steve b
Established Member
Heres a log of my 8'x12'shed build. Initially the plan was to get the cheapest shed i could bare as a temporary store for some bits and bobs, but in the end I opted to do a proper job to make my shed more useful and with a view of using it as a workshop once I have kitted it out a bit. Its my first real outdoor project and hopefully will give me space for many more. Im already starting to plan how im going to build a bench in it.
First things first, after choosing which size shed and where to buy one, I had to prepare the area. Again the initial Idea was to put it on to the block paving already laid in the area.
The block paving had two square flower beds on the far side, one of which had a huge bush growing in it, and the other nothing grows because there isnt any light. Upon cutting the bush down and moving some other obstacles in the way, it became obvious that the paving wasnt level enough to lay a shed, unless it was a quick and shoddy job. I had two options, re lay the paving level or create a level base with something else. I opted for the latter as I didnt have time to re lay the paving and the sub base was really unlevel too which means it probably would have sank again anyway in 10cm of sand.
Long story short, I decided to lay the shed on a wooden frame supported by concrete slabs directly cemented to the sub base, although the sub base was laid poorly it is now very solid having been laid for a long time and its pretty thick so im not worried it will move any more.
Here is a quick mock up in sketchup as to what i was looking at doing
With some further research on the web, I decided to use 2x6 treated wood, and to reduce the number of pavers, with 2x6 I could span 9 feet without a support which meant that all I actually needed was 6 supports, one in each corner and one on each 12' length, the joists would be at 16" centres. I could have put more pavers down but again I was running out of time on shed delivery and its worked out very solid
here is an image of what was left after pulling out the bush / tree
and the following image is the sub base with the sand stripped off, you can see how solid it is, its almost like concrete
as I stripped off the sand, I found more and more lose stones, so i threw these in to the holes, then I used a sledge hammer to set them into the soil and then i firmly tapped the whole mass over and over until it went solid, possibly not as solid as using a wacker, but much much more solid than just leaving them alone, hopefully it wont move too much with the lead spread on it
As I was cleaning up the soil from the holes and putting in the stone, the hole inspector paid a visit to make sure everything was progressing smoothly, he only moved a couple of stones into better positions, or at least i think thats what he was doing. very helpful
the finished holes that evening, nearly killed me tamping them down
First thing next morning I set the first slab and leveled it, I then used a bunyip water level to set the rest of the slabs to the correct height, got some thin rebar from b and q that works great as pegs
Then in the dark it was time to build the frame
by morning we had this
and then the shed arrived
Will post further pictures as I add to the shed, looking forward to making something of it and using it in futre! This weekends job will be tidying up the back garden so make it look less like a bomb site, will also be relaying pavers around the edges to neaten everything up.
would have liked to put in insulation under the shed but didn't have time or money in fact, and i would have liked to have the concrete blocks higher than the pavers, but the drops were just too far on the other side i would have been building walls. Other than that though, I think I did a pretty good job for my frst out door project. (note to self for next time, get a proper plug in power drill, my put the shelves up batterey makita wasn't really up for the job of driving the base screws home)
couple of further questions
should I screw the shed to the base?
Ive been looking at insulation with a hundred different ideas. Alot of which are for custom builders. I thought i cheap option may be to chicken wire the inside perhaps leaving an air gap to either the inside or outside walls, and fill the wire with rockwall or loft instulation, then to board over the walls with osb or playwood. I am trying to keep costs to a minimum at the moment. do you think that would be cheap enought and do a good enough job?
First things first, after choosing which size shed and where to buy one, I had to prepare the area. Again the initial Idea was to put it on to the block paving already laid in the area.
The block paving had two square flower beds on the far side, one of which had a huge bush growing in it, and the other nothing grows because there isnt any light. Upon cutting the bush down and moving some other obstacles in the way, it became obvious that the paving wasnt level enough to lay a shed, unless it was a quick and shoddy job. I had two options, re lay the paving level or create a level base with something else. I opted for the latter as I didnt have time to re lay the paving and the sub base was really unlevel too which means it probably would have sank again anyway in 10cm of sand.
Long story short, I decided to lay the shed on a wooden frame supported by concrete slabs directly cemented to the sub base, although the sub base was laid poorly it is now very solid having been laid for a long time and its pretty thick so im not worried it will move any more.
Here is a quick mock up in sketchup as to what i was looking at doing
With some further research on the web, I decided to use 2x6 treated wood, and to reduce the number of pavers, with 2x6 I could span 9 feet without a support which meant that all I actually needed was 6 supports, one in each corner and one on each 12' length, the joists would be at 16" centres. I could have put more pavers down but again I was running out of time on shed delivery and its worked out very solid
here is an image of what was left after pulling out the bush / tree
and the following image is the sub base with the sand stripped off, you can see how solid it is, its almost like concrete
as I stripped off the sand, I found more and more lose stones, so i threw these in to the holes, then I used a sledge hammer to set them into the soil and then i firmly tapped the whole mass over and over until it went solid, possibly not as solid as using a wacker, but much much more solid than just leaving them alone, hopefully it wont move too much with the lead spread on it
As I was cleaning up the soil from the holes and putting in the stone, the hole inspector paid a visit to make sure everything was progressing smoothly, he only moved a couple of stones into better positions, or at least i think thats what he was doing. very helpful
the finished holes that evening, nearly killed me tamping them down
First thing next morning I set the first slab and leveled it, I then used a bunyip water level to set the rest of the slabs to the correct height, got some thin rebar from b and q that works great as pegs
Then in the dark it was time to build the frame
by morning we had this
and then the shed arrived
Will post further pictures as I add to the shed, looking forward to making something of it and using it in futre! This weekends job will be tidying up the back garden so make it look less like a bomb site, will also be relaying pavers around the edges to neaten everything up.
would have liked to put in insulation under the shed but didn't have time or money in fact, and i would have liked to have the concrete blocks higher than the pavers, but the drops were just too far on the other side i would have been building walls. Other than that though, I think I did a pretty good job for my frst out door project. (note to self for next time, get a proper plug in power drill, my put the shelves up batterey makita wasn't really up for the job of driving the base screws home)
couple of further questions
should I screw the shed to the base?
Ive been looking at insulation with a hundred different ideas. Alot of which are for custom builders. I thought i cheap option may be to chicken wire the inside perhaps leaving an air gap to either the inside or outside walls, and fill the wire with rockwall or loft instulation, then to board over the walls with osb or playwood. I am trying to keep costs to a minimum at the moment. do you think that would be cheap enought and do a good enough job?
