A friend of mine offered to buid me a storage shed if I got all the materials and poured a concrete slab. I have 3 problems:
1) My child bride wants to see what it will look like before anything starts. My house is a dark red brick and I need to locate both plans and photos of available material.
2) I naver never poured concrete. All I do know is that the county requires footers to be 1' deep. Where can I find instructions on pouring concrete.
3) I will have to use bags of concrete mix because you cannot get a truck into the back of my yard.
if you need just a small amount bags are great, but get a larger shed and the bags costs will kill you.
so please tell us more about your plans!
In general a bigger shed is always best, since i will fill up fast:(
A good experiment take EVERYTHING your planning on putting in shed together, then put it all in a similiar space like part of garage, leave room for door!
around here even larger sheds can be built on a floating slab with no footer needed, my 16 by 20 has no footer.
some people build wood sheds with treated wood floors, not for me but worth checking out.
In addition there are shed companies that build nice affordable sheds in a day. In the fall they sometimes run sales....
Many cut and build assemblies in their shop and just assemble the pieces in your yard. Done with jigging and made to be moved they tend to be very strong.
Go BIG or you will rember my warnings when your shed is JAMMED:(
you can check out places that sell sheds and kits so your bride can select on she likes. home depot and lowes are good starter places. take a look at neighbors sheds too.
homes everywhere are overflowing with junk:(
I have the slab poured for a 14 by 14 foot addition to my 16 by 20 shed.
Visit your local DIY super store and look at the books. One or more will have sheds and plans along with photos. Make sure the one she picks is acceptable to your neighbor.
See above. They will have books on the subject.
Rethink that. The truck can park out front and either pump the concrete in or it can be brought in using wheelbarrows. I suggest that you line up a few friends to help you with this one. Putting in a concrete pad is a lot more work than you think and it has to be completed in a short time.
The slab would be a good first concrete project. Errors should not result in too much damage.
Note, check with your local building authorities before proceeding. Get all the details about where you can put it, what it may look like construction requirements the foundation requirements etc.
I recently had a large sunroom (480 sq. ft.) added to the backof my house, and the workers did just as you suggested -- they left the concrete truck in the driveway and brought the mixed concrete around in wheelbarrows. They laid a path of plywood to support the weight of the wheelbarrows as they pushed them. That protected the yard and probably made it easier to push all that weight.
Just as you said, I could see that it was a *lot* of work, and there were several workers on the project. The finished product (eventually, scored and stained, then sealed with epoxy sealer) is beautiful.
Cut off your balls. Put them in a mayonnaise jar. Give them to her, and ask her to let you use them whenever you want to make a decision.
Uh, at the county? At the library? By hiring someone competent?
You can either helicopter it in, wheel it in with wheelbarrows, or do it in sack which will give you a poor poor poor poor inferior job that will not last long. How do you think they got all that concrete in places you couldn't get a truck? Yes, helicopters or wheelbarrows or pumps.
it kinda depends on the size, a 6 by 6 foot shed is more economical but still a lot of work by the sack. much bigger than that and it just gets too expensive.
compare a yard of concrete by truck or by sack.
sack cost many times more.
but trucks have a minimum, around here 5 yrds so you make the sl;ab thicker or find a neighbor who needs a small job too.
leave enough time to lay and finish all of it, need 2 crews!
but since you & your friend are building it, it can look like anything you want
12" footing is way over kill for a storage shed, a slab on grade (dirt) is more than adequate for a simple storage shed.
The loads involved will be about what a typical sidewalk sees. Here is a WAG ....12' x 14' slab (I figured on a 10 x 12 shed) I'd go with ~4" thick , that's just about 2 yds of concrete (~$250). I'd use wire fabric or #3's @18" on center both ways (~$75)
The absolute most concrete I would sack mix would be a few cubic feet. Any more than 1/4 yd & I'd get a ready mix truck & a pumper or a towable trailer of ready mix.
Pouring concrete isn't learned from a book, you can get a general idea & you can improve your techniques by study (once you know the basics) .
Can you learn to drive or play tennis from a book?
You need experience, I've done some flat work, my last personal "in the mud" experience was about 10 years ago. Now I just watch, make sure the crew has what they need, supply the $'s & beer at the end of the day.
Everyone is happy & I can stand up & walk the next day :)
Placing concrete can be easy & quick or it can be a nightmare. The mud is very unforgiving of rookie mistakes & it doesn't wait for anyone.
To get concrete from the truck (or trailer) to your site......concrete pumper or two guys with wheel barrows. You're talking about ~15 wheel barrow loads (~250 lbs ) per yd of concrete (NOT the two guys doing the placing & finishing)
I unloaded a truck about 35 years ago by wheel barrow. We moved the stuff about 100', it was before the days of cheap available pumps (kids were cheaper for small jobs). A friend & I were hired for our strength & speed (not skill) It took about 50 loads each to unload the truck. We RAN our a$$es off & only missed the standy allowance by a little......my first & last experience unloading a truck by hand......there's a lesson here :)
My suggestion, if you're sold on DIY, is to watch (or help) other people dong similar work, you'll learn a lot after a few times of watching & helping.
My better suggestion is, if you don't want to devleop this skill, to hire a finisher & his helper. You & your friend could be the wheel barrow guys (or get a pump)
Then you can more or less relax, watch & learn.
Have the finisher stop by & approve your forms / setup the day before the pour.
If it is of any useful size, you will need ready mix concrete delivered, as it will start setting while you are still mixing. You do not need to get the truck all the way into the yard. If the building is very big, get a pumper truck to move the concrete, otherwise rent a bunch of wheelbarrows and get a bunch of friends to wheel it in while you rake it level prior to towelling smooth. Or if this is too much get a concrete pouring company to put it in for you.
Just to add another perspective on what others have suggested. Have you calculated the amount of concrete you will need for say, a 12 x 12 shed? You will have to haul about 7000 pounds of material. Two ways to do this. You can have a reddi-mix truck dump it into your wheelbarrow and take it to the slab. Or, you can pick it up at the supplier and load your car/truck. From there, you unload and place it near the mixer. Then, you pick it up again and put it into the mixer. After mixing, you dump it into the slab forms. Tough work. How strong is your back?
No question, get a truck and a pump. The pump is about $100. This is a good time to consider a sidewalk to the shed and any other concrete you might want. Always have a spot for some extra because you want to order a little more than you think you need, in case you figure wrong.
Here's a problem. I had seven roofers come out. The first six all said to was a roof-over job because none of the went up on the roof. They all fit into the range of 26 to 30 squares when I knew the roof was 24 squares. And they all quoted me the same price. The seventh guy walked and measured the roof and came in
10% less.
Then I needed concrete refinishing on my front walkway. Nobody came out! Job was too small. One guy said to me the smallest job we do is $5,000. So I having a patio company tear it out and brick it in. But they don't pour concrete.
Certainly a concrete truck pumping it 60' works for me. I wouldn't mind paying a contractor to do it if I could find one. I live in Ellicott City, MD.
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