Which Base For My Shed

[Kassee]

I have looked at a 12 x 5 shed for my garden and this will be installed along with a base, all on the same day. The shed will sit on "sleepers"? I think the man said. It is on soil.

I have looked into having a shed base done separately, but the cost is £1000 which does seem alot.

Which way would be best ?

[KARL]

Using wooden supports (sleepers) carries with it the absolute need for well treated wood or else the service life will be distinctly limited. A 12x5 metre floor size for a shed is really quite large so, depending on the type of base you have been quoted for, the price of £1000 is not excessive. In fact, a good base could easily exceed that by a wide margin and still be quite reasonably priced.

[Mass_Hysteria]

Surely this is 12 x 5 feet? It's bigger than my back garden!! If so £1000 is quite excessive.
Even so KARL is correct that any wooden support needs to be very well treated.

[alavahalf]

I bet Kassee means 12 x 5 ft .. ?

[Mass_Hysteria]

By the way, I was quoted approx £450 for a concrete garage floor 6m x 3m.

[bhg481]

I also think Kassee means 12ft x 5ft and I also believe when he got his quote for the base he didn't specify the dimensions were in feet and got quoted for a 12m x 5m base.

[granny grump]

Ours is on concrete slabs - Our grandsons laid them for a full English breakfast

[bhg481]

When we moved into our house 35 years ago I laid paving slabs to form a base for a 12ft x 8ft shed. The shed is still standing on the treated wooden bearers.

[tonyav]

Same here, bhg481, not 35 years ago though only 7 years ago so far.

[New Judge]

My shed (Railway station replica, 11ft x 8 ft) is laid on reclaimed wooden railway sleepers. Proper wooden railway sleepers are virtually indestructable. Mine were probably 30 years old at least when I bought them and showed little signs of wear (apart from the holes bored in them to hold the "chairs". They weigh about 60 kilos each and can only be cut with a large chainsaw. They have not deteriorated at all in the time I have had them (around 15 years) and will certainly oulast me.

They are heavily impregnnated with creosote and that has been their downfall. A 2013 EU Directive made their sale illegal. Those you see now are not sleepeers at all but are pale immitations, simply blocks of softer wood and nowhere near so well preserved.

[Khandro]

Don't let them simply rest the sleepers directly on the earth. They should rest on 8 or 10 leveled slabs (2 per joist at 5ft width) allowing air to pass underneath (and hopefully a nice cosy place for hedgehogs), a solid concrete base is nonsense and over the top.

[Kassee]

Yes I did mean 12 ft x 5 ft shed. And the £1000 for base - is that excessive? The chap knew it was in feet because he helped me measure it in the garden.

[Gizmonster]

Our shed sits on sleepers.
They're not wood, so no need to treat and no chance of them rotting - they're concrete fence posts.
The shed is 8' x 5' and it sits on 2 layers of posts - the bottom layer laid in one direction and then another layer on top, perpendicular to the bottom layer.
The shed raised up off the floor prevents damp getting to the base and also provides an air flow underneath the shed.

[murraymints]

I have a slab foundation and then wooden batons upon which shed lies...you can pick up slabs from freecycle usually...it cost me approx £500 to get slabs .sand...batons ..and someone to lay slabs for me...

[murraymints]

treated wood batons..^^

[murraymints]

https://www.freecycle.org/?gclid=CM62wPHNjcwCFRDhGwodfi0DTg

[alavahalf]

Kassee .. yes you are right, it's well over the top. Try and get another couple of quotes and you will see how far over it is. If you are unsure who to get a quote from, call your local trading standards and ask them if they have a list of approved builders or handymen, who are willing to do smaller jobs.

Whoever does it will be charging you for a days work plus materials ... but it should be at least 50% less than your first quote !
My shed is laid on cheap paving slabs from wickes, which are in turn, bedded down on sand and cement. All in including materials it cost less than £100.
The wife did the mixing and I laid them ... she works for coffee and jaffa cakes ... you cant beat cheap labour !

[melv16]

I built 2 walls 1 brick high to match the width of my shed. I then placed 3"x3" tanalised fence posts across the walls..1 every 2'. I then put the shed floor on to the posts. This is much cheaper than laying concrete or flags.

[TWR]

As said, if you have the right sizes a £1000 is an aufull lot of money, what area are you in? have a look for "sheds on-line" the prices would be cut a lot loss that quoted, I placed my mates shed on a Membrane / Grave / the Wood bearers, have a look for a person that's handy at DIY, get a quote to put down a base then do your home work Kassee, don't jump at the first prices, check out a few off Ebay.

[Kassee]

Thank you all - I thought it sounded a lot.