Shed base help

[jo.walls]

Hi, Ive just ordered a shed (3m by 3m) and so need to lay a base for it. I live in a little terraced house with no rear access so everything has to come through the house.

I've a flat lawn so have removed a little over 3m by 3m of turf. I had to move a flowerbed so the level of the base is a little higher than the surrounding lawn.

I saw 25 paving slabs (60cm by 60cm) for a quid each so I bought them all - they are heavy duty slabs.

I was planning on leveling the soil, laying some landscaping net to stop weeds and the like, then laying sand and then laying the slabs on top of the sand. I was going to hire a compacting tool to try to stop sinking etc.

So to the question, should I lower the base so it is beneath the surface of the lawn so that the slabs are a little proud of it for the final product? I've got loads of pebbles so how about using pebbles instead of sand and laying the slabs on them? the garden is pretty well drained.

Once Id put the slabs down I was going to put some 50mm by 75mm bearers across them to take the weight of the shed.....

Help me please!!! cant decide what to do.

[Phil L]

This should be the end goal, you don't want water inside the shed, or the bottom of it resting in water.

If you are laying them where lawn has been then you don't need a compacting machine, the lawn hasn't sunk in ??? years so why should it sink now? - just scrape off the loose soil down to a firm base and level with sand, then sprinkle a bag of cement over it and rake it in, making a weakish sand/cement bed, lay your slabs on this.

You don't need a weed embrane because:1) they don't work, and 2) weeds won't grow where there is no sunlight.

don't use pebbles under slabs, they don't hold still for any length of time. Also the higher you can get it above the lawn, the better, preferably a good four inches (this is to avoid leaf litter and/or snow piling up against the sides or back and causing rotting of the timbers)

Some timbers underneath will allow air circulation yes.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Does the shed have its own floor?

I'd drive 8x 2x2x15" square stakes into the ground, put a 2x2 batens bolted to the stakes and the shed placed on this platform then bolted to the platform. This scenario be raised above the lawn about 3" to 4" and no need for any slabs or groundwork and damp.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Sorry, 3x2 stakes.

[Phil L]

Good idea except for the timbers being way too small, 2X2 in the ground will rot inside 18 months, a more efficient way would be to use concrete fence posts laid flat on the ground (if the op hadn't already purchased flags) and lay the shed on this....he would have an instant 4 inch step up and it would never rot....the shed would probably have to be affixed to the posts somehow though, probably drilled/plugged and screwed.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

I was looking for the post idea of insulating it from wood,but cant remember the name? what they do is ...after sinking the post into the ground a plastic/galvanised covering fits over the post and the shed is bolted to these items?

Yes 2x2 is a bit weak. :-)

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

How about digging 6 or 8 holes 15" to 18" deep in the ground and cutting the slabs into four pieces and dropping them pieces into the ground in each hole so it raises the shed above the ground by a couple of inches?