A small garden shed not only has functional purposes, but should also fit aesthetically into the overall picture. A stable and secure base is of great importance so that the appearance does not suffer sooner or later and the garden shed suffers damage.

A strip foundation is just one option among many

Table of Contents

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  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Required material
  3. planning
  4. costs
  5. construction steps
  6. frequently asked Questions

    7. the essentials in brief

    • Various types of foundations are possible for a garden shed (€24.90), e.g. slab foundations, point foundations, strip foundations or concrete foundations
    • As an alternative to the concrete foundation, impact sleeves, plastic, wood or metal substructures can also be used
    • A concrete foundation costs around 30 euros per square meter
    • Old paving slabs are a cheap and durable option for the garden shed foundation

    Required material

    The material depends on which foundation you choose. To save costs and reduce the amount of work, you can fall back on alternatives. However, thorough planning is crucial for the choice of foundation, because the load capacity varies greatly.

    Typical foundations:

    • slab foundation: Gravel and fine sand, flagstones
    • point foundation: formwork, concrete, concrete anchors
    • strip foundation: formwork, concrete, concrete anchor, gravel if necessary
    • concrete foundation: Reinforcing steel, formwork boards, concrete, gravel

    Alternatives to the solid foundation

    It is possible to build a foundation without concrete and slabs. You can fall back on prefabricated constructions made of plastic or metal, or design the foundation more individually with punctiform alternatives. With the wooden foundation, you must ensure that the beams do not come into direct contact with the ground.

    fitness advantage
    impact sleeves light to medium garden houses easy leveling of uneven floors
    plastic lightweight structures easy to use
    wood medium-heavy garden houses ecological and cost-effective
    metal heavy garden houses expandable, change of location possible

    planning

    Good planning is the be-all and end-all of any construction

    Thorough pre-planning is less important if you are using a simple foundation made of drive-in sockets or plastic. If you want to set up your garden house on a concrete foundation, planning plays an important role. You can make a simple sketch with paper and pencils. It gets more professional with a computerized plan that gives you more flexibility.

    SketchUp

    With this software you can create simple two-dimensional or clear three-dimensional plans. The basic version is free and offers you various planning tools. Here you can build the foundation to scale so that you can identify and correct potential weak points. Such a plan makes sense for a foundation made of paving slabs, which are to be laid precisely and without cutting.

    Thorough planning is also important for the foundation. The free basic version of SketchUp is a perfect tool.

    costs

    The most durable variants, characterized by high stability, are concrete slabs and strip foundations. For the material costs you should estimate around 30 euros per square meter, whereby the price can vary greatly depending on the source. If you are paving a foundation made of stones or paving stones, you can expect ten to 15 euros per square meter for cheap variants. If you have the foundation built, the costs amount to more than 100 euros per square meter.

    Calculation example

    There are various companies that offer a full service. At Mein-Gartenshop24 you can get a small garden house from Karibu with a floor area of around 180 x 120 centimeters and a canopy roof including foundation and on-site assembly from around 1,800 euros. The shed is positioned on drive-in sleeves and can be painted with wood sealer or varnish if desired. Individual wishes are specified directly when booking online.

    How do I build a foundation for a garden shed?

    If you want to build your garden house yourself, you can also create the required foundation yourself. Calculate beforehand the load that must be supported by the foundation. You can then choose a variant.

    Paving slabs for sheds

    Excavation and filling with gravel and sand is essential for all types of foundations

    The simplest solution for a quick foundation is old paving slabs measuring 30 x 30 centimetres. These can absorb surface loads of 90 kilograms per square meter. Since they cannot withstand the effects of localized forces, paving slabs are only suitable as a base for light tool sheds or small greenhouses.(77.12€)

    Instructions for building:

    1. Excavate the ground 20 centimeters deep
    2. Fill the area with gravel and compact
    3. fill in fine grit or sand
    4. smooth with a trowel
    5. Lay out paving slabs and fill joints with sand

    pave foundation

    If you have leftover paving stones from sidewalks or driveways, you can also use them as the foundation for your garden shed. The load-bearing capacity is comparable to that of paving slabs. The construction process is similar. The foundation can be delimited by lawn curb stones.

    • Roughly stake out the area with wood
    • Dig about 25 deep and four inches wider than the base
    • Compact the soil well with a vibrating plate (€499.00).
    • Align batter board
    • Place curbs on concrete and allow to harden
    • Fill the area with gravel or crushed stone and level it
    • distribute fine-grained sand
    • Lay paving stones with the same joint width
    • Seal joints with sand
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    Point foundations for small to medium-sized garden houses

    Small and medium-sized garden houses find a stable footing on point foundations. The load is distributed over many individual foundations that lie under the load-bearing beams. The difficulty during construction is that all foundation points are at the same height and must be precisely aligned.

    To do this, the ground is leveled and the individual points are marked with a wall cord. Holes 80 centimeters deep and 20 centimeters wide are dug at regular intervals. After the concrete has been poured and has hardened, the garden house beams are fixed with concrete anchors.

    tips

    If the soil is very loose, formwork will be needed. You can use formwork blocks or thick KG pipes for this.

    Strip foundation for large garden houses

    A strip foundation is a good option for larger, heavier log cabins

    With this variant, the sub-floor must be load-bearing. The weight of the garden house is distributed on a 30 centimeter wide strip of concrete that runs under the load-bearing walls. The strip foundation can be stabilized with an additional concrete slab. If no concrete slab is used, the area should be filled with gravel or paved.

    Make strip foundation yourself:

    • Mark the outline of the garden shed with stakes
    • mark load-bearing walls
    • Dig strips 80 centimeters deep and 30 centimeters wide
    • board walls
    • concrete ditch

    background

    Why strip foundations have to be so deep

    The ground temperature in Central Europe at a depth of 80 centimeters does not drop below freezing point, even in the icy winter months. If the foundation strip reaches this depth, the dreaded frost heave is avoided. When water collects and freezes under the foundation, it is lifted under high pressure. Cracks in the foundation and masonry are unavoidable.

    Concrete slab foundation

    A solid concrete foundation should be built on very sandy or swampy soil near water that does not have a high load-bearing capacity. To protect against rising damp, the subsoil is covered with a compacted layer of gravel on which a PE sheet is spread. High point or surface loads are optimally distributed over the entire base plate.

    building instructions

    The area is dug 30 to 40 centimeters deep, whereby the pit should be slightly larger than the dimensions of the floor slab. This space will be used later for the boarding. Level the soil in the pit and compact it with a vibrator. The edges are lined with stable formwork boards that are flush with the surface of the concrete slab.

    • Fill in and compact a 15 centimeter thick layer of crushed stone or gravel
    • Check the surface with a spirit level and smooth if necessary
    • seal with PE foil
    • Fill concrete five centimeters high
    • Lay out the steel mesh
    • fill another ten centimeters with concrete
    • Lay out the second steel mesh
    • Fill the formwork completely with concrete and then smooth it out

    tips

    The reinforcement mat protects against cracking in the concrete. To further increase stability, you should compact the concrete before leveling.

    frequently asked Questions

    How much does a foundation for a garden shed cost?

    Depending on the type of foundation, the costs vary greatly. If you let a company build a foundation, the costs quickly rise to over 100 euros per square meter. It is cheaper if you do the construction work yourself. For the production of a continuous concrete slab you have to reckon with around 30 euros per square meter. If you use individual paving slabs as a base, which are laid on a bed of sand, the costs amount to around ten to 15 euros per square meter.

    Is a foundation necessary?

    A foundation ensures stability and ensures that the wood does not come into contact with the ground. If the garden shed stands directly on the ground, rain, snow and temperature fluctuations can cause long-term damage. The ground moves throughout the year, which means that walls can warp or cracks can form. A garden house without a foundation is not recommended. It has no base that distributes the loads evenly. The garden house can sink at certain points if the soil has different properties.

    Do I need a permit to build a foundation?

    In principle, garden houses that are placed freely on the meadow without a foundation do not require a building permit. They must not be higher than 250 centimeters and must not exceed an area of 300 x 400 centimeters or 10 square meters. As soon as the garden house is to be placed on a foundation, you must find out about the applicable regulations from the responsible building authority. The municipalities decide on the need for a building permit and refer to the state building regulations of the respective federal state.

    Are there alternatives to the foundation?

    A small garden shed can also be placed on a simple foundation of paving stones, provided the sub-floor has been cleared and filled with gravel beforehand. If the load is not particularly high, you can attach the garden house to a wooden construction that is supported by several point foundations. As a result, the wood does not lie on the ground. A quick foundation for the wooden trellis can also be built entirely without concrete. As point foundations, you can use square and superficially grooved stones, which are fixed with mortar.

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Garden design