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Garden Building Base Construction
Covering concrete, timber frame and paving slabs
The Cousins guide to garden building bases
This guide covers bases for all types of garden buildings including; Sheds, Home Offices, Garden Rooms, Playhouses, Greenhouses and Garages.
It is essential that your base is level and of sound construction to ensure the longevity of your garden building. The better the base the longer your building will last!
Here at Cousins we recommend three different types of garden building bases.
Concrete Bases
Concrete bases are by far the most ideal base for any type of garden building. We always recommend concrete bases whenever possible.
We recommend that your concrete base is 4 – 6 inches thick, dug in to the ground and with mesh re-enforcing for larger buildings such as garages and workshops. It is important that the concrete base is of a smooth finish and not pitted or bumpy as this will affect the levels of the base which in turn can affect how the building sits on the base.
If your concrete base isn’t completely level we are able to fit a timber frame, see more information below.
Timber Frames
Are suitable when you have an uneven area and do not want to lay a concrete slab, or you have a concrete slab that isn’t level.
We construct our timber frames out of pressure treated 75mm x 50mm timber, and 80mm heavy duty screws, in effect we build a decking frame that we then secure the floor onto, this stops any movement and makes sure the building stays fully square and level, this allows all the doors and windows to function properly.
Paving Slabs
Are an ideal alternative to a full concrete base. We would only recommend using paving slabs for smaller buildings.
When we lay a Paved Base we away lay a sub-base of concrete, this allows the slabs to be solid and level. Many people lay slabs straight onto sand, after a heavy rainfall the sand can be washed away, this then means the slabs will move and can affect your doors and windows. The other way around this is to lay slabs on sand and then point in concrete around the edge, this stops any movement once the concrete is dry.
If you are installing a greenhouse, then slabs are a more aesthetically pleasing than concrete as you can see them!
If you are planning on having a base area larger than the building slabs are again a much for aesthetically pleasing option.
One final advantage of paving slabs is the fact that if you decide to move your garden building the slabs can be moved as well, with a concrete base the only option is to break it up and start again.
Dwarf Wall Bases
If you are building a greenhouse and don’t want glass to ground, then a Dwarf Wall base is the ideal option.
Dwarf Wall bases are generally 600mm high (2 feet), there are 3 main options for the base with a Dwarf Wall.
Option 1 – Dwarf Wall around the perimeter only, with earth inside for growing out of the ground.
Option 2 – Dwarf Wall around the perimeter, with a path through the centre of the greenhouse with earth both sides.
Option 3 – Dwarf Wall around the perimeter, with a solid concrete base inside. This is an ideal option if you are growing out of grow bags.
If you need any advice or would like to arrange a free no obligation quotation for your garden base, please contact us.
Frequently asked questions
In short, yes. A base is an integral part of any garden building. A solid base will ensure the integrity of the building structure and the longevity of the building.
Garden building bases start at arounf £350 and for larger bases up to £4,000. Prices are determined by a number of factors including; size, if re-enforcing is required, access to site and the amount of material needed to be removed if levelling an area off. Contact us for a quotation.