Hi,
Anyone any simple and cheap ideas on how to stop this:
The "base" is just 4 4"sq posts laid on the ground, for the joists to rest on, so no gert concrete lump to bolt it to. Are the corkscrew spiral or disc type "ground anchors" any good?
A layer of paving slabs *inside* the shed to add some weight?
tent pegs. Then, either fence wire or wire rope over the top.
I've seen this done on static caravans in windy clifftop sites so it must be effective.
HTH
Why must it be effective, maybe you've only seen the caravans that haven't blown away.
That thought had crossed my mind but they would be cold under foot, and trap the rain that inevitably gets driven inside by the high winds. It wasn't really raining yesterday morning and there was quite a puddle on the floor.
I guess they could be lifted on battens for ventilation but you starting to loose head room. Oh and the frames that make up the sides rest on the floor so would have to be fixed firmly with something that wouldn't pull out or through and you've only fixed the bottom rail I could see the verticals being ripped off the rails, they are only nailed through into the end grain.
No access along one side so the pull would be vertical, I suspect enough to pull a simple "tent peg" out. Once it started to move it wouldn't take long to be pulled even further out. Being out trying to work in an F7 or above is not my idea of fun even without rain. Hence the query about how good, or not, spiral or disc type ground anchors are.
My current idea is for a ground anchor at each corner connected directly to both frame corner pieces with an eye bolt and turnbuckle.
Four posts/pegs driven a couple of feet into the ground, one at each corner. Use whatever you have handy - 4x2s, angle iron etc. Secure these anchors to the shed's corner timbers.
Aldi have some "ground screws" which might be useful - or, why can't you just excavate a small hole, shove a piece of steel in (or even a timber post), and fill it up with concrete, & fasten to the shed with a coach bolt?
I had problems with my shed in our side passage "wondering up and down" in strong winds, though not blown over, despite it being full of cr*p. Anyway I placed two long 4x4 fence posts in the ground about 2-3ft deep, set in morter and bolted the shed to the posts. Shed hasn't moved since. Mind you everything else still blows up and down the side passage. One day couldn't get in via the gate as all the garden furniture and kids toys had been blown down the passage and piled up behind the gate.
Previous post (quoted) has a good idea. Get four 3m 4" square posts o round ones. mark positions on the ground, move shed out of the way hammer them in 3 - 4 feet, slide shed back into position your shed wil now be anchored by the posts. wire or transit van seat belts slung ove the roof and nailed to the posts for extra security.
Failing that idea, get some iron rods 3m long, bend them into a "n shape and hammer them into the ground going through the floor of th shed so each rod passes either side of a floor joist. Would probabl be better to hammer them in at an angle the best angle would be so th ends in the ground are closer to the centre line of the shed, and th tops are closer to the shed walls, however, it would be impossible t do this satisfactorily without removing the walls first. but I woul have a go at a lesser angle
-- wig
Hence
I had something similar in January; one spiral ground anchor pulled right out, admittedly a larger structure (12 * 18 horse "field shelter" with an open front. The other corner was anchored to an open loop of half inch rebar into concrete which it straightened out. On doing the sums to British Standard afterwards (horses, stable doors) I discovered that I had about a 3 ton vertical lifting force for the 20 year gale. Because I *really* don't want this to happen again (there were two shetlands shut in the floorless field shelter at the time) I've put a 12 inch by 12 inch concrete filled trench all round, which is about 3 tons. This has weldmesh in it and rebar loops attached to about 8 double loops of galvanised 5 mm wire rope, on turnbuckles, tied in to the roof trusses. That's OTT for you, but don't underrate the force! I like the idea of a concrete slab floor but I would worry about the walls and roof leaving the floor behind.
I'm not, I've seen what the wind can do up here. We've got used to it but more often than not vistors make comment about the wind and the trees/shrubs tharshing about outside the window and we haven't even noticed. If it's below 15mph sustained it's not windy... Half noticed windy is 25mph, windy is above 30mph and above. It's not been so windy in recent years, when we first moved up 24hrs+ of F8 Gale (40mph+ sustained) was fairly common, it's nice when it stops the noise drowns out the telly and you have to speak up over it...
This is the second time in five year the shed has suffered badly from the wind. 5 years ago the roof was taken off, two sheets of 8x6 OSB and bracings landed across the road a good 40' away and over a 6' high wall.
I think that would be very likely. B-)
I'm not convinced that simple posts will hold it down, certainly stop stop it moving along the bearers though. There where two bits of 2" angle iron driven into the ground on two corners, these have been pushed a good 30 degrees from the vertical over the last few years. I haven't pulled 'em out yet to see how long they are but I rested the full weight of one of the larger side panels on one of then when dismantling the wreck and it didn't move. I don't think they are in just 6"...
The direct fixing of a "ground anchor" to the frame work appeals though, rather than eye bolts and turn buckles etc. Driving a 4x4 post in might be fun, the ground is quite stony and I'm not sure how deep the soil is around the shed either.
Thanks for the ideas, something to go on.
I remember 40 years ago when I first got a car, and was travelling in your neck of the woods, stopping (as it happened in a sheltered spot) to check why the car seemed to have lost power as I couldn't get much past 30mph. When I resumed and turned the next corner I realised the true cause.
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