The Brew Cabin

I'd really appreciate some advice on this as I'm not too sure where to start. I want to utilise an existing paved area to site my new shed, which is a 6x8 ft one.

The slabs already in place are established and I guess pretty stable- although not exactly level I'm hoping they'll do. I need to add a couple more rows to these so the base will be big nough, although Idon't need any 'extra' visible from the underneath.

I think the slabs are just laid onto the soil with spots of concrete- so I'm wondering whether this would be adequate if I compact the soil first.

I want to do this on a small a budget as possible, however obviously I don't want it to be done in a way which will require remedial work or damage the shed.

I have thought about getting hardcore in as I want to lay some mulch paths in the same bit of garden, so this may be an option.

Is there any point in lifting thwe whole lot and starting from scratch?

Whoo! Whoo! Spot bedding alert!!!!

Quote: from danensis on 10:31 am on Feb. 25, 2004
Whoo! Whoo! Spot bedding alert!!!!

Oh thanks very much for the unconstructive elitism. Anyone with any serious advice would be very welcome- apologies in advance that I am not a professional paver.

It helps if you read the site first. You'll find Tony is not the greatest fan of spot bedding.

Alright, fair enough. It was a sh*tter of a day yesterday.

I've been advised by someone that well firmed ground with a few inches of sand will do it....

I've read all the relevant bits of the site, just wondering if there's a less belt and braces way of doing things, since the base won't be seen...

It's not so much that a bit of sub-base, if required, and a full bed are "belt and braces" - it is a proven methodology, while <spit> spot bedding is a proven disaster-waiting-to-happen.

I'm a firm believer in the old adage that "A job worth doing is worth doing well" and you will never, ever, ever get me to condone the use of spot bedding, even if it was for the kennel of a dog that had just bitten me and eaten my wallet.

For your shed-base exctension, I think the simplest method is to dig off and lay the extension flags on a bed, up to 100mm thick if conditions require, of grit sand and cement at 10:1 or thereabouts. A full bed will give a much better support to your flags than ....than... than that other way.

Your shed then wants to be on bearers of some sort that will help spread the load across the enire pavement, and not concentrate the weight on 3 or 4 particular points. You can use timber bearers (my preferred option) or old concrete fence posts, whatever suits your budget.