Need help building my shed

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Charmonium

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
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I got a 8x15' plastic shed that should be fairly easy to assemble once I get the floor down, but that's the crux of the problem right now.

According to the instructions, you're supposed to lay the floor on a wood or cement platform. Being the genius that I am, I figured why not use graded gravel. I can level it out and put the floor down on that. Yeah, sure.

So I got the 3 tons of gravel delivered today which was poured over top of a few tons that was already there. It's a nice solid base but I can't eyeball it and get it level.

So I was thinking about it and what I'm going to try to do is use an 8' length of board and just go a few inches at a time widthwise over the plot looking for peaks and valleys. I'll smooth those out as I go. It probably still won't be perfectly flat from front to back but it might be good enough to lay down the floor panels and get them to interlock. We'll see.

If that fails though, what other ideas do you all have?

I was thinking of maybe just pouring cement mixed with sand and water over the gravel and viola, instant cement, but that's probably a stupid idea, right? Since there would be such a high percentage of aggregate.

So what are my other options?
Update - pix

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Last edited:
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scannall

Golden Member
Jan 1, 2012
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Pour 4 piers, with anchors. Build a wooden platform on that. Nothing wrong with gravel underneath for drainage.
 
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lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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Can't picture it. You have a somewhat graded stone pile? What's keeping it from eventually eroding? Without getting into the appropriateness of a stone base(dunno), you could form around your stone, then slide your 2*4 over the forms to level it.
 
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Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
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www.anyf.ca
Grading land is a bit tricky. I would maybe build a wood platform, square that off (measure corner to corner, then opposite and measurements should match), level that off, then pour the gravel into that. Use it as a guide, then pass a long length of wood along the sides to level it, and keep packing it down and keep adding more gravel. This may involve moving some of the gravel that you already laid just so you can get the platform in. Once it's nice and level and packed you can probably get rid of the platform then just pack gravel in the areas that the frame was in. I'd think that will get it into "good enough" status. No idea if this is what a pro would do though, but seems to me it would work half decent. Well, only issue is no piece of lumber is created equal so it would not be 100% level. Suppose if you're really serious you run a chalk line along one of the edges then cut it with a skill saw to get it straight.
 
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Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
22,237
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Put a level 2x4 form on either side of your gravel pile and use that as a screed. Use 12" wood stakes to hold it all in place. If you use redwood or PT 2x4's leave them in place to contain the gravel. I'd toss an inch or two of sand over the top because it's almost certain that you ordered 3/4 crushed rock instead of the 1/4 x dust that you really needed.
 
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Charmonium

Charmonium

Lifer
May 15, 2015
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Greenman said:
Put a level 2x4 form on either side of your gravel pile and use that as a screed. Use 12" wood stakes to hold it all in place. If you use redwood or PT 2x4's leave them in place to contain the gravel. I'd toss an inch or two of sand over the top because it's almost certain that you ordered 3/4 crushed rock instead of the 1/4 x dust that you really needed.
Click to expand...
I'm using 3/8" gravel. So you think I could just mix cement, sand and water and pour over the gravel? You think that would work? I mean I would obviously have to build a wood form around the perimeter with 2x6 boards, which I don't have unfortunately. But aside from that detail . . .
lxskllr said:
Can't picture it. You have a somewhat graded stone pile? What's keeping it from eventually eroding? Without getting into the appropriateness of a stone base(dunno), you could form around your stone, then slide your 2*4 over the forms to level it.
Click to expand...
I'll take some pix tomorrow and post in the OP. But essentially, there's nothing to stop the erosion except for the fact that the pile is fairly shallow and the weight of the shed should secure the gravel underneath - mostly anyway. The bottoms of the floor panels have deep indentations that will grab the 3/8" gravel. So even if I get some spreading at the edges, it should still be stable.

The problem with either the form method or my half-assed method is that there are peaks and valleys. So it's not just a matter of grading. I'll need to grade most of the surface but fill in a certain percentage.
 
G

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
22,237
6,432
136
Charmonium said:
I'm using 3/8" gravel. So you think I could just mix cement, sand and water and pour over the gravel? You think that would work? I mean I would obviously have to build a wood form around the perimeter with 2x6 boards, which I don't have unfortunately. But aside from that detail . . .
I'll take some pix tomorrow and post in the OP. But essentially, there's nothing to stop the erosion except for the fact that the pile is fairly shallow and the weight of the shed should secure the gravel underneath - mostly anyway. The bottoms of the floor panels have deep indentations that will grab the 3/8" gravel. So even if I get some spreading at the edges, it should still be stable.

The problem with either the form method or my half-assed method is that there are peaks and valleys. So it's not just a matter of grading. I'll need to grade most of the surface but fill in a certain percentage.
Click to expand...
Gravel doesn't pack. What you needed is 1/4 by dust so you can compact it. The 3/8 might work if you build a form and use a board to screed it off. But you will have to have a permanent frame around it to contain the gravel. The surface doesn't have to be perfect, just good enough.

Don't try spreading anything over the gravel other than course sand. It will just make a mess that's hard to clean up.

This is construction 101, it's as basic as it gets. If you can cut a board within a few degrees of square, drive a nail without breaking more than two fingers, and figure out how to work a level, you've got this.
 
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paperfist

paperfist

Diamond Member
Nov 30, 2000
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Man 3 tons of stone ain't what it used to be.


Red Squirrel said:
That's basically what I did for mine. But I was using 6x6 so the notches were too small so I just filled them in so it's a flat block.






It's going to end up kinda high though so I'll have to build a ramp.
Click to expand...

Nothing under there to keep the moisture from creeping up to the underside of your deck?
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,561
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www.anyf.ca
paperfist said:
Nothing under there to keep the moisture from creeping up to the underside of your deck?
Click to expand...

Hard to tell from the pic but I put a tarp down and passed it under the beams. It's just tucked in for now but I'll spread it out better once it's done and put weights on it. But because it's so high off the ground it should be fine I think.
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,014
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OT, but when I was looking up crusher run, I decided to look up riprap to see where the name came from. I didn't get a good explanation in my brief search, but I did get a spam generated result about buying riprap from Amazon. That thought amuses me immensely.

"Your order will be sent in 834 shipments."

as you get a flood of Amazon boxes, each with one rock inside :^D
 
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