looking for a garden shed

[AdamBorzy]

Hi all,

I need help please.

I am looking at setting up a small garden shed at the back of my block of land.
I have looked at this:
http://www.cheapsheds.com.au/produc...-cream-slate-grey-shed-special-cheapshed-f83/
in the smooth cream colour.

They have a flooring frame that goes with it that I can use but thought it would be nice to buy ply wood locally so I can also use it as a floor. BTW, the area I am looking at is sloping down. I'm also considering If Id have to use a brick or concrete to level it out.

What do you guys think? Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I have another 2 weeks or so before I decided to get this.

All the best.

 

[897tgigvib]

Might want to check to see if there are any building codes or standards in your local area that apply to a garden shed.

Usually city or county codes apply, and usually if there are any codes, they are much more lenient than for a building to be occupied.

Those codes, if there are any that apply, would be the main determining factor to decide if concrete footings, amd/or concrete foundations need to be made...depths, thicknesses, heights. Another factor would be if you want to go that route even if not required.

It may raise your property evaluation. I don't know if it would or not.

In many cases, pier blocks and levelled 4x4's would be all that'd be needed for a built garden shed's base.

 

[desertlady]

Make sure it will hold up with with heavy storms !

 

[AdamBorzy]

Much appreciate it marshallsmyth.
I thought it wont really be necessary though since it will only be a
small portion of my lot that needs to be constructed but will still check about it just to make sure.

Yep, desertlady will gotta make sure the foundation is sturdy enough to hold this fine garden shed.

Thanks to both of you guys.

 

[Adambelmont321]

Amazing, that is something really nice. And my advice would also be that to have the strongest one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Adam, I can't remember where you are located so I don't know what weather you are likely to see. Most of us can see some pretty stiff winds in a storm. With that shed roughly 3' x 8' x 5' high, it could blow over pretty easily in a heavy wind. Most garden tools are more bulky than heavy so they won't anchor it much. I would pay serious attention to anchoring it down.

How badly do you want a floor in it? If you put plywood on the ground, especially untreated plywood, termites might be a serious problem. If your climate is wet, it may rot pretty fast without termites. If you raise a floor, you provide a perfect place for critters to live. Some will even burrow under a ground-level floor, let alone a raised floor. You may want to put a raised floor in there to help keep things drier, but how would a dirt floor work for you? Just something to consider.

I don't know how much you will need to level it. That depends on how uneven your ground is. You might be able to dig it out enough to level it or you might need to build up a bit of a frame on the low side to level it. I've put corner posts in the ground and built a flat frame on that for a chicken grow-out coop. If you go with Marshall's idea of 4x4's, you might just need to do a little digging and stack two 4x4's on the low side. There are lots of ways to do it. Which works for you will depend in your specific situation.

At my previous location outside of New Orleans, the railroad company had a place nearby where they stored their new railroad ties and dumped their old ones. Those old ones were free. I just had to take a teenaged son with me to help load them. They are heavily treated to keep from rotting and protect from termites, but those became the floor of my 6' x 8' garden shed. They were a real pain to cut to length and you needed to wear gloves when handling them. Where I had them was flat but really wet. They raised the floor enough to keep things dry and were plenty heavy enough to anchor that shed so out hurricane winds did not blow it down.

You can alway pour a concrete floor, pour concrete footings, or just anchor corner posts in concrete. Anchoring the corner posts may be a solution, but the others just seem like overkill for a 3' x 8' garden shed.

I don't know if you'll get anything helpful out of this or not. Good luck however you go.

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

Umm, you realize that is an Australian company, right?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Since it is in metric I figured it was not a US company, but no, if people don't modify their profile or signature to show where they are, I don't know where they are.

I still don't see where that invalidates anything I said.

 

[nittygrittydirtdigger]

Sorry, Ridgerunner, I meant that in general, not directed to you. The info you provided was informative to me, and I'm sure to others as well. I learn a lot here on TEG.

 

[AdamBorzy]

Yes, it is really nice Adam. Thank you.

Regarding permits and approval Marshall, I dont need a permit should I purchase the garden shed. It is considered exempt because mostly garden sheds are small; and that means, dont require applying for a Development Application or Building Permit provided I should comply with the following: securely fixed it to a concrete slab, footing or similar, roof water must be dispersed to a lawful discharge point without causing nuisance to neighbors and should be clear of Council sewers and storm water mains (required distances stipulated by Local Authorities). Thanks again.

Hello Ridgerunner, I am located in a sub tropical area of Gold Coast, Queensland, in Australia. Pardon me but I cant find the setting where I have to make the city of my origin visible to all of you guys. If any of you can tell me where do I need to go to modify my location that would be really nice.

Youve been a great help Ridgerunner, (and thank you for) telling me different things to consider and will talk it over with the boss (wifey ) if its okay to do a little digging and all that. And yeah, untreated plywood will cause serious problems like it will soon rot due to our weather (we get occasional rain showers every week). Consider yourself lucky to have a teenaged son to help you get those free old railroad ties, your shed mustve been really nice and strong.

Yes, nittygrittydirtdigger, I am located in Australia and glad to be here talking to yall.