Steeltech Shed

shinnyjosiedan

Hi,

I have bought a steeltech shed and I am going to erect it in an area that is slightly uneven gravel. Would putting down on a level cement base be sufficient or do I need to dig foundations?

Thanks for your help.

ART6

shinnyjosiedan wrote: »

Hi,

I have bought a steeltech shed and I am going to erect it in an area that is slightly uneven gravel. Would putting down on a level cement base be sufficient or do I need to dig foundations?

Thanks for your help.

That depends on what you intend to put in it, but a level cement base on gravel wouldn't be very load bearing -- just walking on it could impose a weight of 30kg per square foot. In any case, most steel sheds need to be secured to a concrete base.

When I installed mine a few years ago I dug out the site to a depth of about six inches and put in four inches of gravel in a dry mix with cement, and I rammed it down (by walking on it!), Then I mixed enough concrete (three to one) for two inches, making sure that the whole shed base was six inches larger all round than the shed was. I bolted the shed to the base using hammer fixings having sealed the mating surfaces with silicon sealant.

Steel sheds collect condensation like fury, so to keep everything dry inside I lined it throughout with 9mm ply over expanded polystyrene granules (I had saved all of the poly packaging that seems to come with everything nowadays, and I simply put it through a garden shredder to reduce it to granules. It was a lot of work, but well worth it as my shed is bone dry all of the time -- I even stored an open bag of cement in it for months without it going off -- and I keep a 250kg ride-on mower and a heavy duty shredder weighing in at 120kg in it among all sorts of other things without problems.

The great advantage of the ply lining is that it is cheap and easy to fix, and shelves and things can simply be screwed to it wherever I want.

If you really wanted to go overboard, as I did -- once the shed was erected I threw in a layer of self-levelling compound that gave me a dead smooth floor that was half an inch higher than the bottom edges of the shed, so even if the sealant failed water couldn't get in. Expensive, but well worth the effort. A good shed is for life!

Spocker

ART6 wrote: »

That depends on what you intend to put in it, but a level cement base on gravel wouldn't be very load bearing -- just walking on it could impose a weight of 30kg per square foot. In any case, most steel sheds need to be secured to a concrete base.

When I installed mine a few years ago I dug out the site to a depth of about six inches and put in four inches of gravel in a dry mix with cement, and I rammed it down (by walking on it!), Then I mixed enough concrete (three to one) for two inches, making sure that the whole shed base was six inches larger all round than the shed was. I bolted the shed to the base using hammer fixings having sealed the mating surfaces with silicon sealant.

Steel sheds collect condensation like fury, so to keep everything dry inside I lined it throughout with 9mm ply over expanded polystyrene granules (I had saved all of the poly packaging that seems to come with everything nowadays, and I simply put it through a garden shredder to reduce it to granules. It was a lot of work, but well worth it as my shed is bone dry all of the time -- I even stored an open bag of cement in it for months without it going off -- and I keep a 250kg ride-on mower and a heavy duty shredder weighing in at 120kg in it among all sorts of other things without problems.

The great advantage of the ply lining is that it is cheap and easy to fix, and shelves and things can simply be screwed to it wherever I want.

Some good advice there ART6 - one variation I've done with a similar steel shed was to staple some rockwool to the plywood before fixing it, works a treat

johnnybmac

ART6 wrote: »

That depends on what you intend to put in it, but a level cement base on gravel wouldn't be very load bearing -- just walking on it could impose a weight of 30kg per square foot. In any case, most steel sheds need to be secured to a concrete base.

When I installed mine a few years ago I dug out the site to a depth of about six inches and put in four inches of gravel in a dry mix with cement, and I rammed it down (by walking on it!), Then I mixed enough concrete (three to one) for two inches, making sure that the whole shed base was six inches larger all round than the shed was. I bolted the shed to the base using hammer fixings having sealed the mating surfaces with silicon sealant.

Steel sheds collect condensation like fury, so to keep everything dry inside I lined it throughout with 9mm ply over expanded polystyrene granules (I had saved all of the poly packaging that seems to come with everything nowadays, and I simply put it through a garden shredder to reduce it to granules. It was a lot of work, but well worth it as my shed is bone dry all of the time -- I even stored an open bag of cement in it for months without it going off -- and I keep a 250kg ride-on mower and a heavy duty shredder weighing in at 120kg in it among all sorts of other things without problems.

The great advantage of the ply lining is that it is cheap and easy to fix, and shelves and things can simply be screwed to it wherever I want.

If you really wanted to go overboard, as I did -- once the shed was erected I threw in a layer of self-levelling compound that gave me a dead smooth floor that was half an inch higher than the bottom edges of the shed, so even if the sealant failed water couldn't get in. Expensive, but well worth the effort. A good shed is for life!

I did a similar setup to above (except, I used Kingspan sheets for insulation, (a mate picked up loads of them on a site he was on )

My shed was situated on the bottom of a severe slope (I dug out a flat area and poured the floor). The biggest mistake I made was not putting some kind of plastic barrier/membrane under the concrete to stop damp rising up through it. Any bare metal in the shed is rusting especially a lot of planes and other hand tools.

As ART6 said, metal sheds will condensate like you wouldn't believe...

ART6

johnnybmac wrote: »

I did a similar setup to above (except, I used Kingspan sheets for insulation, (a mate picked up loads of them on a site he was on )

My shed was situated on the bottom of a severe slope (I dug out a flat area and poured the floor). The biggest mistake I made was not putting some kind of plastic barrier/membrane under the concrete to stop damp rising up through it. Any bare metal in the shed is rusting especially a lot of planes and other hand tools.

As ART6 said, metal sheds will condensate like you wouldn't believe...

Yes, placing a membrane on top of the dry mix and under the concrete is essential, and that is what I did. A massive roll of it cost €20 from a builders providers and was enough to cover the whole garden! I just forgot to mention it in my post!