[landy_andy]

Hi all

I have been advised that me new (yet to arrive) shed needs to have 100mm of concrete down to support the weight... reading the above that seems maybe excessive now???

[GrannieAnnie]

Our 14x5 brooder shed had shingle with weed suppresant underneath.  It never rotted or had any nasty little rodents underneath it.

The good thing about that was that if the ground wasn't quite level, a little jiggle around with the shed soon levelled it up.

Concrete isn't necessary.  Brian has used 3x3 and 4x4 wooden posts underneath before, shouldn't have any sagging as long as the posts are reasonably close together.  About 2ft apart, maybe a little more.

Oh, and my 7x7ft chicken house was stood on top of 4 pallets that kept it off the ground, another idea maybe?

[landy_andy]

shingle?  sounds like a cheaperb alternative - £300 quoted from a builder for the base, I'll ask the shed comapny tmw if that will be ok.  I guess I will still need to dig down a touch to fill with shingle?

[Welsh Merf]

I don't know about your allotment rules, but ours won't let us put down concrete.

Anyway, depending on the physical size of the shed, I would suggest a few solid concrete blocks bedded into the ground, with wooden beams across the top of them to support the floor-loading of the shed. It needs to have air circulating around it, which stops it from rotting.

[GrannieAnnie]

shingle?  sounds like a cheaperb alternative - £300 quoted from a builder for the base, I'll ask the shed comapny tmw if that will be ok.  I guess I will still need to dig down a touch to fill with shingle?

Brian didn't dig down at all because of where the shed was, but I did see a photo on here once that the person put down 4 bits of wood, a bit longer and wider than the shed, like a low raised bed frame,, then put the shingle inside that.  Stops the shingle wandering around?

The brooder shed has gone now, but the shingle area is still there and at the moment has 16 potted tomato plants on it.  If weeds grow there, they are so easy to pull out, as they are just growing in the shingle and not in soil.

[GrannieAnnie]

Or.......

YPri5N04nKk

[noshed]

How big is your shed? My 6x4 is on some cheap paving slabs, although I did but some heftier beams to perch it on than B&Q provided.
Our big lotty shed is on concrete - not that expensive if you buy sand and cement from a builders' merchant. Just knock up a wooden frame to contain it and make sure it's level....

[TerryB]

Andy what is your shed constructed of.
Ours is sheet metal and does not have a floor.
Was advise to put it on a 100mm concrete base as you say, so just leveled the ground, a layer of sand and the a double layer of 50mm concrete slabs with a heavy plastic sheet between the slabs to stop damp raising.

[angelavdavis]

You can build a frame with wood and mix dry cement into gravel.  Use that over the top of weed suppressant, tampering it down and levelling.  The dampness in the air/soil will eventually set the base. 

[allot2learn]

Sit it on four concrete fence posts laid down. They'll never rot.

[bainsk8]

I used a double layer of paving slabs, just make sure the layer on top over lay the joining edges of the ones underneath to help spread the load. This makes for an extremely sound base.

The best thing is slabs very often come up on Freecycle and would recommend you trying there for some.

[Annen]

Or.......

YPri5N04nKk

Loved that video!  They make it look so easy,  I have a struggle just hammering a nail in straight.