Preparing ground for shed

weeg

Do not put gravel on top of a waterproof membrane. As you speculate, you'll get form a pond. Use a geotextile under the gravel and the water will drain away.

FreeBear

weeg said: Do not put gravel on top of a waterproof membrane. As you speculate, you'll get form a pond. Use a geotextile under the gravel and the water will drain away.

And don't forget, the gravel will want compacting down or the shed base will sink in a bit.

zoothornrollo_2

Thanks for the replies.
So the shed is only 6x2 - a small bike shed. Pix of yet-to-be-assembled shed and base in situ below. I think it is decent quality - Power Sheds.
I'm going to have to pull out the membrane, I think - it is the fully waterproof sort, unfortunately, not the 'weed contol' sort, so is surely just going to collect water?
The gravel will hopefully be enough to drain away rainwater from the base and stop rising damp. I was hoping to avoid paving slabs as have been advised that the wooden base does the job instead.

FreeBear

zoothornrollo_2 said: So the shed is only 6x2 - a small bike shed.

Give that timber base a good coating  or three of wood preservative. Put some edging around it to hold the gravel in place, and then plonk your shed on top. Being such a small structure, it won't be putting much of a load on the base, and will be light enough to lift off should you ever decide to do a "proper" base.

My sheds are used to store large quantities of firewood, so a substantial base is required to take the weight. You don't have that problem - If anything, your base is over-engineered

zoothornrollo_2

FreeBear said:

zoothornrollo_2 said: So the shed is only 6x2 - a small bike shed.

Give that timber base a good coating  or three of wood preservative. Put some edging around it to hold the gravel in place, and then plonk your shed on top. Being such a small structure, it won't be putting much of a load on the base, and will be light enough to lift off should you ever decide to do a "proper" base.

My sheds are used to store large quantities of firewood, so a substantial base is required to take the weight. You don't have that problem - If anything, your base is over-engineered

Splendid, ta

Section62

FreeBear said:

You don't have that problem - If anything, your base is over-engineered

Agreed.  I was wrong, they have supplied a base which is a million miles from the usual flimsy thing.

zoothornrollo_2

any tips on what to treat the base with before I build on it?

zoothornrollo_2

So I painted the base with two coats of bitumen paint as below; and the shed is now up, as below also. Recommend Power Sheds, they seem well made. Just ordered some metal banding to fix down the edges of the felt properly. Plus there are some corner lats to fit. Thanks for the tips.