Cement slab for shed

[Dr.Faustus]

I have 2 10x12 metal sheds. one of them (the new one) i built on an existing cement slab. The slab used to be for a dog pen. it was poured by the previous owner. no use for the dog pen so it made a great foundation. perfect size.

second shed was the existing old rusty shed left by previous owner. he set it on the ground, threw down some plywood and called it a day. Well the plywood is long gone and the shed is pretty banged up, i want to replace it. Gophers have also dug underneath it and came up into the shed and made it their private hotel. 2nd year they did this. i harass them until they leave. currently no residents.

If i buy a new shed, I'd want the floor gopher proof. If i make a frame out of 2x4s can i just fill it with bags of quickrete that i mix up and level it off? is rebar necessary for this? I dont want to make a huge deal of it. It will never see the weight of a vehicle. i figure the most it would ever see is me standing on it, plus light stuff like snowblower, generator etc.

Any other ideas besides cement slab? I was tossing around the idea of just digging down a little, making sure it was flat and level and making the floor out of cmu's.

Open to anything however wood doesnt fare well here. seems to rot fast, even pressure treated so rather not use it.

thanks for any help!

 

[heat seeker]

Maybe use cement pavers?

 

[peakbagger]

It may be worth some time looking at this video http://www.hotandcold.tv/frost_heaves.html It isn't about slab construction but it does discuss frost heaves. A shallow slab under the shed is a prime candidate for frost issues so anything you can do to prevent heaving is going to really improve things. A lot of the prefab concrete buildings that utilities use like at cell tower sites are precast at a factory complete with floor and just set down on a crushed rock base. The crushed rock is not impacted by frost heaves unless its sitting in a low spot where there is standing water. I have done this on several jobs and it works well and avoids having to deal with insulating the slab.

 

[begreen]

I would not use quickcrete. Start with a compacted crushed rock base and then truck delivered fiber reinforced concrete is what I would use. The fiber crete is mixed in the truck before pouring.

 

[Don2222]

Hello

I dug 2 foot holes under each cinder block and filled them with 3/4" stone. Best foundation I ever did!

Level with a water level.

Then put 2" foil faced foam board between each 2x8s and 3/4" plywood on the shed floor. Bingo

See more pics and info here
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...nel-under-the-rake-boards-is-for.70576/page-2

 

[Dr.Faustus]

still not sure on the slab idea. one she has been on a slab that looks like it was just quikcrete poured in a frame. not too thick either. its been there 11 years that i know about. no issues with frost.
I also made a tiny slab for my bbq grill by making a frame out of 2x4's and pouring in quikcrete. no issues with that. i guess i'll mull it over. I dont need super strong. it just has to hold a metal shed and keep groundhogs out.

I havent seen the groundhogs in a while. I filled in all their holes while they were out and when they came back i let them have it with a co2 pistol. im sure all it did was piss them off, but it doesnt seem like they are coming back.

lets hope for the best here...

 

[maple1]

I would likely try what you're thinking, but maybe on top of a layer of gravel or stone, after taking the top layer of sod & topsoil off.

I put up an 8x10 metal prefab shed a few years ago. I put 9 patio blocks down first - on top of gravel where sod used to be. (Kind of like Dons picture above but with 24" blocks & one in the middle). Was a big PITA getting them all levelled up, but once I did the rest went good. Put a 3/4" plywood floor inside after the shed was up. Or maybe it was after the floor frame was down but before the rest went up. That's where I keep the ride-on mower plus lots of other assorted junk. It's been solid ever since. Have some rust spots starting to show here & there, and a bit of a leak up top somewhere - but nothing to do with the foundational stuff.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

I would likely try what you're thinking, but maybe on top of a layer of gravel or stone, after taking the top layer of sod & topsoil off.

I put up an 8x10 metal prefab shed a few years ago. I put 9 patio blocks down first - on top of gravel where sod used to be. (Kind of like Dons picture above but with 24" blocks & one in the middle). Was a big PITA getting them all levelled up, but once I did the rest went good. Put a 3/4" plywood floor inside after the shed was up. Or maybe it was after the floor frame was down but before the rest went up. That's where I keep the ride-on mower plus lots of other assorted junk. It's been solid ever since. Have some rust spots starting to show here & there, and a bit of a leak up top somewhere - but nothing to do with the foundational stuff.

oh yeah i wouldnt pour directly on top of sod. i would definitely remove all that, plus i could really use the leftover fill elsewhere.
Right now just thinking about this project. hoping to do something this year but have been really busy with work. It also depends on whether or not those groundhogs come back. Its a shame im residential enough that if i fired anything larger than a co2 pistol it would attract unwanted attention.

 

[pen]

Have done several sheds on gravel base with concrete slab from 2x6 or even 2x4 form that have held up well.

Check out your tax structure though. A shed built on a skid, as the pre made sheds often are, doesn't raise taxes around here. With the concrete pad it is considered permanent and receives a yearly tax.

Something to consider

 

[jeanw]

DR Faustus
what do you mean by
"I havent seen the groundhogs in a while. I filled in all their holes while they were out and when they came back i let them have it with a co2 pistol. im sure all it did was piss them off, but it doesnt seem like they are coming back."
did you wait around for the creepo. The dang thing or things not sure if it is gophers or groundhog.
He or they made a big hole and hump of dirt outside the garden fence and between one of my big sweet potato box bins s approx 4 by 4 feet in size
and about 3 feet tall. so its hard to get to the hole with a pc of fencing I stuck back there now the vines grew thru that too.....
RAH cant remember if I put hdwe cloth under the 3 big box bins like I di the older boxes... cant tell
I bet them good for nuttins are also eating my organically grwon sweet pot. something is decimating the leves. thought it was deer till I saw the hole burrow yesterday morning. or those caterpillars can decimate stuff fast too.
COMMENTS YALL PLEASE

 

[maple1]

A gun & a comfy chair.

 

[osagebow]

+1 on the gun and comfy chair, but not after indulging in the "organically grown sweet pot." You'll just wind up following the little animals around, and your brother will have to fly up and get you down from the windmill.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

I finally got to the shed project. I jacked up the shed, set it on 4 pieces of 3" pvc pipe and rolled it out of the way. tilled the section. removed a few inches of dirt. compacted. put a few inches of sand. compacted. put down weed fabric just in case. put down patio pavers and filled the gaps with that special sand with polymers. wasnt that much work. I rolled the shed back on top. caulked the bottom to the pavers so i wouldnt get snakes.

looks way nicer. its not perfect but it'll do. whats nice is i had a set of unused gazebo lights i put up in the shed so if i want to go in there, i just plug it in (it reaches the outlet on the back of the garage) and now i have a lit shed.


took me 4 months of procrastinating! thats actually not bad for me

 

[Dr.Faustus]

and the groundhogs are all dead thanks to a .22 air rifle.