New England shed foundations

[Siress]

Guess this is our defacto Home DIY subforum...

Anyone have insights on the longevity of a 120sqft storage shed placed over bedrock? There's sand and a little dirt. Seems I'll need to add gravel for drainage. Just gravel the whole foundation and plop the shed on top without anchors(!)? Drill into the bedrock and add anchor pins? Anchor pins and floating structure (wood on supports, unfastened)? Pins and a poured slab?

I have no idea what's best here... Just looking to store patio furniture and yard tools. Largest item I envision will be a snow blower.

[BLachance75]

These 2 sheds are 15ish years old. Both are sitting on blocks and have dirt under them.



I get animals under them. The lower shed has had a groundhog for the past few years. The upper shed has had bunnies and skunks take residence under it.

Other than that there hasn’t been any issues. The plywood floors are still solid as are the floor joists.

[Grendel]

There are kits for anchoring sheds to the ground. Some use pounded stakes and cable and others are augers and cables. These are meant for use in soil. If you truely have bedrock you could just drill down and insert and anchor bolts and use that to tie down your shed. My old 12x24 shed sat on 3 4x6 runners with holes bored through them at the ends for attaching cables for moving the shed. I ran black iron pipe through them and secured them with threaded flanges then tethered under the shed to auger style stakes that I had already put in place with 4 sections of 3/8th aircraft cable. The purpose is to keep your shed from being a flying object during a bad storm, If I knew I was on a solid piece of bedrock I'd have no problem boring 4 holes and sinking 4 anchors like a Simpson Strong Tie with a D-ring and tie down with some aircraft cable. I know when I put in my 12x24 it technically was not required to be tied down but that was in hurricane territory in SC so I felt it prudent.

[A.Greenleaf]

I have a shed right on drainage gravel and a chicken coop on blocks. Both are doing just fine and have no floor rot.

[Siress]

Thanks, guys. Sounds like there are no wrong answers here.

[Mr. Hick]

What do you mean on bedrock?
Huh?

Man, Sheds have a life span of about 20-30 years before they start to rot from the bottom up. The higher you can get the things off the ground the less chance they stand to rot. The higher you get them off the ground the more critters problems you will have and the more accessibility issues you will have.

Are you building your own shed?

Are you ordering a shed?

whats the deal

We don't live in a tornado or seismic zone. a 120 square foot shed weighs about 2000 lbs. they don't need to be anchored.

of course you could always call your local code enforcer and ask what the deal is for your location. they might require that it be blessed by the OSHA gods and be anchored by strands of Virgin hair.

[Siress]

As in - wherever there's something other than rock, I suspect a developer brought it here... Dig much at all anywhere of your choosing and you're guaranteed to hit solid rock within a couple of feet. The boulders stick out in some spots. Some spots are so shallow that grass roots cannot take hold. The spot I have in mind for the shed is mostly sand, weeds, and exposed tree roots.

No details are certain yet, except that I'm reasonably certain that no permit is required if it's ≤200sqft. Certainly not if it's ≤120sqft. I think 120sqft is enough for my needs, so that's what I'm targeting.