking around and found an example or two of what I was thinking about. The first link is the "finished look" and the second is "in process."

The final link is the "start page"

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Reply to
timbirr

If you do it right, it will work... Hell, there are 300 year old houses in the New Orleans area that are still standing that use that basically as a foundation... For a small shed, put a good footer for each corner and build your floor on top of it... Personally, I woiuld use concrete for the corners and raise it at least 2 ft off the surrounding terrain so that I could get underneath it if needed in the future... Sink your footings below the frost line if you want to do it right...

Of course, you'll find that your dog will like to escape the heat of the day underneath such a structure...

For sheds, I've seen people just build on top of some cresote timbers... Personally, I like a little more room than that underneath it...

Reply to
Grumman-581

Small jobs are just about as expensive either way you go unless you can find a small hauler. Around here it is about $ 80 per yard delivered but you have to get a minimum of 4 yards or atleast pay for that ammount even if you only want one or two yards. The dry mix at the box stores is about twice as much as the delivered mix so you have to decide which way to go for small ammounts. If you have to mix all the bags one or two at a time then it will take you about 2 to 3 hours time per yard. Allow for plenty of time.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

If you canb find some heartwood cypress you can make a cajun house too

Reply to
gfretwell

I bet yoiu haven't bought any lately. I bought 27 yards in Feb at the "inside" price and it was $100./yd. Most contractors are paying a buck twenty for 3000# gravel

Reply to
gfretwell

Around here, slab='permanent structure', and can jack the tax bill. On sleepers or blocks (but not poured piers), it is invisible to the tax man. Usual practice is tamped gravel and a plastic shed, or those fancy precast blocks with the notches on top, and a wood floor system. Trailer tiedowns are common used if wind is a concern.

aem sends...

Reply to
ameijers

Unfortunately, there are large areas in the swamps that have had their trees harvested... As you drive through the area or fly over it, it's rather noticeable... Kind of a shame... A cypress swamp has a certain type of beauty to it... Minus the mosquitos, of course...

Reply to
Grumman-581

I don't think so, but what is small?

Because we get some really bad storms in Maryland as in uprooting large trees, I would do what I call cheap footing. That means a foot on each corner - a one foot post hole filled with concrete. When I lived in North Carolina, I put another foot every 5 feet, but where I live now there are too many rocks in the ground to make it worth doing.

To me it depends on the size of the shed and if you have a need for the slab beyond the shed like a patio.

That is a very big issue! Plus you are informing them that you are making improvements.

I was seriously considering pouring a slab for a shed and a patio. My wife wanted to hear a contractor price before I did anything. The contractor said he could not risk pulling a load to the back of my house because of the slope of my land. But his price (if my neighbors let him drive his truck across their land) was not worth discussing. Then I tore up my right shoulder and had to put it off.

Dick

Reply to
Dick Adams

According to :

Depends on what you want.

On the 12x12 shed the previous owners built just like that:

They grossly undersized the floor joists. It was very bouncy.

The cinder blocks rolled (soft ground), and many points were unsupported.

Porcupines ate the ring joist and floor joists in places.

We had to rebuild much of it.

Had to:

put a beam under the mid point of the joists to reduce bounce.

Replace one of the ring joists and insert a new floor joist.

Excavated out the cinder blocks, put in about 8" of gravel, and

18" square concrete pads under the blocks. It don't move now.

For a simple shed, especially one you want to roll equipment into (lawn mowers, lawn tractors etc), I'd strongly suggest considering using concrete pavers for the floor (eg: the 30x30 ones).

Sheds (especially light ones in exposed locations) should be bolted down. Houses too in hurricane areas...

Reply to
Chris Lewis

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