Greenhouses, Sheds and Sun Rooms - what to put shed on?
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kenh
04-17-05, 06:20 PM
if you have looked lately, you can see the price of sheds is getting pretty high. i want to get a 10' X 10' shed, but i don't want to pay almost as much for a concrete pad to sit it on. what would you do -- try to sit it on concretes blocks, or frame out an area with 2x4's, fill with road fill/gravel and sit the shed on top of that? my only reservation about using the blocks is that i would also like to try to keep animals from living under it. thanks for your thoughts.
lefty
04-17-05, 06:51 PM
Kenh,
I guess it depends on what you want and how permanent you want the shed to be.
A 10 X 10 shed would need a concrete pad of the same size. At 3" thick, that's a yard of concrete. Costs about $100 for the mud if you bring it in via a mixing trailer, or less if you get a yard of base and 5 sacks of cement. Takes a few hours, four 10' 2X4's and some stakes to form it. For about $20 you can rent a bull float and an edger costs less than $10. 8 foundation bolts around the perimeter ... Less than $200 total. That pad will outlast 2 or 3 sheds.
I suppose a gravel floor would work, but I would be concerned about anchoring the shed to it. Maybe a concrete perimeter foundation?? (It's a shed -- you certainly don't need anything like a stem wall for a house, but is frost an issue??)
Wood floors? The ones I've seen rot and you're replacing them every 10 to 15 years. And a wood floor costs as much as the concrete pad will.
I guess it depends on what you want and how permanent you want the shed to be.
A 10 X 10 shed would need a concrete pad of the same size. At 3" thick, that's a yard of concrete. Costs about $100 for the mud if you bring it in via a mixing trailer, or less if you get a yard of base and 5 sacks of cement. Takes a few hours, four 10' 2X4's and some stakes to form it. For about $20 you can rent a bull float and an edger costs less than $10. 8 foundation bolts around the perimeter ... Less than $200 total. That pad will outlast 2 or 3 sheds.
I suppose a gravel floor would work, but I would be concerned about anchoring the shed to it. Maybe a concrete perimeter foundation?? (It's a shed -- you certainly don't need anything like a stem wall for a house, but is frost an issue??)
Wood floors? The ones I've seen rot and you're replacing them every 10 to 15 years. And a wood floor costs as much as the concrete pad will.
rhome
05-25-05, 02:38 PM
I've got one of those Rubbermaid Big Max sheds, the 3784:
http://rubbermaid.com/hpd/consumer/product/detail.jhtml?prod=HPFG378401DPLAT&attributeId=HPATT4005&nextType=noValue¤tType=HPCAT02&locationId=LOC00001&thirdMenuIndex=5
I'm really new to this and trying get my home improvement knowledge up but I was thinking that a product of this type wouldn't need a concrete pad.
What would you all suggest as the best option for a base for the Big Max, taking into account function, cost and installation? The instructions say it doesn't need a base but I don't trust that. My research has me leaning towards gravel.
http://rubbermaid.com/hpd/consumer/product/detail.jhtml?prod=HPFG378401DPLAT&attributeId=HPATT4005&nextType=noValue¤tType=HPCAT02&locationId=LOC00001&thirdMenuIndex=5
I'm really new to this and trying get my home improvement knowledge up but I was thinking that a product of this type wouldn't need a concrete pad.
What would you all suggest as the best option for a base for the Big Max, taking into account function, cost and installation? The instructions say it doesn't need a base but I don't trust that. My research has me leaning towards gravel.
habelson
06-13-05, 10:39 AM
I own the smaller version of the Big Maxx, (the JR), the floor of it is pretty solid, as long as you have level ground I think you can go without a base. I used scrap peices of Pressure treated 4x4's laying on their side as skids and put decking boards across them for the base of mine, but that was just because I don't have any place in my yard even close to level.