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We just moved to a house without a garden shed and I needed a place to store my gardening tools and few other things I didn't want to store in the garage and take up space.
So decided to go with a small narrow garden shed with sliding doors due to limited space in the area we wanted to put the shed. I chose this shed from bunnings - Absco Shed Sliding Shed. I had previously built a shed from this brand and was comfortable with how it is put together. Must say, not the easiest shed to put together but easy enough to do 90% of the job by yourself, just make sure to use the printed guide it comes with and watch the video that is in their App. The app gives the additional tips to make things easier.
I will not write about putting the shed together as the installation video does a good job.
The Project
The more time-consuming part for me was building the base for the shed. I didn't want to just keep the shed on the ground, not sure if this even recommended. Main reasons for me were the area I wanted to keep the shed was a grass patch with weeds and it was on a slight slope along the house side wall.
I wanted the base to be semi-permanent as I was not 100% sure this will be the long term shed and location for us. So, a concrete slab was not an option, the cost played a role as well. Read through few posts already in Bunnings workshop to get few ideas and settled on a plan that works for me.
The Plan
I settled on using pine sleepers to build the frame and pavers to complete the base of the floor. This fell within the budget and the material I used can be re-used for other plans I have in the future if and when I decide to move the shed or get a new shed.
What I got from Bunnings
- The Garden Shed
- Pine Sleepers
- 2 of 200mmX50mmX3m
- 1 of 200mmX50mmX1.8m
- Landscaping Sand, I needed 8 bags
- Road base stones, 6 bags
- Weed mat
- 30 pavers of 400X200X40mm
Steps
Check the specifications on the garden shed to get correct measurements for the base and build the frame. The Instructions will tell you the size of the concrete base. Place the frame where you want it to be and mark it, I used a spray paint I already had.
Dig the area so you can bury the frame enough to make it level. I didn't go for perfect level I thought it might be good to have a slight angle. But not too much to a point where you feel it when you walk on it.
Now fill the frame with the road base flatten it a bit, fill some sand flatten it again, lay the weed mat, top it with bit more road base and finish the top with the sand. This order worked for me, and not sure if there is a better way to do this. I used a Trojan 205mm Tamper as the area was small enough. Any bigger I would rent a machine to do this.
I made a quick jig to level the sand before laying the pavers. Just used 3 pieces of wood I had. Get a piece of wood, wide enough to fit within the frame, measure the height of the paver and attach 2 guides to the end of the piece of wood to so it stays level with the frame. Use this to make sure you get the sand up to the correct height. Don't have exact pics on how I used it, but hopefully easy enough to understand.
Once the sand is filled to the correct height, you can lay the pavers and fill the gaps with sand. You might have to cut/break few pavers to fill the space. I just used a chisel I had to roughly mark the line and slowly hammered my way around it. Took me 30secs to break the paver.
Now build the garden shed by following the guide and video, place it on top of the base and attach it. I was able to attach it directly to the wood frame.
What is left to do?
I am yet to fill the gap between the wall and shed as I don't want this to be the perfect place for all the bugs in the world to live. Planning on filling the edge of the gap with some foam and maybe caulking.
Might give the frame a paint so it looks a bit better.
Not related but build a taller new gate so the shed it not too visible from the driveway.
Issues and concerns
As you might notice my frame has a slight bow to it, which meant the pavers didn't line up well. This is because the wood already had a slight bow, and I filled the inside of the frame before filling the outside, this meant the more I filled and compressed the sand, the bow got worse, so I would make sure outside is solid and has proper support before filling the inside.
Didn't want to dig too deep as it is next to the house concrete foundation (the garage to be exact), wasn't sure if this can cause any long-term issues. Given this is temporary I was ok to go ahead with the project. But if this becomes the long-term location for the shed then I'll do a bit more research on this and maybe go with the concrete slab as well.
Hi @riziqbl,
This is a great project for someone looking to do a similar semi-permanent base for their shed! You have done a fantastic job you should be very proud of. It was great reading all of your considerations for this build. You mentioned that the more you filled inside your base, the more the timber frame bowed, how would you ensure the frame had proper solid support if you were to do it again?
Looking forward to seeing your new gate project!
Katie
