Messages and Online Forum Q&A

Re: Storage Shed Installation

From: info@builderswebsource.com
Category: Foundations and Basements
Remote Name: 63.198.181.43
Date: 12 May 2001
Time: 08:40 AM

Comments

The foundation for your shed is just as important as the foundation for your home. Proper attention to ground compaction and leveling is essential to ensuring that your shed will last.

Generally, a 4" concrete slab foundation is your best bet. However, you can also use 3-4" minimum of compacted pea gravel as a base, coupled with pressure treated girders under the shed. Essentially, you need to "build up" the pea gravel in the location of the drop off in order to achieve a level foundation. Extend the top of the pea gravel about 12 inches from the perimeter of the foundation, fanning out at approximately a 45 degree angle from there. Install the gravel in lifts a few inches at a time, tamping it as you go to prevent settlement. Then, add soil around the pea gravel to provide a transition to the native surrounding. Railroad tracks are built the same way if you notice.

However, according to an excerpt from the Beacon Journal Online, there are other ways to install a shed foundation:

Many sheds simply sit on wood ``skids'' or runners that keep the shed a few inches off the ground. The wood touching the ground should always be pressure-treated, which makes it resistant to rot and insect attacks.

A better method is to build a grid or foundation of pressure-treated 4-by-4s or 2-by-4s and fasten the foundation firmly to the earth to give the shed more resistance to windstorms. One method of fastening is to drill a hole in each corner of the wood grid and drive a 3-foot length of galvanized pipe through each hole and into the ground.

Another method, recommended by a building-code official, is to sink pressure-treated posts 3 feet into the ground inside each corner of the foundation. The posts should extend several inches above the ground and should be bolted to the foundation timbers. The shed's floor framing should then be bolted to the foundation.

Whichever method you decide to use, be sure you follow manufacturer's recommended guidelines for the foundation itself.

Builders Websource

Article Tools

Builders Websource® is a corporate member of ASTM International—a non-profit engineering body dedicated in part to the standardization of building materials specifications, products, systems, and test methods for improved health, safety, and reliability of residential and commercial structures.

Copyright © 1999 - 2008 Builders Websource®, an InBuild™ company. All rights reserved.