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Cheapest, easiest flooring for a new 3x3m shed

Hi ya’all, I’ve just purchased a 3x3m garden shed and was wanting a concrete slab under it but as I’m only a poor pension I found the price a wee bit too much for me even if I did it all myself,then somebody suggested pavers or flagstones as the floor and another said make a pallet floor and anchor my shed in four corner concrete foundations? Well I’m easy and willing to give anything a go so long as it doesn’t break the bank,so PLEASE for a capable Pensioner Lady that hasn’t got small bucks let alone big bucks to play with what type of flooring do you think would be cheapest for me?

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MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop communtiy @Pip. It's great to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

The most budget-friendly solution I can come up with would be laying concrete pavers around the perimeter for the shed to sit on. You could then have ANL 1 Tonne 10mm Blue Metal Loose Aggregate delivered to your house to fill up the interior floor to the level of the pavers. If only the pavers are used for the floor, it will cost several hundred dollars and the gravel infill is a great cost-saving measure.

Alternatively, instead of the pavers, I can't see why you couldn't use 200 x 50mm 3.0m Ironwood Classic Treated Pine Sleepers instead of the pavers, which would drop the cost significantly again.

As you have mentioned, using pallets could be done and our stores will normally have some free to give away. Let me mention @TedBear to see if he has any other solutions.

Please let me know if you need further help or had questions.

Mitchell

TedBear

@Pip

I strongly suggest that you use 600mm slabs (25 of) & lay them inside the shed, when it's built and leveled. I've always done this with garden sheds because: a) the floor is then above the level of surroundings, so water is less likely to run in and b) the pavers, sitting on the lip of the inner frame, will hold it down in strong winds (short of a cyclone maybe). Level the area, put down plastic sheeting if dampness is an issue. Place shed on it. Add a little dry sand and use the inner lip and a scaper board to relevel floor area for the slabs. I think pallets would rot and break too easily. If you prefer the sleepers, as Mitchell suggested, make sure the floor level is at least a little above ground level to keep water out & bolt the shed to them. I hope those suggestions are of use.

Edit: I just noticed that the sleepers suggested by Mitchell are 50mm deep and 3M long, so they could go inside the shed and sit on the inner lip, giving a raised floor surface and heavy items inside would then hold the shed down in the wind. That may be easier to manage than heavy slabs.

Pip

my first ever post was about getting the easiest and mostly cheapest flooring for a 3x3m shed, well thank you to everyone who offered me solutions,appreciated but I must (if possible) go with Fred Bears idea about the left over store pallets and was wondering how many I could actually have for free and would that be from my local NEW(awesome)SUPER BUNNINGS STORE now open at Kembla Grange (first visit yesterday and was in awe,couldn’t close my mouth,MAGNIFICENT) So I was wondering and hoping as it was said the pallets are free if I would be allowed to get what’s needed for my floor and a few extra maybe so I could put a cheap type of decking around my shed. As a pensioner you learn to settle for the not so glamorous things but the cheapest and ones that do the job needed, I’m not fussy but I’m giving myself a challenge to see what I can do with pallets as an alternative to spending money,I’m a perfectionist so I think I might surprise everybody with the outcome if I am allowed to have these pallets no longer in use from the store. All I need to know now is how I can get them home so again I’m looking forward to your replies from maybe kind and considerate people who are willing to retrieve and deliver these pallets to my address as I don’t think I’d get them on my mobility scooter,lol! ANY TAKERS.? Pip🌼

MitchellMc

Hi @Pip,

If I understood @TedBear's comment above correctly, "I think pallets would rot and break too easily.", he was advising against using them and pointed out that they were just used for ease of transportation. I would agree that pallets would not be considered a permanent foundation for your shed, as they are pine and will rot if placed on the ground.

Your best method would be to speak with a team member at your local store regarding acquiring pallets. If pallets are available, then the team might be able to organise the delivery of them to your address for a minimal fee.

Mitchell

TedBear

Just confirming that Mitchell is correct, I was indeed suggesting not to use pallets. I meant that they were freely available for the display yards to use themselves for mounting their display sheds on because they already have some laying around from deliveries. You may get some slabs for free if you ask around or look on Gumtree. (I happily gave 80 away last year to tidy up my backyard.)

Pip

Oops,misread, I’ll tell ya,if anyone wants grey hair then buy a shed and try doing things on the cheap,lol! Driving me crazy so I’ve thought long and hard on it and thought I’m just going to have to budget harder and figure something out for the long run but a mate of mine has kindly made up some marine ply decking,almost a pallet and it’s going to have to do for now but I just want to say that you guys have been awesome and I just want to thank you all for your helpful suggestions even if I can’t afford to do them or I’ve misread what was being said, it’s been a lot of fun and when I’ve finally done it all I promise to post up some pics for you all Thanks again everyone,Stay Safe and Stay Crafty DIYing,

Pip🌼

TedBear

Maybe marine ply decking as a floor will do the job. Would be much better than pallet timber.

Have you tried contacting your local council to see if they have people in your area who will help you with the labour and fetching things (such as slabs)? Many councils have a list of volunteer organisations that do odd jobs for pensioners for free. The council may also have used slabs for free. (If so, ask the size. They tend to be bigger than standard ones.) It would be worth asking.

Mathy

Late to the party here.

Problem 1

Anchoring the shed is the most important issue. 3m x 3m is going to be quite a sail in the wind. So, the best way to get some free advice would be to speak to your local Council. They have engineers and their heads around wind ratings and solution. Their solution might involve some concrete piers, possibly some u-bolts anchored into them to hold the lower rail of the shed down. Tell them you’re not well off, see if they give you an affordable solution.

Problem 2

You can use a pallet or decking style solution inside (as per what your friend built). Just need to make sure that you don’t have water coming in under the bottom of the shed (because it’s not on a slab). You can use heavy duty builder’s plastic. Take it from the top of your *deck/pallet*, vertically down and under the bottom of the shed - then fix by burying or using something to hold it down. Waterproofing done.

Hope this helps, cheers Deb 🙂

wooshka

I recently did the same thing , i used secondhand pavers and limestone for the edges it cost me about $120.00 took a bit of hunting around

Noyade

"Well I’m easy and willing to give anything a go so long as it doesn’t break the bank,so PLEASE for a capable Pensioner Lady that hasn’t got small bucks let alone big bucks to play with what type of flooring do you think would be cheapest for me?"

G'day Pip.

This is something I tried early last year - and yes, I admit, it's a cheap and nasty alternative, but so far it's worked.

It's a covered area that once upon a time was my three son's sandpit. All grown up - I wanted to use the area to store some equipment.

I kept the sand - leveled it.

Put down second hand corrugated iron.

On that I placed those laminated sheets (name?) from Bunnings. Memory thinks they were $70 for a 2400 mm X 1200 mm sheet.

At first I thought it wouldn't work, but as I walked over it and loaded stuff on, it 'settled' into the sand and became very stable. The troughs in the corrugated iron, in the sand, seem to have excellent holding power.

An area is exposed to the elements and so far - so good. Can't see why it wouldn't work in a small shed?

Anyway, just a thought.

Cheers

Graeme.

Jason

Great to see all these helpful suggestions continue to roll in for you @Pip. Let us know how you go.

Jason

TedBear

That's a great looking base @wooshka .

(I assume that you put plastic under the bricks too.)

wooshka

@TedBear , No plastic as we live in a high rainfall area and i wanted any rain getting inside to drain though the pavers , hence the raised limestone

It will be used for firewood storage

Pip

Hi,

Thanx for your reply about what I should do for my shed floor. I decided to use 3m pine sleepers as I already owned several. Made it so it has 3channels underneath for run off and screwed and anchored it all down. Admittedly I did have a hiccup here and there mainly due to my size of 5” and the weight of sleepers etc but eventually I got it up and quite proud of myself too. Thank you to everybody for their input an ideas, I’ve learnt a lot.

Respectfully,

Pip🌼

MitchellMc

Hi @Pip,

It's great to hear that you sorted out your shed base. What a fantastic use of the available resources!

Well done, and we look forward to your next project.

Mitchell

Yotaboy98

@wooshka - Just curious as to how you secured your shed to your beautiful layed pavers

EricL

Hi @Yotaboy98

Let me tag @wooshka to make sure that they are made aware of your kind words and questions. It would be good to know how the shed was attached to the flooring.

Eric

wooshka

Hi @Yotaboy98, I drilled into the Limestone blocks and used dynabolts to secure it to the wall panels , it has held up top some storms ok so far

Yotaboy98

So, @wooshka , are the limestone blocks from bunnings? Didn't think they're density would be adequate for dynabolts.

wooshka

Hi @Yotaboy98 , the are reconstituted ones from Bunnings about 140 thick plenty strong enough to handle a dyna bolt as long as you are not to close to the edge

bkjan

Hi Pip, my name is Jan and I've asked a very similar question on here this week. --- I've had several replies, I'm sorting through them to find the most practical and affordable for my needs. --- Once I've done that, if you'd like me to share what I've been told, just ask I'm very happy to share. This webpage is such an excellent resource for getting help with projects. --- One comment from a Ted Bear was to (but he was talking about concrete pavers, however, it seems like great advice for pallets too): ---- Get the area leveled. Lay plastic sheeting over the area. --- Install the shed over the plastic and cut off any excess. --- Add another layer of plastic inside the shed with edges sticking up inside. --- Install slabs inside, over-lapping the frame bottom to weigh it down. Trim off excess plastic inside. --- The second layer is to keep any moisture from seeping in from outside, so that your slabs stay dry. ---- Someone else said: stabilize the shed by laying concrete pavers inside the shed on the lip around its edge, this will help to anchor the shed but also add Otter 690 x 90mm Ground Screw Stirrup to help anchor. However, I'm going to look around for a simpler ground screw. --- Good luck. from Jan
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