How to make a foundation for a brick shed. DIY foundation for a barn. Barn with equipped gable roof

When designing a foundation for a barn or large outbuilding, the main aspect is reducing the construction budget and ensuring the maximum possible resource. Therefore, floating slabs and MZLF tapes are rarely used; pile and columnar grillages are implemented. However, on complex soils, with high groundwater level and steep slopes, it is necessary to take into account SP standards and ensure the protection of underground power structures with waterproofing materials and insulation materials from moisture and swelling, respectively.

When choosing a foundation for a barn, an individual developer who does not have a construction education often chooses pillars made from wall blocks in the 2 x 2 x 4 dm format. He motivates this by the fact that the utility unit will be small and ultra-light, but no one has canceled the laws of nature:

• on clay soil, the pillars will either be overwhelmed by horizontal heaving forces, or pushed outward by the same forces, but applied to the base of the pillar;
• the low weight of the building is more a disadvantage here than an advantage, since it will not be able to balance the forces of heaving;
• rains and melted spring waters will not bypass the structure, they will destroy the reinforcement inside the reinforced concrete or contribute to the opening of cracks in the concrete blocks when they freeze after the structural material gets wet.

Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the relief, find out the groundwater level and soil structure on the site. However, geological surveys will cost more than the entire turnkey construction; it makes no sense for a home craftsman to order this service. The “like a neighbor” option is also devoid of logic, since the layers are uneven, quicksand are practically not visible from the surface, and the actual service life may differ.

The easiest way to independently examine the soil in a building spot is to test drive a screw pile. The product is immersed manually, making it possible to determine the groundwater level and the depth of the bearing layer by the sharply increased tightening torque.

Important! The layer must lie below the freezing mark of the operating region in order to completely eliminate heaving forces.

It is most profitable to do a test screw-in for any foundation construction technology on heaving soils, embankments or dusty sands that sag under the weight of the building every year.

Barn foundation options

After independent improvised geological surveys, the nature of the soils in the building area should be taken into account:

• coarse sand, rock or gravelly soil is the most convenient option for a base for a utility block; pillars made of brick or a wall block, buried in two or one rows, are sufficient; accordingly, the bottom beam of the frame frame will become the grillage;

• sandy loam - due to possible swelling, the previous option will have to be supplemented with insulation of the pillars under the sole or poured drill piles into permanent formwork made of roofing material rolled into a cylinder, asbestos or polyethylene pipe;

Shed on drilled piles

• loam, clay, difficult terrain, wet soil (ground water is high) - only screw piles will cost less, for which there is no need to drill wells, lay drains, insulate structures and waterproof them.

Monolithic columnar foundations and MZLF tape are not considered in this article in principle, since their construction will cost more than a frame barn, which is not economically profitable for an outbuilding.

Due to the fact that a monolithic grillage for a utility block is unnecessarily expensive, in all of these structures wooden beams are used along the heads of piles and pillars. In this case, it is impossible to fill the floor on the ground; a zero-level overlap on beams is used.

However, when constructing a barn for livestock, this option is unsuitable in principle, since the wood rots and is ground off by shovels during cleaning, and frequent repairs are required. Therefore, for calf barns and poultry houses, it is easier to increase the construction budget and fill in a ground monolithic belt, which is a modification of the strip foundation for light buildings.

Screw piles

The main problem of this technology is finding a manufacturer of SHS structures. If you have a welding machine and practice using it, you can. Each manufacturer has a table of bearing capacity on different soils, which allows you to determine the pitch of the piles.

Load-bearing capacity table for SHS screw piles

A frame utility block rarely weighs more than 2 tons, so calculations will show that the foundation for a shed can rest on a single pile. However, it should be taken into account that the rolled metal and lumber from which the grillage beams are made sag by 2.5 - 3 m under their own weight. Therefore, piles should be installed more often, with a maximum step of 1.5 - 2 m. The technology looks like this:

• – cast-offs are carried 1 m beyond the perimeter of the walls, a string or cord is stretched over them;
• leader holes - drilled with hand tools or dug with a shovel, serve as a conductor for the pile blade, set the direction, depth 0.4 m, diameter slightly smaller than the size of the blade;

• immersion - SHS are screwed in using levers manually or with a drill with a power of 1.5 kW (you will need a torque amplifier - a multiplier, the price is 3 - 5 thousand or equipment rental);
• leveling - a single horizontal level is marked on the body of each pile using a laser tool or hydraulic level, the pipes are cut with an angle grinder with metal equipment;
• concreting - SHS cavities are filled with lean concrete to prevent corrosion of the internal walls, the procedure does not affect the load-bearing capacity in any way, the next stage can begin without waiting for the hydration of the cement stone;
• caps - a steel grillage is too expensive for a utility block, and it is easier to fasten wooden beams on the platforms with which the pile caps are provided; fixation is done with nails or anchors, since an ordinary hardened self-tapping screw can be cut off by horizontal loads.

Screw pile head for fastening the bottom trim beam

Important! Heaving forces do not affect the piles; the outer edges of the pipes are protected by anti-corrosion. However, the building structure receives an underground, the perimeter of which must be covered with decorative material (usually an asbestos-cement sheet covered with flexible tiles, corrugated sheets or basement siding). To ensure ventilation of the underground, ventilation ducts measuring 1/400 of the underground perimeter are left in the recess.

Drilling piles (bored piles)

The next option for the foundation of a shed on clay soils are drilled piles, which can be made using the following technology:

• setting out full-scale axes – marking is similar to the previous case;
• wells - drilled with hand tools or a motor drill, step 1.5 - 2 m, depth as calculated;
• formwork - made of roofing felt rolled into a cylinder (the edge is fixed with staples), polyethylene or asbestos-cement pipe;

• – round or square clamps (smooth reinforcement, diameter 6 mm) are attached to 4 vertical rods (diameter 8 – 10 mm, periodic cross-section “corrugated”) using wire twists; the protective layer is provided by round polymer washers attached to the rods;

Frame options for reinforcement of drilled piles

• concreting - it is more convenient to pour the mixture through homemade funnels, it is better to compact it with rods or an internal vibrator.

Wall block pillars 40 x 20 x 20 cm

On non-heaving soils, columnar foundations can be built in a few hours and are considered the cheapest option. If the soils are clayey, the developer has two options:

• do (the main condition for swelling is eliminated by draining melt/soil water), insulate the sole (due to the small size of the building, high-density polystyrene foam will have to be laid around the entire perimeter and under the blind area to preserve the heat of the subsoil);
• or bury the pillars below freezing, fill the sinuses with non-metallic material (sand, crushed stone);

A columnar foundation on heaving soil should lie deeper than freezing

In the first case, the foundation for the shed will cost more, since EPS has a high price. In the second option, the volume of earthworks will increase sharply. Therefore, the technology will be considered on a flat area with low groundwater level for coarse sand, rock or gravelly soil:

• full-scale axes - carried out with cords along cast-offs, 1.5 m away from the pit;
• pits - the arable layer is removed under each pillar (usually 40 cm);
• cushion - an underlying layer 20 - 40 cm thick is filled with crushed stone on wet soil or sand on dry soil, compacted every 10 cm with a vibrating plate or manually with a log;
• drainage - corrugated pipes, perforated in the lower part, are laid along the perimeter of the blind area, draining melt and storm water, covered with crushed stone, covered on all sides with geotextiles;
• masonry - pedestals are erected from ceramic bricks or blocks 20 x 20 x 40 cm, on which the beams of a wooden grillage will be laid.

The backfill is designed by analogy with pile-grillage foundations.

Tire poles

Individual developers often use worn-out machine wheels in construction and landscape design. Tires are used as a structural material for foundations or formwork. Technologies differ and are selected depending on the percentage of clay in the soil:

• on heaving soils - holes are torn off in the corners and in increments of 1.5 - 2 m under long walls, wheels are stacked inside, the internal space is filled with crushed stone, which is compacted with a tamper, backfilling must be with inert material (for example, sand);

Tire columns are buried below the frost mark and covered with crushed stone

• on rocky, crushed stone or coarse sandy soil - it is enough to remove the fertile layer, fill the holes with sand, compact it with a vibrating plate, make concrete grade M15 and higher, fill the inner cavity of the tire and compact the mixture by bayoneting.

The tire serves as a formwork for concrete and dampens soil movements

A significant disadvantage is the large diameter of rubber products. The wall is supported in the center of the wheels, at the corners the rubber protrudes on both sides, and on straight sections on one side. This makes it difficult to make a fence, without which moisture and rodents will penetrate into the underground. Therefore, the cladding is mounted on a frame that imitates a plinth, or openings are cut out in sheet materials, and the wheels are painted for a more acceptable facade design.

Important! After the concrete hardens, the structure partially loses its damping properties, so if swelling is possible, it is better to use the first method.

Monolithic ground belt

This technology is the only one that makes it possible to make floors on the ground that are optimal for long-term use in a poultry house or barn. In the initial version, options are possible depending on the ground conditions:

• non-heaving soils - no additional measures are required if the soil is dry; if the ground level is high, drainage and waterproofing are necessary;
• clay soil - along the perimeter of the building and under the blind area it is necessary to lay insulation to preserve geothermal heat under an unheated building, make wall drainage and treat accessible concrete surfaces with waterproofing materials to prevent swelling;

At the following stages, the technology for constructing a monolithic belt consists of operations:

• marking - cast-offs are removed beyond the perimeter by 1.5 - 2 m, for each wall 2 cords are pulled along the inner/outer edge of the foundation;
• excavation work - the fertile layer is removed entirely inside the center lines, since it is forbidden to make a floor screed on it;
• underlying layer - foundation pad made of crushed stone or sand, ASG mixture with a thickness of 0.2 - 0.4 m, the perimeter is 0.2 m larger than the size of the foundation on each side;
• drainage - a closed circuit of perforated pipes lying at the level of the sole with a slope of 4 degrees in one direction;
• insulation - only on clay soil, the perimeter is lined with extruded polystyrene foam, the blind area is insulated at a depth of 0.4 m;
• formwork - plywood or plank panels are mounted vertically, the sides are 5 cm higher than the design mark to avoid concrete splashing during vibration compaction;
• reinforcement - frames made of longitudinal rods 6 - 10 mm, tied with rectangular clamps made of smooth reinforcement 6 - 8 mm;
• pouring - laying the mixture in a circle with simultaneous compaction (bayoneting with a rod or deep-well vibrator).

Monolithic belt belt for a utility block with a blind area

Caring for concrete will help prevent cracks from opening by periodically moistening the poured sawdust. As an option, you can cover concrete surfaces with film, reducing moisture evaporation.

After stripping, all accessible faces of monolithic beams are waterproofed with bitumen mastic, coating or plastering materials, or rolled material (for example, TechnoNIKOL) is fused to the surface.

The ground floor is a floating screed, cut off from the foundation by a damper tape. The blind area is necessary to drain melt and rainwater from the walls of the barn.

Thus, any budget foundation from the considered options can be chosen for the barn. The main criteria remain the characteristics of the soil and groundwater level, the relief and weight of the building, the type of floor/floor and the purpose of the utility block.

In rare cases, a country house can do without a barn. This outbuilding serves to house shovels, rakes and other equipment, as well as equipment, firewood and other gardening items that are not usually brought into the house. Before its construction, the question arises of how to make a barn with your own hands from boards without a foundation. The fact is that in most cases, the foundation for a barn is a necessary condition, as when building a house. But such an outbuilding has a list of differences that also affect the foundation. So, one of the most important nuances is the low weight of the structure. If the weight of a house can be expressed in hundreds of tons, then a barn weighs up to a ton, and as a result, the load on the supports is minimized. You should also take into account the lack of heating in the barn, because due to the lack of heating, the soil under the barn will freeze. And finally, a barn will be easier to build than a house, because it does not use complex architectural forms and techniques, this also significantly reduces the cost.

Low requirements for the base of the barn make it possible to use a variety of designs and conduct events with your own hands. But still, some basics are more suitable, and some less so.

Choosing the Basics

A light outbuilding made of wood or even brick can be placed on almost any of the known foundation types. Thus, a deep strip foundation can be chosen because of its high strength and, as a result, long service life. But its high price does not justify the device. And in the case of an ordinary shed, its creation is not necessary. And due to the light weight of the structure, if the foundation is laid incorrectly, there is a chance that it will rise and begin to bulge.

Shallow and non-buried strip foundations look better in this case. They have a lower price, and the strength is quite sufficient for such a building. In addition, this type of foundation has a high resistance to deformation and it is easier to create such a foundation with your own hands. It is often used under brick sheds or buildings made of other materials that are prone to cracks. But this type will require the use of a good reinforcement frame, so the price of such a base will generally be noticeable.

A columnar foundation can rightfully be called the best and most universal solution. It can allow the placement of not only wooden buildings, but also light stone structures. It is cheaper than the basics described above, and at the same time reacts normally to freezing of the ground.

The slab base can be used for both light and massive buildings for utility purposes. On light soils, it may be the only option for a stone shed. But its price is almost the same as a strip foundation, so this type will be justified only if there are excess floor slabs left on the site for the building. Pouring a new slab from scratch will be too expensive and labor-intensive.

Another winning option would be a screw-pile foundation. It is best suited for light wooden buildings. Inexpensive, easy to construct, does not require excavation and has good strength. The downside is the short service life; in this sense, screw piles give in to all other options. But even piles that were installed “carelessly” will last about 20-30 years, and a barn may not require more time.

Our ancestors knew how to build a barn without a foundation. They built barns by digging or hammering wooden posts into the ground, or by placing logs directly on the ground. This option can also be considered, but only if the tree is properly protected from rotting with special solutions.

The best option for a wooden or frame-type shed would be columnar or pile foundations, and for buildings made of brick, cinder block or aerated concrete blocks - a shallow strip foundation. So, let's focus on the columnar view, and also learn about how to build a barn without any foundation at all.

Columnar base

You need to start from the stage of selecting a place and applying markings to it. Supports should be placed at each of the corners of the building, as well as in places where walls connect to partitions or have a large extent. Usually, a span length of no more than 2 meters is taken as a basis, otherwise the beam may simply sag, and the beam lying on the support in this case will collapse due to the high load. Having made the calculations and completely measured everything, you can begin laying.

We dig a hole intended for support, and since there is no point in making a deep excavation, we make a small hole on which the columnar frame will hold perfectly even if the soil is not particularly dense. It is quite convenient to make round holes using a drill with manual or mechanical drives. A mixture of gravel and sand crumbles at the bottom, which must be thoroughly compacted. Supports are also laid or poured, but it is still more profitable to use monolithic pillars, and if after the construction of the house there is a large amount of brick left over, then it is quite possible to use it in the masonry.

It is advisable to place the pillars on a single line, which will act as an axis on the wall that will be made in the future. You need to make them as even as possible horizontally. And if it is not possible to make an even masonry, then low-height pillars can be made significantly higher using a concrete solution. The height of the base must be selected in such a way that there is 30-40 centimeters of free space under the floor. This will ensure effective ventilation and prevent the appearance of dampness. The frame itself used in construction does not deteriorate so much from moisture, but the building that stands on it can simply rot.

After creating the supports, you need to give them a couple of days to dry and then soak them with a waterproofing agent, this can be bitumen mastic. It will not only protect the concrete material from moisture, but will also protect the building’s support beams from moisture.

Pouring the foundation

For a stone shed that will also be subject to heavy loads, such as keeping livestock or storing heavy equipment, you will need a strong foundation. Pouring a foundation can also be used to create a regular shed that is not designed for loads, but which is expected to last a long time. And for loaded buildings, it will be necessary to pour a monolithic type of foundation.

It is easy to create, and the materials will cost a fairly affordable amount. Ready-made and detailed drawings of the barn will allow you to make the highest quality construction possible. To do this, you will need to measure the area allocated for the shed, and also mark on the plan the desired location of the walls and partitions.

After this, as preparation, the ground itself is marked, the formwork is prepared and a sand cushion is arranged. Next, the foundation blank is reinforced and filled with high-quality concrete. And after that you need to wait a few days until the concrete gains strength and completely hardens.

Building a barn

Building a shed with your own hands will require good preparation for each stage and care in the work. Therefore, if a barn cannot exist without a foundation with your own hands, then the foundation needs to be created, after which it is necessary to stock up on bricks for laying the walls.

It is suitable for creating all types of sheds, both as a place to store tools and as a place to corral livestock. Laying brick is not difficult, it is only important to bandage the masonry, building each new line so that the brick on top is on the seam between the two bottom ones. Also, the walls can be made of logs, boards or wooden panels; such a barn will have a lower cost than a brick one.

After creating the walls, you can make the roof sheathing. This will require strong slats that need to be well secured to the walls. As a roofing material, metal tiles are well suited, which is an expensive, but high-quality and durable material.

It is also important to install a layer of waterproofing on the sheathing, which will prevent moisture from penetrating inside the shed. At the last stage, the window and door openings are fastened in the holes left ahead of time. After preparing the base, you can attach the door leaf and glass windows with frames. Of course, you can also use double-glazed windows, which will provide high-quality protection for the building from blowing, but will be inappropriate in a barn.

The shed frame itself is in most cases made using screws or nails, which is not a difficult job. After assembling the main frame in the form of the walls and roof of the barn, more supports and racks are installed. The materials for the frame can be boards, logs and bricks. Of course, a combined method can also be used, in which a brick plinth is first made, and only after that the work with wood material is carried out. The bricks are laid in four rows directly on a concrete slab, and the log or beams are secured to the bricks with anchor pins. Between brick and wood elements you need to make a layer of waterproofing.

When building a shed from planed boards, it is better to place them strictly vertically. They can also be attached with an overlap, that is, when one board floats over another. You can build a shed in this way in record time, that is, in about 30 hours.

Foundationless building

In construction there is an answer to how to build a barn without a foundation with your own hands. This is not difficult, and the advantage is that if necessary, the building can be moved. The only action that needs to be carried out is to raise the floor and walls above the ground, using wooden elements for this. It is important to treat the bottom trim and floor boards with antiseptic compounds.

Before work continues, you need to wait until the antiseptic dries. The main material for creating a regular shed in most cases is unedged board. The boards should be overlapped, positioned vertically or horizontally. When covering the very last wall, you need to provide a doorway, and it is better to take all measurements ahead of time. The roof is covered with roofing felt and secured with planks. To make the shed more durable, it can be trimmed from the inside using a continuous strip of metal; the last stage will be the construction and installation of the door.

Brick barn

The design of this material is quite complex and perfectly resists fire and moisture. Such a building will be more expensive, but will also last for decades. By insulating the structure, you can achieve above-zero temperatures in the barn. The best material option for creating a shed is sand-lime brick, which perfectly withstands the influence of moisture. You can also use bricks that have already been used for the shed.

Roofing felt and boards are used on the roof; also, such a shed cannot do without a foundation, and it will definitely be required. And the monolithic type should be used as a basis. The standard size of a country shed is a building with dimensions of 2 * 2.5 meters. It is also easy to decorate a stone shed with climbing plants, corrugated sheets, siding and other decorative options. Therefore, there is no need to worry that an unaesthetic brick shed will make the appearance of the site worse.

Shed adjacent to the house

Outbuildings differ not only in materials of manufacture, but also in structure. For example, to store food in a private or country house, a shed is often used, which is directly adjacent to the kitchen and serves as a pantry.

It is called a utility block and to create it you will need slate or other material from which the roof is made, as well as frame pillars. It is important to connect the living space and the barn, as well as insulate it and, if possible, equip it with at least some kind of heating system, because the cold from the utility room will penetrate into the kitchen and other rooms.

Construction of a simple shed

Such simple buildings do not require special skills or strict adherence to construction technology. As builders say and as experience shows: a barn is just a temporary building, and therefore there are only two requirements for it: a quick construction process and the simplest foundation, or a barn can be built without a foundation at all. The foundation, if needed, is made using pits in the corners of the barn with parameters of 0.5 * 0.5 * 0.5 m, which are filled with sand and compacted, after which columns made of brick are laid.

In some cases, logs or sleepers are used that are soaked in waste oil. After this, the frame is made by laying the bottom trim beams on the posts. In turn, vertical posts are placed on it, which are fastened on top with a similar beam.

To quickly build a shed with your own hands, you should not use a complex rafter system. To begin with, you can make a regular barn covered with a pitched roof. To build such a structure, the racks of the front wall are made higher than the back ones. The rafter beams are fixed to the racks and fastened with standard sheathing made from unedged boards. It is preferable to fasten the boards with continuous flooring so that the roofing felt can last longer. The finished frame is sheathed with boards.

Also another main requirement is low construction cost. To reduce costs, unedged lumber is used both to form walls and to create a roof. Doors and windows for construction do not need to be made to order; already used elements or those made independently will suffice. To properly make a shed using only your own hands, you do not need to study or acquire special skills, because the process is quite simple. In addition, in this case, it will be possible to save significantly on specialists.

Using the same technology, you can build a shed from corrugated sheets, which has both pros and cons. Large sheets of material will allow for faster construction, and the appearance of the material is much more aesthetically pleasing than that of ordinary boards. It also does not need protection from rain and snow, unlike wooden parts.

But when using such material, building a shed will cost a little more, which is a disadvantage. In the course of the development and arrangement of a summer cottage, a barn made of boards, which in recent times was almost a building of prime necessity, now becomes secondary and does not add color to the exterior of the site. And when the location is selected, the first thing that comes to mind is how much this construction will cost. Making an outbuilding from boards, sleepers or corrugated sheets is much cheaper than building a shed from foam blocks or bricks.

When thinking about how to make a barn without a foundation with your own hands, you must first decide how much you plan to use it. A building designed for long service must have a high-quality foundation, otherwise the walls will crack and you will need to spend a large amount of money on repairing the barn.

In general, a barn can be built with or without a foundation. The main question is how long it should last and what it is supposed to store. And only by focusing on these requirements, you can make a truly high-quality and long-lasting shed.

Building a shed with your own hands is not such a difficult task, but you cannot do without such a building on a personal plot, especially if the plot is new and the construction of a house is just being planned. During this time, the barn will become a shelter for craftsmen, a storage for their tools, and later will be a workshop or a good warehouse for firewood and garden utensils. Therefore, you need to start equipping the fenced area with the installation of this utility structure.

Selecting a location

You cannot install a shed anywhere - first you need to carry out zoning, since you need to remember that the building will serve for more than one year and may become a hindrance to other buildings, or spoil the planned landscape design of the area. Therefore, it is necessary to allocate a place for it that will not be suitable for agricultural or decorative plantings, construction of a gazebo, garage, bathhouse, toilet and other buildings. If you install a shed in the far corner of the site, it will not only not interfere with the work process, but will also provide protection from prying eyes.

But if in the future you plan to build a woodshed in it, then you should not move the barn too far from the main building, since in winter it will be difficult to get to it, and firewood should always be at hand.

Having chosen a suitable area for installation, you can proceed to further actions.

Site preparation

The first thing to do after choosing a location is to mark the site. It is usually marked with pegs placed in the corners of the future structure. A string is pulled over the pegs - this will make it easier to control the level of the foundation being built.

The foundation for a shed can be made in different ways, and the choice will depend on what material the structure will be built from. Most often, a barn is built using a frame type, but some owners prefer to build such an outbuilding from brick.

A frame structure is much lighter than a brick one, so you can choose a monolithic, columnar or strip foundation for it, or you can install it on relatively large concrete blocks.

For a brick building, a strip and monolithic version of the foundation is well suited. You can, of course, adapt a columnar one to it by making jumpers between the pillars, but this is quite troublesome. To choose a suitable foundation for your intended structure, you need to know what they are.

Although the most expensive and labor-intensive to install, but it has several advantages over other types of bases.

• It is durable and strong, so even when a wooden structure becomes unusable, a new one can be built on the old foundation.
• Having arranged such a foundation, the owner receives not only a foundation for the walls, but also a finished barn floor.
• If concrete is strengthened with topping, then the floor will not require additional flooring. But if desired, you can put linoleum or tiles on it, i.e. the concrete base gives you complete freedom to choose its decoration.

The construction of such a foundation occurs as follows:

• A not too deep pit is dug on the marked area, since the barn is a light non-residential premises, does not require insulation basics. Therefore, its total thickness can be 300 ÷ 350 mm, i.e. its underground part will be 200 ÷-250 mm, and the above-ground part 100 ÷ 150. Even if the walls are built of brick, half a brick thick (and more is usually not required for a barn), this height of the base will be quite enough for it.
• In the prepared area, you need to loosen and remove the soil to a depth of 400 ÷ 550 mm.
• Then at the bottom of the pit you need to place a 100 mm sand cushion, which will waterproof foundation sn izu. The sand must be thoroughly compacted by pouring water.
• Crushed stone is laid on the sand in the same layer. It is also compacted to the maximum. Crushed stone will make the base more durable and will not allow it to sag.
• Formwork is installed around the pit, 100 ÷ 150 mm high above the soil level.
• Next, a coarse concrete solution is mixed, which is laid on crushed stone in a layer 7-10 cm thick and evenly distributed throughout the pit - this will be a rough screed.
• Then a reinforcing grid with cells 60 ÷ 100 mm is immediately laid. It can be fixed with wire staples by inserting them in several places into the rough screed.
• If the shed floor area is large enough, then after the rough screed has set, you need to install beacons flush with the height of the formwork. They will be necessary for the convenience of leveling the surface.
• Next, a thinner cement-sand mortar, made in proportions 1:3, is poured and leveled using the rule along the guides of the beacons.
• The structure should be given several hours to set, and then covered on top with plastic film to ensure even hardening.
• If it is planned to strengthen the surface with topping, then this process is carried out on a surface that has just set, but is still wet.

Strip foundation

It will require less costs, but having installed it, you will also have to make a floor from boards, plywood, or also pour a screed, but a thinner one, since this type of foundation is intended only for the base of wall structures. It can be made both under brick walls and under wooden frames.

• For a strip foundation, a trench is dug along the perimeter of the marked area, approximately 100 ÷ 120 mm wide than the thickness of the future walls. The depth of the trench, just like that of a monolithic foundation, should be 400 ÷ 550 mm.
• Laying the sand cushion and strengthening it with crushed stone is also done in the same way as when installing a monolith.
• Next, the trench is fenced from the outside and inside with formwork, which should be 200 ÷ 350 mm high.
• A welded structure made of reinforcement is installed on the crushed stone layer; it is desirable that it be 50 ÷ 70 mm high below the top edge of the formwork.
• Next, the concrete mixture is poured into it and tapped with a bayonet shovel to remove air, which can form cavities inside the concrete, which will weaken the structure.
• The top of the poured foundation is leveled along the top edge of the formwork, and the structure is left to harden.
• When the concrete hardens, the formwork is removed from the base.
• Inside the foundation, it is best to fill in fine expanded clay; it will insulate and waterproof the floor, and will also prevent rodents from getting in, since they simply do not live in it.

Columnar foundation

Used for the construction of frame structures. Install it as follows:

• The area allocated for the barn is marked specifically for a columnar foundation, since the supports must stand at a certain distance from each other, usually from one to one and a half meters.
• According to the markings, the required number of holes are dug with a depth of 350 ÷ 450 mm, width along the top approximately 400 × 400 mm.
• A layer of 100 mm of sand and the same amount of crushed stone is poured onto the bottom of the dug holes. Each layer is well compacted.
• The next step is to lay waterproofing from polyethylene film, it should line the hole and come out to the surface, to a height future columns, plus 70 ÷ 100 mm.

• Formwork is installed in each hole - a box without a bottom. The waterproofing film is spread out inside it and secured with staples along its top. The shed structure will be raised from the ground to the height of the box.
• A welded or wire-bound reinforcement structure is installed in each formwork box.
• After this, the concrete solution is poured. From above, along the formwork, it is leveled and left to harden.
• While the columns are hardening, if desired, you can carry out the following work, which will reduce the penetration of moisture into the barn room. To do this, 50–70 mm of the fertile layer is removed throughout the entire site, around the columns, and in its place sand is poured and compacted, and fine crushed stone is poured on top of it.
• After the concrete has hardened, the formwork is removed from the posts, and then it would be advisable to cover them with a waterproofing material, for example, bitumen mastic or liquid rubber.

Prices for bitumen mastic

Bitumen mastic

Video: barn on a columnar foundation

Concrete block foundation

This one is only suitable for frame construction, and its installation is the simplest of all those described above.

• First, the marked area is cleared, and the fertile soil layer is removed from it by 50 ÷ 70 mm.
• Instead of the extracted soil, a layer of sand is poured, watered and compacted.
• Placed on top of it a layer of fine crushed stone, which also needs to be compacted.
• Next, concrete blocks of the required height are laid on the prepared site along the perimeter. The distance between them should be no more than one and a half meters. The blocks must be leveled using a level.

After the foundation of any type is ready, waterproofing from roofing felt in 2-3 layers must be laid on its surface.

Video: building a shed on a base of concrete blocks

Installation of frame, roofing and wall covering

Since the most common The method of building a shed is a frame structure, it is worth considering this. This design is popular because its installation is quick and quite simple. The main thing is to keep under constant control the evenness of the installed and laid bars. A properly assembled and processed structure will reliably last 10 ÷ 15 years. The work is being carried out in stages.

• The support beams are fastened together at the corners using metal corners. Next, they need to be secured to the foundation with a through fastener or a metal corner.

• The construction of the wall frame can be carried out in two ways:

- each of the walls, taking into account windows and doors, is assembled in a horizontal position and installed vertically in finished form. But in this case you cannot do without assistants;

- in the second option, each of the bars is installed separately according to a pre-developed drawing, and then they are fastened together at the installation site. This method of connecting frame elements is much more complicated.

• The entire structure must be rigid, therefore, if necessary, perpendicular jumpers are installed in the frames of the walls, floor and ceiling.

• All parts are connected to each other with a quarter or half-wood sample, and are fastened with special metal corners.

It must be remembered that the front wall of the barn must be 200 ÷ 300 mm higher than the back wall in order for the roof to have a slope.

• After erecting the frame of the walls and connecting them together, the roof sheathing is installed.
• The sheathing bars are attached at a certain distance - it will depend on what material is chosen for the roof. For example, plywood sheets will have to be laid under a soft roof or tiles. But, basically, corrugated sheeting, metal tiles or slate are used to cover outbuildings. The sheets of these materials are wide enough, so they are attached directly to the roof sheathing. In this case, the step of laying parallel bars in a horizontal orientation (perpendicular to the direction of the slope) should be about 500 — 600 mm.

• When the frame structure is covered with a roof, you can begin covering the floor and walls. The floorboards (if a wooden floor is planned) are laid on the joists and attached to them with self-tapping screws.
• Walls can be sheathed in two ways: only from the outside or both from the outside and from the inside.

1. If you want the building to look neat and fit well into the landscape design, it is sheathed on top with modern vinyl clapboard. Inside, plywood is used for cladding.

Prices for lining, imitation timber, block house

Lining, imitation timber, block house

If the barn will serve as a workshop in which you plan to work until the coldest weather, the walls of the building can be additionally insulated with mineral wool. To do this, insulation mats are placed in the frame of the wall sheathing between the clapboard and plywood.

2. If it was not planned to sheath the inside of the shed, then the outside can be decorated with denser plywood or thick enough boards with grooves so that there are no gaps in the sheathing. However, cladding with boards with the upper elements overlapping the lower ones (like shingles) also looks quite original.

• When the building is sheathed, window frames are installed in it, if windows are provided, a door frame and the door itself.
• If the barn was installed on a columnar foundation or concrete slabs, the lower through part of the structure (subfloor) must also be sheathed. The sheathing is secured to poles or concrete slabs. Flat slate, ordinary boards or vinyl lining can be used as cladding.
• A gutter is fixed to the back of the roof to drain rainwater, otherwise water may leak under the shed, and this is undesirable for any building.
• Then you need to look through the entire room from the inside; if cracks are found somewhere, they are sealed with polyurethane foam.
• If the barn is raised on a high foundation, then it is necessary to make a staircase of several steps. It can be made of wood or made of brick and then plastered with cement mortar.

Video: erecting a wooden shed on a solid foundation

There are many different options for building a shed, and they use different materials. But if the building is being built for more than one year, and you want it to serve for a long time, you need to choose high-quality materials for the work, and also approach each stage of the process with care.

5 types of timber for construction

This type of timber has the simplest manufacturing technology. To obtain it, four sides of the edge of the log are cut off. The most common cross-section of such timber is 150x150 mm or 150x200 mm. The production of solid timber does not require complex woodworking equipment, therefore, in terms of the number of offers on the market, this timber occupies a leading position.

• availability. Since the process of manufacturing solid timber is not complicated, it can be purchased almost anywhere, with minimal waiting time from order to delivery of products;
• the low cost of this material is due to the simplicity of its manufacture and the absence of costs for drying wood;
• environmental friendliness. This timber is able to regulate the level of humidity in the house, absorbing excess moisture that accumulates in the premises during human activity.

• complexity of laying a log frame;
• increase in construction time;
• cracking of non-profiled timber;
• significant costs for finishing and thermal insulation work;
• susceptibility to fungus.

Solid profiled timber

Profiled timber can be sold dry or naturally moist. It is best to use dry profiled timber for building a house, as it is less susceptible to shrinkage and deformation. Many companies produce ready-made house kits from profiled timber, which allows construction to be carried out in a very short time.

Anyone who has at least once directly dealt with construction issues and delved into all the details knows very well that the stage of erecting the foundation of any structure is the most expensive. But that's not all. In some situations, installing a foundation is either impossible, or undesirable, or unjustified from an economic point of view.

For example, in a small garden plot, where there is a high risk of damage to part of the root system of vegetation and it is difficult to carry out excavation work, given the density of plantings. In such cases, the best option is to erect a temporary lightweight structure directly on the ground. Let's figure out how to make a shed from boards without a foundation in your country house or local area with your own hands.

On many thematic sites, in addition to the advantages of this engineering solution (high speed of construction, reduced costs), significant disadvantages are also noted - the fragility of the structure and the low level of thermal insulation.

The author himself is a summer resident with extensive experience, and categorically disagrees with this. The reasoning is quite clear. Firstly, if the installation is done correctly, the shed will last for many years. Secondly, the quality of insulation is also a controversial issue, since such buildings are intended mainly for storing household equipment and improvised materials, therefore, the microclimate inside them does not play a special role.

And making a bedding under the bottom of the barn, for example, from expanded clay, is not difficult. Well, it’s not difficult to determine how and what exactly to additionally cover the inside of the house to increase the temperature.

How to make a shed is probably not the most important thing that interests the reader. Moreover, the building material has already been determined - board. But “without a foundation” and “with your own hands” is somewhat unusual, although quite simple. This is what the author will focus on, based on personal experience in the construction of such a structure.

All areas are different, and that says it all. But you still have to take something into account.

• The segment of the territory on which the plank shed is supposed to be built should not be at risk of flooding. Since it has no foundation, excessive soil moisture will lead to rapid destruction of the building. Therefore, for construction you should select (if possible) the highest “patch” on the site.
• It is advisable that the barn be exposed to the sun most of the day. In this case, there is a guarantee that even if water accumulates near it, it will quickly evaporate, and the earth will dry out well. And moisture ingress is inevitable, especially if irrigation is done not by soil, but by sprinkling. By the way, many summer residents practice exactly this technique, fortunately, there are many inexpensive plastic “turntables” on sale.
• When choosing a location, you should also take into account the perspective. Summer residents who not only know what crop rotation is, but also practice this growing technology, understand what we are talking about. When changing the order of planting garden crops or redeveloping a plot, the barn should not be a hindrance to the gardener.

How to make a shed base

Still, any building, including a barn, by definition must have one. The reader has two simple options to choose from. High speed of installation and minimum costs for the shed are guaranteed.

Option #1

An often mentioned way to build a shed is on pallets. It is unlikely that such a technology deserves attention, given that such a base (made of wood) will rot quite quickly. With an expectation of 1 - 2 years, this is a good option, but this is more suitable for temporary structures that are installed on sites, for example, by builders and installers. This is not the best solution for the private sector.

Option No. 2

On supports. Someone will object that this is already a columnar type foundation. This is not entirely true - there are similarities, but small. The fundamental difference is in the depth of installation of the supports. For a small-sized wooden shed, they are dug in 50±10 cm. This is quite enough for the base to withstand a not so significant load.

After installing the posts, they are aligned on all planes, securely fixed in place, after which they are tied. The supporting frame is the foundation on which the shed will be built. It turns out that you won’t have to do any excavation work on the site (except for digging 4-6 holes) or preparing concrete mortar in large volumes. In fact, the barn is made without a foundation.

The advantage of this solution is not only the speed of construction of the foundation and the minimal cost of materials. Since timber, that is, wood, is used for strapping, it will not be difficult to install the frame posts on it with your own hands. Yes, and the barn can be slightly raised above the ground, even the structure can be leveled if the site is downhill.

Calculator for calculating the quantity and volume of lumber

What to consider during construction

It is advisable to start work directly when all preparatory measures have been completed. Since the supports (you can use fragments of timber or logs) will be in the ground, you should choose a method for processing them to protect them from rotting. The concept of “do-it-yourself” often implies that the owner makes do with improvised materials and not purchased materials and means.

The author recommends thorough (at least 2 times) impregnation with waste engine oil. Additionally, it is advisable to coat all edges of the blanks used as posts (except for the top cut) with tar (molten, of course). There is virtually no financial investment, and the durability of the foundation is ensured.

A barn built using this technology has been standing on the author’s property for 12 years now. And there are not even indirect signs that repairs need to be done. By the way, the timber used for strapping should also be impregnated with mining.

Procedure for installing the base of the shed

Nothing complicated for those who are familiar with the technology of foundation construction.

• Marking the area for the barn.
• Digging holes. You need to try to ensure that their diameter is only slightly larger than the cross-section of the support.
• Bottom seal. It is advisable to load a little clay (but always oily) into each hole, and then compact this layer. It will protect the hole from penetration of liquid into it from below. Considering that the tree for the supports is coated with tar, this will be enough. The specificity of this method of constructing a shed excludes the possibility of using other insulating materials (film, roofing felt), since they cannot be correctly laid (and straightened) in small holes.
• Next is a layer of river sand or ASG.
• Installation of supports and alignment of each vertically and horizontally.
• Loading small gravel, broken bricks, etc. into the holes, compacting this mass.
• Filling holes with cement mortar. It must be made of a sufficiently liquid consistency so that it penetrates as deeply as possible.

Drawing of a barn made of boards without a foundation

After hardening of the artificial stone obtained in this way, you can tie the posts under the barn, that is, mount the support frame.

This technology is more suitable for areas that are uneven. Or if for some reason the shed needs to be raised higher above the ground.

Option #3

On the "sleepers". If the space allocated for the shed is fairly level, then this is the most convenient way to quickly build a shed. It is used (a log is not suitable in this case), which is laid horizontally. In order to make a small shed, 2 blanks arranged in parallel are enough. Under a larger structure (in width), it is advisable to mount a third one, the location for which is selected in the center.

Timber processing is carried out only by impregnation. Since the products placed on the ground are also the foundation on which the frame of the shed will be erected, the tree should not be coated with tar.

• Tracing the territory consists of marking the contour of the barn along the perimeter and determining the places where it is necessary to dig shallow (10 cm is enough) trenches. Timber will be laid in them.
• Preparation is identical to the method described above - soil compaction, clay, and so on.
• The bottom of each mini-trench is lined with P/E film, since the wood was not protected with tar. It makes no sense to use such a popular waterproofing material among summer residents as roofing felt. Within 3 years it will rot and the fungus will begin to destroy the wood.
• After laying the beam, it should be fixed to prevent horizontal displacement. There are two ways. An easier one is to drive pieces of reinforcement into the sides of the products, at the end parts. If a massive beam is chosen, and the barn is large in size, then 2–3 (depending on the length) through holes are drilled in each workpiece along the center line. Pins are also driven into them.
• The final stage is fastening the timber. All workpieces are connected with staples, metal plates, and corners. That's all - the strength and immobility of the base is ensured.

By the way, it is not necessary to dig trenches. You need to focus on your capabilities and local conditions. It is enough to fill the area with fine gravel, compact this layer well, and then lay the support beam on it.

There are a number of other methods for building a shed without a foundation. What they have in common is the presence of a support frame. The difference is in the columns on which it is installed.

There are also several options - reinforced concrete products, metal supports with plates, bricks and so on. The author did not consider other technologies for only one reason - the complexity of the connections. The supporting frame is made of wood, the posts are made of other materials. You can articulate it with your own hands, but why complicate your life by looking for a hammer drill, concrete drills, large metal drills or anything else.

How to build a shed

No detailed explanations are required for this stage of work. The technology of frame construction has long been known and is described in detail on many sites, in every detail. In principle, the author has nothing to add. The photographs clearly explain everything.

Frame installation

For a light shed, a beam with a side of 10 or even 5 cm (depending on the dimensions) is enough. For example, do this.

Installation of trusses (front and rear)

If the front pillars are made higher, then you can do without them. In this case, the roof will be pitched. It's easier to build.

Covering the frame with boards

Do it yourself - nothing complicated.

You just need to take into account that nails often go sideways and can also split the wood. It is better to fix all elements with self-tapping screws or self-tapping screws, with preliminary drilling of the channels.

The reader will determine for himself how to cover the roof and cover the shed outside and inside. You can do this.

If you show your imagination, an originally designed barn will become a real decoration of your summer cottage.

The construction of a utility block, auxiliary premises or, more simply, a shed on a summer cottage begins after most of the finishing work has been completed; tools and materials need to be removed and stored in a more suitable room. Building a utility block on your own does not present any particular problem, with the exception of the foundation, in which case you will have to tinker with your conscience. How conscientiously the foundation for a shed is made with your own hands determines its durability, strength and the cost of repairs and alterations.

Which foundation scheme for a shed to choose?

Of course, the design and type of foundation for a shed depends, first of all, on the design of the shed itself, more precisely, on the degree of its “capitalization”; the heavier the construction, the larger and deeper you will have to dig a foundation pit for the shed with your own hands. Typically four construction schemes are used:

• The classic columnar version of the foundation is used for lightweight structures made of boards, plywood, siding with a simple pitched roof. This is the simplest foundation for a barn in the country;
• A pile foundation can be called a universal design; it can be used for light sheds made of timber or a frame house;
• The strip version of the foundation base is used either for a box of blocks and bricks, or when arranging a basement.

Often a shed is erected without any support or anchorage to the ground. For example, if the site has heavy rocky soil with a high content of crushed limestone or limestone, marl-dolomite “tongues” come to the surface. In this case, it is easier and faster to build a foundation with your own hands on one sand bed.

Advice! It is enough to ensure proper drainage of rain flows and compact the sand backfill. On this basis, a shed without a foundation will last longer than on a shallow concrete strip laid on quicksand or loamy soil.

Building a shed without laying a foundation is faster and without major costs. But the results of such construction are difficult to predict, especially if the barn needs to be built on virgin soil, where there are no neighbors and there is no way to clarify the composition of the soil.

Is it possible to build a shed without a foundation?

The best option without a foundation is suitable for a lightweight panel shed made of OSB, plywood or lining. The lightweight structure weighs only a few hundred kilograms, but in any case, the installation of even such a lightweight structure will require the use of a “plastic” shed structure, which, along with its low weight, has good adaptability to the deformation of the top layer of soil. Even though there will be no settlement, the shed box may tilt or simply rot due to the accumulation of moisture under the floor.

Therefore, to build a shed without a foundation, several conditions must be met:

• Low groundwater and surface water levels at this particular point in the summer cottage. To do this, you will need to make good drainage or perform a fairly thick sand and crushed stone fill;
• Good protection of the barn from gusts of wind. The foundation plays the role of an anchor, so most often the building is oriented according to the wind rose and hidden behind the building of a country house;
• Ensuring normal ventilation of the underground space to remove accumulated moisture and condensation.

In addition, to build a shed, you will need to remove the top layer of fertile soil, compact the soil, treat the base with a herbicide or cover it with a geo-textile, lay down a film and cover it with a layer of sand.

Even without a foundation, the sandy base under the shed must be carefully compacted and leveled. The frame of a base made of timber, even treated with protective stains, cannot be laid on sand, so the best option would be to install the beams on a curb stone, paving slabs, or, in extreme cases, a laid out row of rubble or brick.

Even a light frame building without a foundation should not be left simply standing on a bed of gravel or on curb supports. This installation method is used only for open wooden gazebos. The barn has three times the sail capacity. For example, for a structure 2.5 m high and 2 m wide, the transverse area of ​​the silhouette will be almost 5 m 2. With wind gusts up to 15 m/s, the wind flow pressure can reach 100 kg/m2. Even in the most favorable conditions, a shed without a foundation will be subject to an overturning force of up to half a ton. Even if a building without a foundation does not topple, over time the barn will simply be thrown off the curb supports.

Therefore, the shed box must be sewn to the ground using steel rods, pipes or scraps of reinforcement driven into the ground.

Options for making a foundation for a barn with your own hands

Traditionally, a barn is built either in the form of a lightweight panel or plank structure, or from lightweight materials - gas silicate blocks and foam blocks. This option is cheaper, simpler and easier to build. Much less often, a barn is built from timber or brick; such a design is much more expensive. They usually resort to it if a single capital outbuilding is being built, which includes, in addition to the barn, a garage and premises for livestock. In this case, the foundation for the block shed is built exclusively on shallow concrete foundation strips.

The simplest columnar type of foundation

The construction of the foundation begins with leveling the site and removing the fertile layer of soil; as in the previous case, it is necessary to plan a piece of land and hammer in pegs with a cord, marking the outer perimeter of the walls. It is not difficult to determine the dimensions of the boundaries of the future foundation; it is much more difficult to achieve maximum perpendicularity of the adjacent sides of the future building.

Oddly enough, the stage of marking the future columnar foundation has always been and remains the most labor-intensive and patience-requiring operation. To ensure that the shed has clear right angles, special devices in the form of two frames are used when marking.

Using the markings we mark the installation points of the columnar supports. For the foundation of a 2x4 m shed you will need 12 supports. In order for each foundation pillar to have maximum stability, it must be buried 15-20 cm into the ground. We pour a cushion into the dug holes - a layer of gravel, and then sand and compact it thoroughly.

The easiest way to support the foundation is to use ready-made cinder blocks or cast the supports into reusable formwork assembled from plastic lining. The second option is more labor-intensive, since you have to do a fairly large amount of work:

• Assemble the formwork, install it in the hole and level it vertically;
• Fill the formwork with concrete; after preliminary setting, the casting is freed from plastic;
• While the concrete is still damp, the top edge is carefully trimmed horizontally with a knife so that all the supporting planes of the foundation columns are at the same level.

Important! Height adjustment has always been the most difficult operation. Therefore, sometimes, instead of cutting into the thickness of the concrete, an anchor bolt was driven “onto the raw” to fasten the timber frame; the height of the foundation column was adjusted using metal pads or cut wooden planks.

If the foundation needs to be made as quickly as possible, then instead of casting, you can use ready-made cinder blocks. First, each block is tamped or pressed with gentle blows on a sand cushion so that the supporting surface of all pillars is in the same plane. After this, the cinder blocks are fixed by pouring concrete mortar into the pit.

All that remains is to install the pine timber frame. The corners of the beams are connected halfway across the tree and hammered in with nails; it is better not to use screws. Nails allow the joint to play under load, while screws split the wood. After assembling the perimeter of the base in the same way - into half a tree, we saw and cut in the cross beams.

All that remains is to treat the wood with a pickling solution and sew up the trim with a 20 mm edged board.

Arrangement of the foundation for a permanent shed

The warmest and most comfortable for a summer cottage is a barn built from foam blocks. The cost of construction is relatively low; most of the work, for example, the box and foundation for a shed made of blocks, can be done with your own hands.

Unfortunately, lightweight materials such as gas silicate block or foam concrete do not have sufficient rigidity so that walls can be installed on a light foundation. In most cases, the box has to be reinforced with reinforcing belts made of reinforcement, and a shallow concrete strip has to be cast as a foundation for a shed made of foam blocks.

At the first stage, you will need to make a pit for a shallow LF. By marking the contour of the future shed, we dig a trench 20 cm wide and 50 cm deep. There are two ways to build a cast concrete foundation for a shed from blocks:

• Casting into the ground;
• Traditional pouring of concrete into disposable formwork.

In the first case, when constructing a foundation, there is a large excess consumption of concrete; casting into the ground can be used if it is possible to use rubble stone to enhance the strength of concrete. The addition of only 30% of the trench volume with fragments of heavy igneous rocks makes it possible to abandon reinforcement or any other reinforcement of the foundation. In the second case, the construction of a foundation base will require additional costs for the assembly and installation of formwork panels, their dismantling, coating waterproofing and backfilling.

In practice, for a one-story barn, the foundation base is most often poured without formwork; a cushion of gravel and a mixture of screenings and sand is simply laid at the bottom of the trench. The trench will need to be made wider, approximately 25-30 cm. To prevent the foundation under the shed from cracking, it is necessary to carefully level and trim the walls, remove roots and stones. Otherwise, the waterproofing film will not lie flat, and the pressure of the concrete will simply tear it apart. If the soil is dense enough, then the pouring depth can be limited to 30 cm; for sandy loam and loose loam, you will need to increase the height of the tape to 40 cm.

Before pouring concrete, the edges of the trench are expanded using scraps of boards supported at one edge by the soil removed during digging. Thus, it is possible to easily make a foundation plinth for a shed with a height of 15-20 cm. The upper part of the base of the building, protruding above the ground, can be lined with large rubble stones and filled with concrete mortar. After a day or two, the earth and boards need to be removed, and the film should be cleared of soil and glued to the foundation walls.

Ideally, it is necessary to pour the foundation in one go, but doing it alone is quite difficult, since you will need to lay at least one and a half meters of cubic concrete under the shed with a 2x4 m base. For an ordinary 50-liter concrete mixer, this is 30 batches, and they need to be done within one day. If the concrete foundation for a shed is filled with rubble stone, then you can get by with half the volume of mortar. Alternatively, you can rent a 100-liter concrete mixer for a day and make 7-10 batches; buying one and a half cubic meters of concrete for the foundation of a barn is unrealistic, since automixers practically do not work with such portions.

Special cases of foundation construction

A place on a site for the construction of a shed, as a rule, is chosen according to the residual principle, where it is convenient to build a utility block, without taking into account the quality of the soil and the possibility of building a normal, solid foundation. If the barn has to be built on a slope, and even on rich siliceous clay, then the only possible option would be to pour a mixed foundation structure. It is in many ways similar to the strip version, but bored piles are cast in the corners and middles of the long sides of the base of the building.

In this case, before filling the bottom of the trench with a gravel cushion, you will need to drill holes in the corners of the future foundation of the barn with a garden drill. The depth and diameter of the well are 120 cm and 15 cm, respectively. A sheet of roofing material rolled into a roll is placed inside the wells, and a T-shaped frame made of reinforcement or a corner is inserted. The top shelf should be located at a height of 15-20 cm from the bottom of the trench. After this, you can fill the foundation with concrete and level the base of the shed for laying the foam block.

Conclusion

If the walls of the room are supposed to be built of brick or heavy cinder block, then the foundation will need to be reinforced with reinforcement. At a minimum, lay two strands of 8mm steel rod for every 15cm of foundation height. For foam block and gas silicate, the base part of the foundation tape must be reinforced with an additional reinforced belt. Considering the relatively low rigidity of foam blocks, wood concrete and gas silicate, an additional row of reinforcement will help to avoid problems with settlement of the walls of the building.