wood pallets suitable as a shed leveller?

pimento

londonTiger wrote: »

Out of curiosity how much does a full size sleeper weigh?

http://www.railwaysleeper.com/KFrailwaysleepers-size%20and%20weight.htm

londonTiger

I think the local wood reclaimation guys might be able to sell it at the same price as gumtree peeps with the added advantge of cutting it down to 6ft for me with a circular saw.

I guess the weight will vary a lot between softwood and hardwood.

JohnB47

I think the point has been made already but just to emphasise - almost any old wood will do as long as it isn't allowed to stay wet for long periods of time.

Wooden supports sitting on bricks or aggregate blocks will be fine. (Not so sure about paving slabs because they might encourage water to pool around the wood). The wood might get wet occasionally but will dry quickly because of the good airflow. If they just sit on the ground, they'll rot and the speed of rotting will be determined by the type of wood.

I've seen examples of this rotting process on my allotment. A previous holder had knocked large posts into the ground - they must have been there for years because the plot was derelict and massively overgrown. I once leaned on one of them and it snapped off at the bottom. When I dug up the stump, i could see that the part above ground was perfectly OK as was the part under the surface - the rot had formed just above the surface where the wood was permanently damp and exposed to oxygen in the air.

londonTiger

JohnB47 wrote: »

I think the point has been made already but just to emphasise - almost any old wood will do as long as it isn't allowed to stay wet for long periods of time.

Wooden supports sitting on bricks or aggregate blocks will be fine. (Not so sure about paving slabs because they might encourage water to pool around the wood). The wood might get wet occasionally but will dry quickly because of the good airflow. If they just sit on the ground, they'll rot and the speed of rotting will be determined by the type of wood.

I've seen examples of this rotting process on my allotment. A previous holder had knocked large posts into the ground - they must have been there for years because the plot was derelict and massively overgrown. I once leaned on one of them and it snapped off at the bottom. When I dug up the stump, i could see that the part above ground was perfectly OK as was the part under the surface - the rot had formed just above the surface where the wood was permanently damp and exposed to oxygen in the air.

I too have had problems with rotting fence posts., they're all decaying around now. Absolute nightmare as they're going down one by one.

The difference with posts is that they're in soil and soil is always moist or wet. They're like a sponge and do retain moisure. I think wood used under sheds to level out the floor would not be exposed to that kind of moisture.

freezspirit

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=shed+foundation&biw=1143&bih=889&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AEcfU5XlKsb_ygOZ5ILoDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CFkQsAQ

Mark_Mark

One of the reasons why posts rot is the end grain is in direct contact with the earth when buried.

londonTiger

freezspirit wrote: »

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=shed+foundation&biw=1143&bih=889&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=AEcfU5XlKsb_ygOZ5ILoDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CFkQsAQ

I think I will need to use lots of 30cm x 30cm (10mm thick) pieces of wood and level the shed base. It is on a slightly sloping concrete and I will need to figure out a way to make it level.

freezspirit

Sorry London Tiger, I only glanced at the thread and thought you were putting shed on fresh area.


If there is concrete base already I wonder if you could use an exterior levelling compound or a layer of self-levelling concrete?

spannerzone

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I've used railway sleeper underneath a couple of sheds. They show no sign of rotting.

I'm guessing they're so well creosoted that they'll outlive several sheds.

londonTiger

freezspirit wrote: »

Sorry London Tiger, I only glanced at the thread and thought you were putting shed on fresh area.


If there is concrete base already I wonder if you could use an exterior levelling compound or a layer of self-levelling concrete?

np i didnt exactly volunteer that info either. self levelling concrete seems like its going to make the job very long. i have already got hold of free paving slabs off gumtree which im going to collect on saturday to make the "pillars" like the video above. I will just level all of the out using thin wood panels. may need a touch of levelling compound if the slab isn't sat completely flat - but more likely I'll just slip some wedges under the slabs to make them level.