MegaSack DRAW - 6pm Christmas Eve - LIVE on our YouTube Channel
I know you all love a good shed thread on here. I'm currently thinking about building one at the bottom of the new garden. Size approx 3x5m.
It's a sloping site, next to a few mature trees with visible roots. I was wondering if anyone's done a DIY version of micropiles or pin piles instead of the usual pier and post or concrete base? I've seen Quickjacks which look like the sort of thing I'm after, anyone used them?
http://www.shedbase.com/quickjackpro/
[img] 
[/img]
Yep. diy concrete piles
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Sits on 20 of them, each one sunk in about 0.5m which is where it starts to get shaley. 6" cardboard tubes from defendapak.
Liking the look of that. How did you dig the holes out?
I dug holes at 2ft centres ,3ft deep filled it about a foot with bricks and hardcore bit of ready mix on top ...then set a 4x4 upright in a bucket of ready mix on top of the hardcore and ready mix
Back filled it all quick making sure it's plumb
I dug holes at 2ft centres ,3ft deep filled it about a foot with bricks and hardcore bit of ready mix on top ...then set a 4x4 upright in a bucket of ready mix on top of the hardcore and ready mix
Back filled it all quick making sure it's plumb
4x4 heavily treated and wrapped in dpc and tape for longevity ..can't be seen inside of base
How did you dig the holes out?
Post hole digger. Dug down about 50-60cm, bowled out the bottom of the hole and compacted the base. Poured some concrete in and pushed the cardboard tube into the concrete. Levelled and squared and back filled around with earth. Filled the tube with concrete and then rechecked level/square. Covered and left to set.
Built the wooden frame on top.
4x4's.
Concrete is very bad for the environment.
i started off with this sloping ground.....
[img] 
[/img]
so after advice on here decided a concrete base wasnt viable and copied mcmoonters method of floor and roof ring beams screwed to posts in the ground....
[img] 
[/img]
ta daaaaaaaa.....
[img] 
[/img]
really proud of it, and really grateful to everyone on here plus a mate who helped me at home. id never built anything at all before and had no skills, so this site really is a special place for help.
Voodoo what are the advantages of piles over a single concrete base?
I had an existing slab partially covering the plot, so is just dug a strip foundation (through the paving slabs) and a dwarf wall. Keeps the bottom of the cladding dry.
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
surfer, a lot less digging and concrete!
sadexpunk, nice shedding.
Surfer for me it was the cost and accessibility to get the concrete in from the road ....Also I can get the level spot on where as with a concrete float if it's out a bit gifts chop it out
One thing concerned me was any animals getting underneath but you would have that on a raised structure for airflow
Mine is 13 ft x 8 ft deep x 7.5 ft high , slight pent on roof
Can't do the picture thing
Sadexpunk - talk me through the post and ring beam please - how did you put the posts into the ground? What size (diameter) posts?
OP! There are a couple of examples here of the post and ring beam approach.
It's handy for sloping ground. I just dig the 4x4 posts about eighteen inches deep. I don't use concrete to pack them in, just the material that came out of the hole. Once the first post is in and plumb, stretch a length of builders string along it in the direction you want to build and dig in successive posts against it. I used wooden spacers which I clamped then braced posts until I could nail the ring beam too.
Make a Pythagorean triple to determine the square to the corners and do the same on the opposing side.
http://www.petermclarenfineart.com/Blog/Studio-Build-Blog
Hopefully the pictures should still work in this link too
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/diy-garden-pavilion-ideas
Thanks McMoonter.
Anyone gone skinnier than a 6” hole?
Sadexpunk - talk me through the post and ring beam please - how did you put the posts into the ground? What size (diameter) posts?
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/inspired-by-shed-threads-do-you-think-its-possible-for ]heres the link to my build[/url] if youre interested mate. goes through all my thought processes, mistakes, problems and advice right up to the finished item. as per mcmoonter, i used 4x4 posts around 18" deep, into soil with gravel at bottom of holes for drainage.
just varied with the two nearest the field, i used postcrete for those for stability as we get some big gales from the cliff sometimes.
best of luck, its very satisfying.
Ok then O wise shed Gurus! What sort of base for a small 7x5 workshop (tiny I know but it's all I need) that will be going on a heavy clay soil that is water logged for the majority of the winter.....
I should say that there are some proper lovely sheds on here. Jambo's one is like something off Grand designs, and Sadexpunk, I can't believe that's a first attempt.
thanks, mine was a first attempt too. it worked out ok...
[img] 
?ig_cache_key=MTM5NTU0NzQ4NTQ1MTIxMTQxOQ%3D%3D.2[/img]
Thanks Voodoo. I helped a mate lay 3 concrete slabs before Christmas and in return he gave a frame and set of doors that had been used for penetration testing but in repairable condition. I will base by shed around that and building to start in a few weeks or so.
After laying his foundations I fancied doing the "pier" thing but I am concerned about getting levels right, I suppose I just need to do some research.
You could do pad foundations at varying levels with a timber frame inc. ring beam to level them and form a suspended floor.
Concrete is very bad for the environment.
A bit of a sweeping statement and frankly the small amount of concrete used to make those mini-piles is negligible
I'm getting shed-wood looking at yours, Sadexpunk.
😳
Pah!.... Call those piles? 😉
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
😀
