A shed is a great addition to your back garden, whether you need it for storing your tools and equipment or you have a more practical use for it - such as building things for your home or carrying out repairs. A shed has multiple uses.
However, to make sure your shed suits your needs, whatever they might be, it's important to build a well-constructed concrete base that will ensure longevity and durability.
Building The Shed Base
We've compiled a list of things you need to consider when placing and constructing your garden shed base, these include:
1) Location, location, location.
The location of your shed, like any construct, is important. For instance - placing a shed too close to walls, fences or trees can cause problems. Tree roots can affect your shed's structure and a narrow gap between a shed and wall or fence will not only make applying wood treatment difficult but is also likely to cause accessibility problems! Which takes us on to...
2) Accessibility
What are you using the shed for? For instance - you may require water and electricity which can affect where you locate your shed. Equally - carrying heavy equipment and tools in and out of the shed will also inevitably have an affect.
3) Sub Base Construction
Pouring concrete can't be carried out until you've adequately prepared the ground. You should:
- Scrape the top layer of soft soil and vegetation to at least a 3 inch depth
- Build a wooden framework that runs the perimeter of the shed base dimensions
- The framework should sit 3 inches above garden level and fit firmly together
- Lay approximately 3 inches of firmly compacted hardcore (brick rubble will also work)
- Optionally you can also add compacted sand if it's appropriate
4) Pouring & Preparing The Concrete
Pour approximately 3 inches of concrete over the sub base - talking to the experts at Readymix2Go will happily help you establish what kind of concrete you need for your build.
You can remove any air pockets from the concrete by pushing a shovel blade up and down before spreading it with a rake. A tamping board can help pack down he surface and removes any excess concrete to ensure it's level.
To set the concrete appropriately and prevent cracking we recommend covering the finished shed base with a raised polythene sheet. Generally you can walk on the base after three days and remove the framework after 5, however, we typically advise a concrete curing time of 28 days for it to achieve the necessary compressive strength.