Me and wifey live in long term rented accommodation. We asked the landlord if we could put a shed/summerhouse 8x8ft in the garden, specifically on an flower bed where eff all grows except weeds. Landlord says yes, that’s fine but the base cannot be a permanent one and the area must be grassed over if we move. Not a problem as we intend (have no other option) to stay here for quite a few years. So today we bought an ex display summerhouse, already painted and comes with free fitting but I notice in the small print on the invoice it says base must be completely level and constructed from either concrete or pavers otherwise installers can refuse to fit the building and will just leave the unbuilt shed in the garden. Now the problem is that the garden is on a slight slope (drops about 1ft on the area we want to build on) and I was hoping to dig in some railway sleepers to form the level base, I know I need to speak to the guys who will be building the summerhouse and get their ideas but thought I would ask STW first. I’ve never laid a base of any kind before so the potential for failure is massive

You’ll be fine. Your approach sounds reasonable and have a chat with the installers, so long as the base is level all ways the sleepers will be fine.

You may want to consider getting a mini-digger to help you level out the ground.

you aint going to be talking to the installers until they turn up so sack that idea.. just put in place a flat level surface about a foot wider and longer than your summer house and all will be rosy.. we built ours out of decking and 4 x 2 joists.. lads were more than happy..

Edging boards, MOT and a whacker plate from HSS, then sit a few pavers from Wickes(or the local council depot with tea tokens) on the top.

Go simple – pavers on dry mix at the high end, blocks on dry mix at the low end. Don’t make it bigger than the shed base. If you can find out the spacing of the bearers, ensure there’s a pad for each of them, otherwise do the whole width.

Worse come to the worst, putting up the summer house from a pile on the lawn with no experience will only take you a day.

Cheers guys. I’ll clear the ground and see just how bad the slope is. I’ve never attempted anything like this before so if it fails and looks crap….. I’ll post pics on here

about a foot wider and longer than your summer house

does it not want to be smaller to stop water pooling and rotting the floor?

concrete bases should be made 15 mm or so smaller all round.

You want to get the same amount of bikes in a smaller shed?

Get quick release pedals. It makes packing the bikes in dead easy and removes the major problem of scratches and tangling (assuming you top and tail them). They takes seconds to remove and replace.

The extra cost of the pedals is more than made up for by what you save on the shed. If you’re the only one riding the bikes, then you only need one set of pedals, with the adapter only on the bikes

MKS make the ones I use.

Morning gang. So a week later and in between work stuff, I’ve been digging and levelling a Base for my shed/summerhouse.I hammered pegs into the ground to find the level and then Put an mot1 sub Base down and hand tampered it down with one of those 10kg hand tools to the top of my pegs. I bought some 600mm2 slabs yesterday and I was going to put them on a wet bed but having never actually mixed sand/cement before I’m unsure whats the best ratio mix. I noticed there was a product called slablayer that you sprinkle, level and just add water. Its expensive but sounds to good to be true. Has anyone used it? Or should I just use a wet mix?

http://www.pavingexpert.com/home.htm <-Have a look on that site,should have all the info you need.

If you’ve got the type 1 packed and level – I’d either use a drymix or just sharp sand tamped.
Pavers on top.
The shed will stop them moving.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/mortars.htm

Short version: use a dry mix of 10:1 if you don’t mind faffing and relifting.

Benefit it it’s easier in a way, but more faff – they are quite big slabs to be constantly lifting, but you’ve got plenty of time to do it (no limit on working time unlike a mix with water in it).

Or, after mixing it dry thoroughly, keep adding more water and mixing until it’s a bit ‘shapable’ (but not wet as such) then you can lay on that and tap down level (within reason).

It was stupidly hot when I did mine so I also kept barrow in shade.

I’m not an expert by any means, unless it’s in procrastinating, but I managed it eventually 🙂

So 10 sharp sand – 1 cement, mix in my wheelbarrow, rake level, lay slab, faff with the levels, swear a bit etc etc 😀 😀 Should I leave a 10mm gap to mortar or just butt the edges together?

If you’re sticking a shed on it and it’s got a nice layer of sub base, I’d just butt them.

Mortar is useful for riven paving to help even out discrepancies in levels, and is pretty for patios etc. It also prevents weeds etc, but for a dark shed base, I didn’t bother.

If it were me I’d not use MOT. Bear in mind this is a small shed and it’s only for the short term. Think what will be involved at the end when you have to reinstate it to lawn.

I’d simply build a timber frame to rest on the grass, with load bearing beams right along the ground. When it comes time to move you can cut off the ruined top layer of dead grass and returf no bother at all.

It’s down now 🙂 It won’t hurt – nowt like a bit of shed base over engineering!

Plus grass will grow over the sub-base, so just the slabs and mortar to take up in future.

Good luck Womble!

You forgot the important bits – Drink tea

So 10 sharp sand – 1 cement, mix in my wheelbarrow,drink tea rake level, lay slab, faff with the levels, swear a bit drink  tea 😀 Should I leave a 10mm gap to mortar or just butt the edges together?

.

First slab down and I fooo King cracked it. 😯 😀 What a t!t.

Nice work! 😀

How did you manage that on a dry bed?!

I was given a bag of slablayer to try. For some reason I couldn’t get the slab to sit level, tapped it with a rubber mallet but it hardly moved. Laid some wood across it, tapped it with a heavier lump hammer it seemed OK until later I noticed a thin dark line appearing across the slab from the moisture of the slablayer. Gave up and had a beer. Tomorrow’s another day 😀

Stick with a dry mix of sand and cement.

No mallets, just a bit of faffing with lifting/laying/lifting/laying, but by the end of it you’ll be well buff…and have intact slabs 🙂

Don’t be deterred chap; updates tomorrow please!