Which foundations or base should you choose for your garden shed?

Getting the right base or foundation is crucial to the stability of your garden shed. The base should be level, stable and dry. It should withstand heavy downpours and support the weight of your shed over its life span.

The choice of foundations for your garden shed will largely depend on the type of your shed, its purpose, type of ground it will stand on and a few other factors.

Foundation types

There are four types of foundations or bases suitable for a garden shed:

• a concrete slab
• cement blocks
• post foundation
• skid foundations (a wooden or metal frame)

A concrete slab is most sturdy, but it requires certain skill to create it. Best to hire a professional. If you intend to build it yourself, be sure to read this post – “How to prepare the ground and build concrete foundations for your garden shed“.

Before you  pour a concrete slab remember, that it is a permanent structure which cannot be moved. If you decide to move your shed, you will have to build a new foundation and to remove your old one, will require considerate effort..

If you are building a tool shed on a slope or unstable ground, you should consider creating post foundations. To prepare this kind of foundations, 4 x 4 treated wooden posts are sunk into the ground. The rest of the hole is filled with crushed stone then reinforced with concrete poured on top.

All posts must be ideally level or the shed will wobble and collapse. Another option  is to use concrete instead of wooden posts, if your ground is very wet and “boggy”.

If your ground is mostly dry and level, you can place your shed on bricks or build a skid foundation made out of wood.

Waltons provide a kit called Portabase (you can get it from our online store – see Garden Shed Accessories ).

This kind of foundation is not as sturdy and durable as a concrete slab, but it can easily be relocated to another area.