Starting my 10×12 DIY Shed with how to build a sturdy shed foundation with gravel base.
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I'm building a 10 X1 12 shed and I want It to be sturdy and have great drainage So sight selection in the foundation is Really important we're going to use this Area right here and I want to go ahead And start laying things out and see how Much I have to level and then we can Start in with the wood so we going ahead And started laying out the footprint of The foundation and I spray painted a Little black mark right down here at my Feet about 10 ft off of this fence and Then I've got another one over here that Is 14 ft away so I want the foundation To be 14t by 12T and that'll be 2T long Wider than the total shed which will Give me a foot overhang on each side so Now I'm just going to use this level We'll see how level the land is I don't Have to be exact here I'm just trying to Get a feel for it because we'll really Level out the gravel base but I've got a 7ft level and looks like that's about Level right there so looks like it's About a 3-in drop halfway down now I'm Going to check what the drop is in the Next 7 ft all right so that looks like It's about 2 and a half inches on this Back s feet so in total I've got about 5 And a half to six Ines of drop so I need To bring a lot of that dirt down here And get it just enough even that we can Lay down the gravel and that's where We'll get our finished level and be
Really precise when you're trying to Figure out where to put your shed sight Selection is so important and you really Want to find the most level ground that You can you really don't want the Difference in your sight to be more than The height of the Timber you're using I'm going using 4X sixes on edge which Is 5 and2 in and when I look over here This is 12 1/2 in off the ground but Back over the other side is 6 in off the Ground so that means a 6 and 1/2 in drop Between the two sides which would mean That I would need another beam to come In here and make up that difference so I Could back fill it and have a little Retaining wall more than just trim so The flatter you can pick your sight the Less material you're going to have to Use and the less hard work you're going To have to do digging it out all right So I moved the site a little bit and After a ton of measuring I think this is About as good as we're going to get and I do think we're going to have to bring In some extra Timbers around this low Edge because there's just too much Change in elevation across the site but I'm going to go ahead and start digging Out here before I lose sunlight and see If I can level some of this out so we Can hit it Tomorrow so yesterday I finished Removing all the grass I didn't do any
Leveling but I got that off because you Don't want the grass there because it Will die and then compress after it and You want to have a nice Firm Foundation I also have the string lines all out let Me show you I've got the pleasure of This site not only sloping down but it Also has a nice hump in the middle so as You look at the string line here I Leveled everything out and I wanted to Get it as close to the surface at the Highest point as I could and then that Way I'll have to do the least amount of Buildup at the lowest area so putting The top of the Timbers level with my Highest point is just going to reduce The amount of work I have to do for the Rest but now I have to dig out the Trenches start setting these getting Them leveled and then we can level the Center All right a few tips on digging one make Sure you dial 811 so you don't hit any Lines ours was already marked so I know I'm good here two it's best to dig after It's rained in the past few days it's Not rained for weeks here and three do It right after your kids have done Something really bad Like I'm talking steal the car maybe Like some liquor cabinets I don't know And then their Punishment dig the hole cuz this is not Fun but we're almost getting
There I've got the trench dug for the Timbers and I'm going to show you what I Did because this was like four hours of Work so we're really going to dig in I'm Just kidding down here we are almost Even with the ground so the top of the Timers is going to be right here next to The ground and from the string line I Dug down 7 and 1/2 in so that I can have 2 in of gravel in and then my 5 1/2 in 4×6 on edge now as the yard slopes down Here you can see the trench gets Shallower and shallower until this point Right here that's where it starts going More than 5 1/2 in above where the Finished level is going to be and that Means I need to fill in that space with Another Timber when you choose gravel It's important to get the right type This is what they call 3/4 in clean Gravel they also call it number 56 Number 58 I don't know what it is I'll Have it right there but this is the kind Of gravel that you want because you Don't want to have paper base or Anything like that because it is too Tightly packed and it's not going to Drain well and it also is nice and Jagged so it's going to compact together If you get something like River Rocks or Something that is rounded then those Aren't really going to hold together the Nice Jagged edges on here make sure it's Really tight and compact but it will
Drain really Well as I'm putting in the gravel I'm Making it easy on myself and I'm using It a 2×6 as a stand in for the 4×6 Because 4×6 are very heavy so I'm going Ahead and just using this as a reference And seeing where it lines up to the Yellow line so I'm just trying to get it Pretty close and I'll do the final Adjustments when I have the 7ft level And the real Timbers the gravel is all in and I am Losing daylight really quickly so I'm Going to pack up tomorrow we'll lay down The Timbers level this out fill it up With gravel and then I can start Building the wooden base so here are the 4x6s that I'm going to be putting in There and I'm going to start with that Lower level obviously and I'm going to Start with the long one that'll end up Being on the left side so I got the Piece here I'm going to measure it up And make my first Cuts all right it's getting a little bit Windy out here so don't mind the little Dead cat on my chest hopefully the audio Is still pretty good but uh I cut Through the 4×6 and I had to make it in Two cuts because the blade of the Circular saw is not deep enough to do it All in one cut also need to drill some Holes through the 4x6s and I'm going to Use a 9/16 in augur bit which has a
Little self auger on it and I'm also Going to have to drill from the top and The bottom because this is not a full 5 And 1 half in that I would need to go Through so I'm going to mark from the Top then Mark from the bottom and drill From each side and I should have a hole That's pretty well Aligned maybe it Worked All Right we got the first timber laid in Here and I'm just going to check for Level we're actually pretty close but I Just need to add a little bit in here And then we'll start laying out the rest Over here and see where we can line up Because we're going to be anchoring all These with halfin rebar all Right I cut down the next small piece And we're going to just put that right In here and I've already leveled it so We should be good to go All right I cut down a couple of pieces Of rebarn and now I'm just going to Hammer these in and anchor this into the Ground I'm going to leave this rebar Proud and then when I put the next one On I'll have the whole drilled and then Actually put the Timber on top of the Rebar instead the rebar through the Timber not sure if that's a great way to Do it but that's what I'm doing also This whole thing got a little catty wus
So I'm not exactly up against my string Lines uh and everything's kind of curved But we are square ler and that's what's Important and so I'm just going to kind Of adjust things as we go and this is Just to hold the gravel so I'm probably Going way Overkill Anyway I've got that base layer in now And now basically I can just rest in the Four pieces and if you have a flat level Surface you've skipped a whole lot of Work and just go straight to this part If you're working by yourself and Handling these a little cart is going to Be wonders and you can just work one Edge at a time all right we got to lift That other end on top of the rebar so I'm going to put a little spacer here at This end so that it'll kind of be at the Same height because I think it's going To be tricky to get it down on the rebar If it's at an angle so not sure how this Is going to go we'll See all right that actually worked Pretty good As I'm putting this timber in back here It just keeps wanting to twist on me so I actually screwed this 2×6 with it so I'm going to push this forward as I Start driving in the rebar and that's Going make sure it's straight up and Down once it's Sunk easier said than done by the way Put some body weight on this oh there we
Go use my Booty All right you probably can't see me We've got three cell phone lights here Because none of my work lights are at The new property yet so but I'm putting This thing in before I leave tonight so Here we go all Right taada Oh my gosh all right we will uh call That a night after I hammer this In having the opportunity to get this Property and share memories with our Kids as we make it our own was a big Selling point for us and I know it's not The most glamorous topic but Susan and I Both got term life insurance when we had Our first kid and we were in our Original house because with the new Family we didn't want either of us to Have to deal with the huge burden of a Mortgage Deb as well as the expenses of Raising kids on your own there something Happened to either one of us getting Life insurance used to be a lengthy Process but ethos the sponsor of today's Video makes it fast and easy you can Just answer a few health questions on Their online application get a quote in Seconds and apply for a policy within Minutes and you don't have to get any Time-consuming medical exams or blood Work to get started now you might be Surprised how affordable life insurance
Really is especially if you get in early So if you're interested in learning more About ethos and getting a free life Insurance quote I'll have a link Down Below in the description I did manage to Get the timers on last night but right Now I'm going to lock these in with some 6in deck screws and I'll have one Through the end here and then one down Into the one below it on each side Because I don't have the rebar on these Ends and that should hold it really Nicely now the next step is I need to Level out all this dirt so you can see Down here we've got a big gap over where We have the higher walls and then up Here we have a really small Gap so I'm Going to take all the dirt from up here And move it down and see where that gets Us and the goal is to have 4 in from the Dirt to the top of the Timbers and That's where we'll put our gravel to Make this a little B bit easier because It's kind of hard to eyeball it I'm Going to measure down 4 in around all of Those timers and then do a chalk line so I have a nice visual representation of What that 4 in should look like all Right now just got to do some Digging as I'm Shoveling this around I'm Trying to rake it flat and about every Inch or two of dirt that I put up here It's all going to be loose so you want To use a tamper to make sure that it
Gets down solid because you don't want That settling after we put in the gravel And the shed on top we want this to all Be nice and compact again huge pain in The button if you rent a compactor that Would be amazing but um we're using a Brad pactor so here we Go all of our dirt is level in about 4 In underneath the top of the Timbers so Now I'm going to put some weed fabric in And basically that's just going to help To obviously keep the weeds out out but Also more importantly so that the gravel Just doesn't sink down into the dirt It's going to help prevent that a bit I'm going to staple it to the sides here And then I'll overlap it about 6 in and Then just go through and roll it Out inste using fabric Staples to keep This down I'm just going to put a little Bit of gravel on top there that'll hold It down from the wind and then that way You don't have to waste any of those Landscaping Staples and makes it Faster so I neglected to think about This is a 12-in opening and I was using 4-in landscape fabric so I overlapped it Also I didn't do it exactly straight so Now I'm open about a 1ft strip so what I'm going to do is just extend this half The distance cut it in half and then Kind of piece meal two pieces in there So maybe think about that if you could Get the 3-ft rolls then maybe that would
Be easier or 4ot 6 inch rolls I don't Know anyway that's what we're going to Do So I highly recommend having a dump cart Like this one I bought this one a few Years back this is the gorilla cart I Bought it for my own money it is awesome And it is worth its weight in gold or in This case Gravel all right we've made a I don't Know eight or nine trips and we are About halfway through so all the Landscape fabric is covered up and so we Probably have somewhere around 2 in I'm Going to go ahead and Tamp it down Because if you try to Tamp 4 in of Rock All at one time it's going to be a Little bit harder so I'll give it one Good Tamp then we'll finish up with the Rest start Leveling and I've changed my Recommendation it is not to get a Gorilla card Gorilla Carts are amazing What the tip is and this is the best tip I can ever tell you of any of the Foundation work is don't get the gravel Delivered right there get it delivered In here after you've made your form I Ordered the gravel too early they had to Dump it in the yard could have saved a Whole day in I don't know 30 40 50 1,22 Trips with that but that is 2 yards of Gravel and it is pretty much all done I'm going to Tamp it down and then we'll
Be ready for the base tomorrow all right I've done some camping on the gravel but I want to make sure it is nice and level So I actually found this 16t 2×4 from Where we tore down the uh butcher shop In there in the in the shop and now I'm Going to use this to kind of screed Along and just push things and then We'll get some tamping that way we'll Make sure everything's nice and Level now I'm going to be building the Base on 4×4 skids and that means that We'll be able to move it around if we Ever need to put it in a different spot But my goodness I Will Never Move it Because I did a lot of work on that base So I still have the 4x4s here these are 12 Footers because we're going to have 12T wide but these are actually coming In at 12 1 in so are the 2x6s so I'm Going to have to actually cut an inch Off of every one and then I'm also going To put a little bevel on the end of These and I'll show you in a Second all right this is the better way To cut the bells I'm just going to Mark In 2 and 1 12 Ines here now I've got my Saw set to 45° and then I can just make the Cut For the basis shed and the joist I'm Going to be using 2x sixes and these are Also pressure treated I've got a bunch Of 12f Footers here because I could not
Find them in 10 foot so I will be using Full 12T for the front and the back and Then in between they will be 10-footers But I'm going to use the off cuts to Help strengthen in between the joists Which you'll see but it would be more Efficient if you could just find 10 Footers I'm just start laying out the Skids and put them about 4 foot apart Because I'm using four of them over 12 Ft we'll adjust these in a minute once I Start putting everything Together All right I've got these guys spaced out Not 4 foot they're just evenly spaced It's actually like 3 feet and 4 in but Now I'm checking for level and all of These look Good this is great and I know that There's going to be a little bit of Raise up on some of these because I know That the 4x4s have a little bit of bow To them so I'm just looking to be in the General ballpark that's great I've got Contact on all three of these which Means that they are all nice and even Now we can start building out the frame Now we're just going to build our Perimeter and I'm going to start with The front board and one of the side Ones to attach everything together I'm Just going to be using some 3in deck Screws now if you have a framing nailer That is another way to go I don't have a
Framing nailer and box of screws is only Uh 35 or 40 bucks so we're going to do It this way now before I put the Backboard on I'm going to drop it down Right here in front of the front one Because it's already nice and standing Up and solid and I'm going to butt them Up together and now I'm going to Mark Where all my inner joists are going to Go and I want to make sure they're laid Out so that when when I put the plywood On here that the edge of the plywood Will hit on the center of one of the Boards so it's important you get the Right layout and also we are going to Have plans for this build they won't be Available till the end but this is one Of those things that you definitely want To make sure that you get right because It'll be a pain in the butt when you put On the plywood later so to lock our Frame into square I'm going to attach The first skid and I'm going to drill Some counter SN holes here so that when I put the screw in it's going to have a Lot of purchase down There Now I'm going to measure for square I'm Going to measure the diagonals of each Side if they're equal that means it's Square if not I'll have to adjust them All right we're just over 188 in here And right about 187 on there so this Other side needs to come in about a half
Inch so I'm going to put my tape measure On the long Edge and I'm going to knock This corner in until it reaches 187 and A Half all right 187 and a half Oops I was at 187 and half I should have Stopped all right there we Go all right back at it this morning and A real quick note I know you've seen me Having some evenings I've not been doing Full days on this and we're actually Here in the morning today but most of The days before it's been after lunch Because we've been doing things in the Morning so it's not taking as many days As it looks like even though it is a lot Of work but now I'm going to start Putting in the joist on these marks that I did earlier and when I'm putting these In I'm going to sight down them and you Want to have the crown up so if it has a Little curve to it you want that to be On the top side I'm going to put these All in and attach them on this side and Then come around to the other side and Screw them all in over There some of these joints were pretty Warped and they had nice big bow on them So I'm going to be putting in some Bracing when I cut these down to 10 foot I had some leftovers so you can can see On this one right here this is almost Touching but then if I go all the way Down here to the end we've got about a
3/4 in gap so putting these here in Between it's going to add strength but It's also just going to straighten Everything up so when we're putting down The plywood we'll make sure that we're Hitting the Joist for the sheathing I'm using 3/4 in RTD sheathing which is basically like a CDX it's not exterior grade PL wood but Is exposure grade plywood so it's fine If it gets out here it gets a little bit Of rain on it but you do want to dry it In and not have it out in the elements For extended time I'm going to lay this Down perpendicular with the joists I'm Going to start by screwing down the Perimeter and you want to do every 6 in On the perimeter and every 12 in on the Field but I'll do the perimeter first Then we can run some chalk lines where The joist are and do everything on the Inside now this next piece should be Right at 4T I'm going to butt it up to The previous piece snap a chalk line Then I'll cut that off I use the off cut Down there on the other end and you can See right here on the seam where these Line up this is exactly what we want we Want that seam Landing right in the Middle of one of these joists so that You can screw into it from both Sheets the nice thing about a 10x 12 is That you can get it all out of four Sheets of plywood and then just have a
Little 2tx 4T offcut so I'm going to cut This little last piece we'll screw Everything down be looking Good to find where to put the screws in The field and find the joist I'm just Going to do a chalk line I'm going to Look at the screws of where I screwed The joist in I'm going do the same thing On the other Side I'll just do that on every joist And then tie in all my Screws this is about as strong as a base As I think I could have made and it's Going to be a great foundation for the Shed that we're going to be doing I'm Going to have that video queued up for You right there when it's available a Big thank you to the ftbt Builder Club Until next time I'm Brad get out there And build something awesome