Shed base tips

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mrk

mrk

mrk

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I've bought a big metal shed, just under 10ft by 10ft. It is going on grass so the base needs to be well sorted!

I have done some research and come up with the following after speaking to garden centres etc:

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Items:
10ft x 10ft Base Kit (includes panels + membrane):
https://www.thegardenrange.co.uk/p/garden-base/shed-base/shed-base-kit-10ft-x-10ft
£199.75

MOT Type 1 sub-base stones:
5x https://www.wickes.co.uk/Tarmac-Granular-Sub-Base-Mot-1-Jumbo-Bag/p/131895
(Each bag is approx. 800KG, 4000KG is needed)
£313.50

Gravel to fill the base kit panels, optional:
3x https://www.wickes.co.uk/Tarmac-10mm-Gravel-Pea-Shingle---Major-Bag/p/131882
£15.75

Concrete slabs:
48x https://www.wickes.co.uk/Marshalls-Richmond-Smooth-Natural-Paving-Slab-450-x-450-x-32-mm/p/144650
£182.40

Total: £711.40 before discounts
Discounts: 7% Wickes via gift card discount + 0.85% cashback via TopCashback
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My question is, would people do anything different here? The base kit listed first is basically a sure go, everything else is swappable I guess if the effectiveness of the replacement is almost as good but the cost can be reduced even further. The shed is mostly being used to store the usual garden stuff and car care stuff/bikes.

Cheers!
 
The shed itself has no floor, so I'd be placing flooring on it either way, I figured the best way would be to use concrete slabs and then fix the shed to the slabs. The alternative is wood panels instead I guess? Or do you mean just fix the shed onto the plastic base, then lay the flooring on the inside as I was planning on anyway with a liner or similar suitable for shed use?

The 4000KG was calculated with an aggregate calculator and confirmed by the garden centre, the stuff weighs a lot and once spread out, racks up I was told. They recommended 150mm for the type 1 depth!
 
alexakasloth said:
Looks good!
I think you could save a few pounds by buying the grids from ecodeck on eBay and membrane from Screwfix/Wickes etc

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GRAVEL-G...p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

£50 for 20 grids / 5sqm

Weed membrane shouldn't be more than £15.

I used those for my 8ft X 6ft shed and filled with 10mm gravel, it's solid.
Click to expand...

Assuming I get the 10 sq/m pack option which is what I'd need, that's £89, a decent saving for essentially the same thing, cheers! Membrane seems to be around £15 everywhere too so can jus get that on its own.
 
Found AMS who do just that, they are closed now but will ring tomorrow cheers!
 
Cheers all, some good suggestions to check out. Ultimately it seems local merchants cannot match the online prices I've found already but will keep searching, got that other place t ring tomorrow I guess so maybe that will be suitable, if not Wickes it is.

As for concrete slabs, I was told slabs are fine as you can still secure it down into slabs using the fixing bolts.

The aggregate is the bulk of the cost too, so if that can be say halved by going used, then that would be a big saving on its own.
 
Cheers that sounds very promising! Looks like I have some more searching around to do :D
 
Well the grid pack (10m/sq) has been ordered, £89 with a suitably sized membrane sheet which was actually £23. That's still saved a chunk by not getting the kit above at £200.

Next up is the aggregate. Will have to phone them Monday. Seems like the total price from my OP could very well be halved without compromising the end result!
 
Total price so far has come down to £463.12, quite a big saving from the original tally!

Now the only big expense in that total are the concrete slabs for the floor, if there is an alternative anyone can recommend for that then I'm all ears but I think I just need to decide on whether I should use concrete slabs or deck it out with wood beams I guess. Affixing the shed walls to wood would obviously be easier than concrete, but concrete would be tougher...
 
I've not come to a decision yet on securing the slabs to the base, there are a number of options though like pins that hook onto the plastic grid panels underneath. The grids are all filled in with pea gravel for added rigidity. Pins would stop the slabs from moving but tbh the weight of them combined with the weight of the metal shed, it's unlikely they are moving anywhere really I guess.

I think a good option will be to secure the outer slabs to the base with pins and the inners are left in-place as the shed will be covering those anyway. Then once the shed walls are up, secure the walls to the slabs from the outside using L brackets or hook pins. I did plan on sealing around the edges once all that is done to stop water ingress as well and then I can just floor liner the interior and call it a day.
 
Ah I had some spare standard mixed use silicone sealant but silka flex looks to be better suited for all season outdoor use, will add that cheers.

gpuerrilla said:
Did you look at ground screw / screw pile ?

My location is really rocky so more trouble getting the equipment to jack out rock. But soft ground this would speed up and might not be that costly.
Click to expand...

Had not considered this yet but I guess once the slabs are in place and shed is built, I could anchor the corner slabs with ground screws attached to corner brackets that stop the slabs from lifting/moving, this in turn secures the rest of the slabs so I'd only need 4 ground screws (or equivalent if there's a cheaper option) - I can sort this out after all bits are done though as there will be a good area of excess slab surrounding the shed so will explore!
 
Too late for concrete pouring now, everything but the slabs already ordered :p

Tbh it's not a massive undertaking, and also means if needed in the future, the shed location can be changed easily whereas with poured concrete, that's not going anywhere!
 
I have an update on progress.

The de-grassing was a bit of a mission, especially as it's all being done manually without machinery. The grids are brilliantly novel and worked great. The aggregate was faff because both bulk bags of the stuff is out front and weigh 800KG+ so have to shovel and wheelbarrow back and forth endlessly. The builder's sand too!

In the end used up all of the sand pretty much, one whole bulk bag of aggregate too laying around 50mm to compact also accounting for the pathway that leads up to the shed you can see. The pathway was a last minute plan so I have ordered more grids to cover that area and will be using larger 20mm gravel to fill that area in and keep it just gravel so the bikes etc can be washed on it on the stand with water just being absorbed through the gravel. NO need for paving here. The shed surround will be gravelled too so water can run off and it looks nicer too.

Still lots to do, I have ordered an IP68 rated power junction box and 25 metres of tubing and cable to run power and lighting to the shed. Also need to order the exterior sealant and will later wrap the roof panels with something more waterproof as there are factory holes and water ingress channels around the shed so want to seal those up.

The interior corners have anchor points so will bolt each corner to the concrete slabs from the inside securing the position. The concrete slabs I managed to get for free from a mate who is redoing his garden and had his 600x600x35mm slabs going for free :cool:

Oh yeah I ran out of 10mm gravel bags, I ordered 8x large bags but needed to order 15 more to cover just the shed base grids lol.

base.jpg


shed-up_1.jpg


shed-up_2.jpg


The interior of the shed will have a hard-wearing liner for the flooring.

Once all is done, the final touches will be an ankle height perimeter around the whole garden for composting and tending to fruit plants and flowers etc. painting the fencing, nice little tree house for birds on the tree you see in the last pic as they seem to love the little feeders already there so want to install cooler digs for them. Also got plenty of space on the left of teh shed for a DIY greenhouse.

I'll also need to buy a Ring floodlight with camera aimed at the shed for some added security.

Sunday was basically 9am wake up, have breakfast and get to work . Stopped at 9pm :o
 
20mm gravel will at least make it less /things/ :D

Cheers! I am aching all over today haha.

I found the edging that would be perfect for the path, shed base surround and even plant edging along the fence. Not too shabby really!
 
Shed update, so a pigeon that turns out is a racing pigeon has been making daily stops ever since work started on the shade and now comes twice a day morning and afternoon to eat some seed and explore for a bit before flying off. I imagine this stop is on his rout and then again on the return flight. Never knew racing pigeons were a thing but it's all cool to look after them if they stop by your garden it turns out :cool:


As for the shed, got power routed into there now so have lighting and a spare socket. Wall drawers and a "tool wall" have yet to arrive, and I will order a workbench with drawers soon too for one side. So far all good. Weatehrproof sealant applied to all areas where water can ingress and the ground slabs have been sealed onto the shed context surround as well.
 
So far have not had any issues with condensation ans we have had a couple of stormy wet nights as well. There were a few water leaks as expected with these tin sheds but I have sealed these up on both sides with the black Silka Flex. I've strategically left some gaps for airflow as well so will see how that fairs and have only sealed the concrete slabs on the outside areas leaving the inside slabs basiclaly touching each other so air and any remnant moisture can evaporate through the air channel created by the gaps. Will keep monitoring it though of course and update as necessary.

Today some tool organisation stuff arrived for the bike stuff, still got two 1.4m tall shelving units to arrive from Ikea along with a tool orgnising drawer to be wall mounted too. Based on where the shelving goes, I can fashion a folding workbench as well which can be used as an when needed and when not in use, have some open space to work on the bike with the bike stand fully open.

bEtNUQI.jpg
 
Might have to rethink the gappage then :D

Worst comes to worst I will fix fine mesh sheets over those gaps to stop the bugs if they do decide to loiter!
 
Solar LED light pair arrived yesterday, left it charging for the 24hrs it wanted and quite impressed for £21 for the pair have to say.

LEDLight_Off_20220525_215411.jpg
LEDLight_On_20220525_215406.jpg


And also some more storage for the DIY side of the interior:

DIYside.jpg


So close to fully complete now :D
 
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