Cementing over soil

Giraffe76

Hi all,

Not sure if anyone will be able to help or whether I need to go to a specialist place for advice..

Ive removed our old wooden shed and there is parts of one side where the new metal shed will go that is currently soil and I wanted to cement over the soil but I didn't know if I could just put some normal cement over the soil, whether there's a particular type of cement that you need to use or a particular procedure or other materials that need to be used to do a good job first time around.

Any help and advice would be most appreciated

Kind regards mark 

Gonk1967

don't put cement on top of the soil, that will be a disaster.

What you need to do is…

• dig a trench along the side you want to extend, approx 150mm below underside of the existing slab
• fill the trench with well compacted MoT Type 1 material to the underside of the existing slab
• pour concrete on top of the MoT Type 1 to the top of the existing slab… it may be worth drilling some long dowels into the existing slab or even notching the existing slab to give the new concrete something to grip to.

Giraffe76

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82070610#Comment_82070610

This is the area I want to fill in so would you put the mot type 1 in the gap and ve created then add the cement on top

Eldi_Dos

@Giraffe76

How close to the fence and the gravel boards are you intending to put the new shed?

Giraffe76

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82071203#Comment_82071203

From the photo you can see.. it will be 30cm from the fence panel

FreeBear

pour concrete on top of the MoT Type 1 to the top of the existing slab… it may be worth drilling some long dowels into the existing slab or even notching the existing slab to give the new concrete something to grip to.

Just to add - The concrete should to be at least 50mm thick. Whilst you can make it thinner, it could crack under localised loads.

If I were to do this job, I'd dig out that mess of concrete by the fence and also up to the straight line in the old slab. Put the broken bits of concrete to one side. Dig out the soil to 150mm or even 200mm and earmark it for disposal. Before going any further, put some shuttering along the fence line (a long strip of wood screwed to stakes every ~1m). Get the shuttering level with the old slab, and try to arrange for a slight fall so that rain can flow away, Some of the broken concrete can go back in along with the MOT1, ensuring everything is tamped down. Then put concrete in using the shuttering & old slab as guides to level off the concrete. In this weather, cover the fresh concrete with a sheet of plastic to stop it drying out too fast.

Eldi_Dos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82071389#Comment_82071389

If that is the case I would think you can get away without putting any more concrete down.

Clear out the area of loose soil and debris, does not need to be too deep

Get suitable sized tanilised timber and lay from gravel boards out to where the other edge of shed will be.

Lay several lengths of timber along where the base of shed will be, then build shed on top of them.

Once built lay a good depth of pea gravel between gravel boards and shed, up to height of timber.

Once this is done you should only need to rake the pea gravel occasionally to keep down any weed seedlings that sprout there.

Doing it this way will help with drainage for any rain that runs down the fence and shed.

Giraffe76

Thanks for all the replies. I've decided not to change banks yet.

If i wanted to setup an account to use for switching how would I do that please?

Kind regards mark

Giraffe76

Hi all,

Thanks for all your replies. I've now done the job using a bag of the correct stones with the cement on top

Kind regards mark

Boohoo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099356#Comment_82099356

Have you posted in the wrong place by any chance?

Giraffe76

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82099390#Comment_82099390

No I don't think so as I'm the OP for this post