I'm taking some time off work to put up a garden shed. It arrived on Monday, but as I'm nowhere near ready to assemble it the panels are stacked up on my back lawn, with a tarpaulin to protect them from the inevitable rain.
After a lot of deliberation, and several changes of mind, I've decided not to take on the work of a concrete base for it. Instead I'll lay paving slabs to support treated timber bearers, which then support the shed.
After stripping the top inch or two of soil and vegetation over the last three days I've realised that my waterlogged clay soil is just not up to having paving slabs laid on it (with a 50mm bed of sand & cement). Pressing down on the soil with the ball of my foot produces visible movement an inch or more away. I know that, come summer, this soil will be rock hard and cracked.
So I've started digging down another couple of inches to where the solid clay begins. This is only a bit firmer, but I've ordered a jumbo bag (~850kg) of "granular sub base" which should produce a firmer surface once I've spread and compacted it. I've also got to find somewhere to hide a huge pile of poor quality soil.
None of this would have been possible without the brilliant Paving Expert web site. It's taught me everything I know.
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