Shed Floors and Foundations

Tips and ideas on the types of floors and foundations to use for your outdoor storage sheds.

When you buy an outdoor storage shed, you often look at price, quality and type of materials used for the shed, and how long the shed will last. Other things that are sometimes considered include maintenance requirements, and accessories available.

Not everyone thinks about floors and foundations for their outdoor sheds though, and some people are surprised to find out after the fact that most sheds don't come with a floor. Instead, you're expected to choose and install or build your own foundation for the shed before putting it into place.

Now creating foundations and floors for outdoor storage sheds is not too difficult, but you do need to know how you're going to use the shed so you'll install the proper flooring for it.

If you're simply putting anoutdoor storage shed in place to use as a generic storage room for seasonal items or family keepsakes, you can simply use bare ground for your shed flooring. Keep in mind however, that the ground is dirty of course, but it can also become wet. If your storage items are in simple cardboard boxes, things could be ruined by weather changes, and mice or bugs getting into the storage shed through the ground.

So if you plan to use a bare ground floor for your shed, be sure you're storing your belongings in solid plastic and waterproof containers and bins. It's also best to locate your shed somewhere in the yard where there is a slight rise to the ground, so water will not collect on the floor.

A better flooring option for outdoor storage sheds is to create a simple concrete foundation. This can be done using poured concrete or by placing concrete blocks side by side. Make the concrete foundation approximately one foot larger than the shed on all sides, to be sure water is not able to get in under the edges.

Another popular shed flooring material is wood. A wooden platform can be easily built using standard two by fours, and the shed simply sits down on and attaches to this platform. Like the concrete base though, be sure to build your flooring at least one foot larger than the shed on all sides.

Foundation For Outdoor Sheds