Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Design and Construction => Topic started by: summer-sun on March 18, 2008, 21:14
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I'm quite excited after 2 years i'm finally getting a shed on my allotment.
I've been on the scavenge and found one! BUT..............what is the best material to stand it on? i've been told slabs, wooden beems, and even direct onto the soil????(not sure about that one!
As its going to be a girly affair Just me and my dear mum, the only male in sight will be my 2 year old appentice! any tips wise tips on this matter would be greatly apprichated :D :D :D
No more loading up the car with tools and all the extras!! :D :D
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wow a shed :D
I think mine went on hard wood rails and I know our lotty group's shed went on sleepers but they weighed a tonne and had to be brought and laid by a team of hunks :D
I think slabs would be good, laid on a bed of sand cos don't know if you're allowed mortar - we're not. In hindsight though I'd think * that :D
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8) summer-sun
Quick and easy way would be to level and tamp down the area your sitting it on, and lay down tanalized fence posts about 15" -18" apart, I'd then tack some thick plastic or DPM to the top edge of the posts and put your shed straight onto that, if you wish you could put down a weed membrane first thin layer of gravel and then the posts.
Tanalized timber should last years even in direct contact with the ground.
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that dpm makes good brassica collars too 8)
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I think i need to find my self some hunky men to come and do it for us!!
(lovely men but not really hunks at my allotment, maybe if i were a few years older!!) :wink: :D
Sorry but what is DPM?? Or should i really know!!
:oops:
Good advice, i'll have a think, and a few trips to good old B&Q!
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DPM = damp proof membrane get it from a builders merchants or diy shed :D
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I think i need to find my self some hunky men to come and do it for us!!
(lovely men but not really hunks at my allotment, maybe if i were a few years older!!) :wink: :D
Sorry but what is DPM?? Or should i really know!!
:oops:
Good advice, i'll have a think, and a few trips to good old B&Q!
DPM = Damp Proof Membrane (plastic sheet!) If you want be proper it's a thick plastic called builders membrane or builders plastic.
Don't give in to getting others to do it. Have a go and then you'll be so proud and satisfied !!
Use something like 75x50 timbers to make it rock solid. You can level them up with bricks, slate, anything that won't crumble or collapse.
Or a row of slabs at front and back with the timbers resting at each end.
Good luck
Rob
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Thanks for that!
I will give it ago, and if its still standing by night fall i'll take a few pics and show it off!
sorry one other thing? With all the wind we have had in the past few weeks a shed acctually blew over, i was told he needed iron stakes to hold it down, is this the general rule of thumb or is there any thing else i could use? :?: :?
Summer
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Keep somthing B***y heavy in it is my advice.
You could screw down through the floor into the timber bearers but it's not always easy to find them and you'll puncture your plastic if you use it.
I've got enough junk to supply a small planet in mine so it's not an issue,
If you can keep something like a few bags of compost and/or a load of tools. As long as it adds up to more than a little bit you should be OK.
Depends how exposed it is.
If it does blow over, it prob hasn't got anything much in it so should be recoverable.
Rob
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I just trod the earth down under mine (giving the game away a bit here) and plonked the cheapest B&Q slabs on top. They were still quite heavy but handleable in my wheelbarrow.
I got them nearly level and erected the shed (cheapest B&Q) on top with the help of my friend who is an engineer but puzzingly impractical.
I reinforced the floor with some treated timber (quite cheap) the ones they give you are laughably small. And I built pallet shelves inside, which braces it .
My neighbour's one did blow over last year but I don't think she had much in it. Mine is wired to the adjoining fence.
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My shed is on bashed down earth with a layer of gravel under the bearers to ensure no rising damp. It's worked brilliantly and was so easy to do.
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff221/Aunt__Sally/Shedbarers.jpg)
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mine looks like that but with DMP covering the wood bearers under the shed and it's on black sheet mulch to keep weeds at bay (not sure that was really needed though) :D
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....... my friend who is an engineer but puzzingly impractical.
Ain't no puzzle !!
I've worked with engineers all my life and very few could work anything practical out. Nice people, just a bit theorectical.
Nice work Aunt Sally. Very neat and tidy. :)
Rob
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I had a similar problem when I got my shed (from freecycle). No hunks around to help me get a base ready. So I just got some sand and a few paving slabs (freecycle) laid it all down and hey presto. It's all still level and intact, even after the gales of last week.
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Well done Calou. Nice to hear of sisters doin' it for themselves !
..all together now....
# standing on their own two feet #
etc
Sorry. got carried away. :oops:
ps. I grew up in Hanworth, not far from you. I miss the sound of passing 747's. <sigh>
Rob
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guy on my lottie is using pallets to stand his shed on...;)