Advice on base for Garden Shed

Cmar-Ireland

Hi Folks,

I've decided to go for a wooden garden shed, 16'x10'
It's a Boyne Garden Shed, the heavy duty one built with 22mm shiplap pressure treated barrel board and a box profile metal roof.

I was going to install it on a one block high wall, built on a concrete slab.
Reason for this is to get a bit of extra height and to have a concrete floor instead of the usual timber one.

For the slab, what would be a good way to build it?

I was thinking of getting a 6" solid slab poured over compacted hardcore. Would this be enough for a motorbike, lawnmower, tools etc etc?

The shed is 16'x10' but the slab would be 18'x12' so I could keep it out from the garden wall and have a lip all around. Would 18x12 be too big for a single pour? What would I need to do to allow one pour?

Thanks

the GALL

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I've decided to go for a wooden garden shed, 16'x10'
It's a Boyne Garden Shed, the heavy duty one built with 22mm shiplap pressure treated barrel board and a box profile metal roof.

I was going to install it on a one block high wall, built on a concrete slab.
Reason for this is to get a bit of extra height and to have a concrete floor instead of the usual timber one.

For the slab, what would be a good way to build it?

I was thinking of getting a 6" solid slab poured over compacted hardcore. Would this be enough for a motorbike, lawnmower, tools etc etc?

The shed is 16'x10' but the slab would be 18'x12' so I could keep it out from the garden wall and have a lip all around. Would 18x12 be too big for a single pour? What would I need to do to allow one pour?

Thanks

No way should your pad be bigger, this could cause water to flow into the shed. The pad should be higher than the grass by a couple of inches. If it's built to the corrct dimensions ask the shed guys to put a skirt on the bottom( 1 board high) this will hide the pad,as for the door you may need some kind of ramp. Put some steel mesh into the floor and it will never crack
compacted hardcore, blinded off ,then steel raised off the hardcore ,then concrete, that would be the right way

Hotblack Desiato

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

I was thinking of getting a 6" solid slab poured over compacted hardcore. Would this be enough for a motorbike, lawnmower, tools etc etc?

Sure - there are houses built on less!

Seeing as though you have a motorbike, take the opportunity to get a couple of good ground anchors cemented in. (More than one, to allow for fleet expansion! and allow you to move stuff around in the shed if you want to.) Done right, they are a lot stronger than any bolt-in anchor. You may want to make the concrete thicker (deeper) at the anchor points. Best to buy them first and then study the instructions before you start the shed foundations etc. I can't recommend anything here, as my shed was here when I bought the house, so will have to get bolt-in anchors.

ircoha

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I've decided to go for a wooden garden shed, 16'x10'
It's a Boyne Garden Shed, the heavy duty one built with 22mm shiplap pressure treated barrel board and a box profile metal roof.

I was going to install it on a one block high wall, built on a concrete slab.
Reason for this is to get a bit of extra height and to have a concrete floor instead of the usual timber one.

For the slab, what would be a good way to build it?

I was thinking of getting a 6" solid slab poured over compacted hardcore. Would this be enough for a motorbike, lawnmower, tools etc etc?

The shed is 16'x10' but the slab would be 18'x12' so I could keep it out from the garden wall and have a lip all around. Would 18x12 be too big for a single pour? What would I need to do to allow one pour?

Thanks

16 by 10 by 0.5 feet is 80 cubic feet of concrete
or 3 cubic metres or about 7 tonnes of ready mix

so u need lots of manpower:)

A 10 foot screed is a wide screed so depending on what labour you have available and the skill level thereof it might be a bit ambitious in one go.

Dont forget to lay all the services before u put down the slab:
power/water/ alarm/ Cat 6 perhaps

Cmar-Ireland

Thanks for the advice folks.

I was going to make the pad bigger, and sit the shed on top of a one block high wall (built on the pad). Once the block wall is built, I was thinking of putting an extra inch or two of concrete inside the walls so the finished floor of the shed would be a bit higher than the pad.
This should prevent any water ingress and there would be a ramp at the door so as not to have a step.
Would this be overkill or a good way to do it?

Ninja900, I used to have jetskis a few years ago. I got a mate to make up two stainless steel "U" tubes, about 14" deep. I buried these in the floor of the garage of the parents place to secure the 'skis.
I'll be doing something similar in the new shed

The only service will be electricty. So I'll be running some armoured cable in some conduit before pouring the slab.

prospect

All sounds good to me,

I'd also consider a DPC, and paint the floor before you fill the shed.

And, I'd run 2x2" pipes to one corner of the shed with a fish wire in it. So you are covered in case you ever need to run any other services in or out of the shed, like water in and sink drain out.