Shed base

[micky1882]

I'm in the process of getting a 7ftx5ft shed and was wondering what people thought of a railway sleeper base? The shed will only be used to store general garden things and a bit of homebrew so I'm thinking it doesn't need to be anything to heavy duty? Ive been quoted £250 for a concrete base but that's miles out of my price range! That's why I'm thinking the sleeper route as a mate of mine can get them quite cheap, any thoughts?

 

[pittsy]

If your mate can get enough to make a solid base then use em ( to stop mice and rats ) or just fill in gaps with soil and whack it down . Otherwise 2 bags of cement and a ton of concreting sand should only cost around £50 or less plus a tenner for delivery and of course you've got to mix it ( 1 wheel barrow, a shovel and a Saturday morning is what i did ) .

 

[Paddye]

whichever route you take put plastic down underneath otherwise damp will come up through the floor. I remember as a kid my dad left a drum or tar in the barn on a floor without a waterproof membrane underneath, when he went to lift in the following year the top 98% of the barrel came with him but the bottom and the tar stayed where it was.

 

[grandelf]

might be even easier to sand and flag?

saying that I have the reverse problem

the roof is rotten on my shed....

£300+ for someone to do it!

 

[Dave1970]

might be even easier to sand and flag?

saying that I have the reverse problem

the roof is rotten on my shed....

£300+ for someone to do it!

That's what we did, we had a stack of big 3'x2' paving slabs and just levelled the ground and put builders sand down - a membrane on top of the sand and under the slabs stops it washing out, keeps the weeds out of the cracks and still allows drainage

 

[danb]

I have both my sheds laid on concrete posts. Would cost around £50 to do yours. Works very well stops damp coming up through the floor. My brewshed takes all the I/c water etc behind in a soakaway and hasn't budged at all. Very sturdy.

 

[micky1882]

Are the slabs ok just to rest on the sand then or do they need cementing in?

 

[Dave1970]

Are the slabs ok just to rest on the sand then or do they need cementing in?

Ours just rest on the sand. We've done a kids playhouse and a shed like this. The playhouse has been there for about 6 years and no sign of any movement in the slabs yet. The shed's only been there 2 or 3 years - again no problems yet. I think the membrane (the anti weed stuff that lets water through) has probably helped to stop water washing down the cracks and moving the sand, also the big 2' x 3' slabs would be more stable than smaller ones.
For the shed I dug an aprox 6" wide and 6" deep trench along the front of the slabs and filled it with concrete. I then laid a course of block paving bricks on top of this and level with the slabs so there's like a retaining wall along the front of the slabs where the heavy footfall is along the front of the shed (I can post a photo later if that description's not clear but at work now)

I have both my sheds laid on concrete posts. Would cost around £50 to do yours. Works very well stops damp coming up through the floor. My brewshed takes all the I/c water etc behind in a soakaway and hasn't budged at all. Very sturdy.

That reminds me, we did that at our last house, 4 concrete fence posts, that worked well too!

 

[danb]

That's how we do it for customers, for very little cost posts are great if not wanting slabs or a concrete slab. A lot easier to move if ever want to aswell.