Building a Sturdy Shed Foundation ... this was hard 

Treat the cut ends to prevent rotting and cut the rebar at a sharp angle to make it easier to pound into soil

Great video! I'm gearing up to build this same style foundation for my new 14'x16' woodworking shop. Pretty sure you've saved me from making some boneheaded mistakes along the way.

I have a suggestion, when drilling through the beam. You can use a bit extension to give you the extra length. They come in 6", and 12" lengths. Could also been useful when attaching the rim joist . By the looks of the floor, the shed is going to be solid as a rock,... 👍

I put all my sheds on two large timber skids. If I build the shed myself, the skids go down first, then the floor framing is built right onto the skids, then the walls, roof. If I buy the shed, I simply jack up the shed and install the skids myself. I like the skids because I discovered that I move my sheds as I make more development to my properties, the skid mounts allow me to simply attach a chain to the skids and move it with either a tractor or a skid steer. Some I've moved over a quarter-mile, simply dragging them on the graveled driveways. I don't even unload the shed, just make sure nothing will fall over inside. I've even built a pump-house shed and picked it up with extended forks built this way and moved it over a half-mile. Since the skids support the entire floor, there was no distortion of the shed when picking it up. Another pump-house shed had a plywood bottom (under the bottom of floor framing) so I could set this on directly on top of a 8 ft. culvert buried deep into the ground. This shed had the entire floor foam-board insulated to keep the culvert and pipes / tanks from freezing. To move that shed, I picked it up with an excavator and nylon straps and set it in place. So I move a lot of sheds... and am planning on moving yet another one this summer! To level, I just use simple blocking or grade the ground surface. So far, 20 years have passed for some of these sheds and the skids are fine (no rotting). I used treated timbers of course.

When I was growing up, if I did something bad, my step dad used to make me dig fence post holes. I feel like your tip about having your kid dig the hole is a GREAT tip. It really made me not want to do bad things any more.

Great job, Brad. I enjoy watching someone else working. I've done plenty of it in my life. Bill

A true engineer 👍🏼 over design and over build, loved it! This is the theme of most of my projects, well done sir.

I appreciate those final rebar hits on beat with the music at 7:08.

Um. Am I the only one that saw the deer ghost at 9:42? Like I had to rewind three times because of how brief it was and making sure I wasn't losing my mind.

I'm building a 12 x 16 shed. I used my 5 x 10 trailer to purchase and haul the #57 gravel....1 - 1.25 tons at a time. I did not want a large pile sitting in one area of my yard even if it was right next to my location or the large truck doing damage. Made 7 trips and totaled 9 tons. I backed the trailer to the area and used the scoop shovel to hand load in place. Your foundation is very similar to what I built. The shed almost completed. I am down to installing the siding. I also built the doors from oak lumber harvested from trees we took down in our back yard. I very much enjoy your videos and your quirky(?) nature!

Great job Brad looking great. Can’t wait to see it finished

This is very similar (and sure a bit overboard) to a tent platform I've been planning, very glad to have this as a reference! Also love love the new property.

Thank you so much for getting to shed building! I’m about to start my own shed project as we’ve recently purchased and built on some land. Excited to see your step by step and follow your lead!

Thanks for showing how to build a shed from the ground up as this would help me immensely!.

This is a very new/interesting/weird way to do a building foundation to me. We've always done cinder blocks on a leveled/tamped gravel perimeter with a higher middle (doesn't need to be flat) that then gets filled with gravel and throw a concrete slab on top of it. No worry about warping, less digging/tamping, no worry about eventual wood rot, no worry about critters etc. making homes underneath, etc. Also, outdoor rated screws are a far superior choice here as opposed to framing nails. Screws will stay in place and hold things together much better, particularly if the wood is open to the elements and bending/moving etc.

I built a 12'x20' workshop and did a similar gravel pad foundation 14'x22'. I had about a 13" slope over 22' and the top 6" was compacted rock so it was not easy to dig out, especially doing it alone by hand. It turned out great and sure beats the option of a block foundation or paying for a slab to be laid. The gravel pad and workshop look amazing and added value to my propery so well worth all the hard work.

This is awesome. I wish I had used your method when I built my chicken coop. Especially like the gravel bottom.

Great video. Lots of great info. One thing I would change. Generally, when putting down sheet goods like plywood, I prefer to work across the sheet. Doing the perimeter first could leave a bow in the middle that you have to fight. Granted, it affects nailing more than screwing. But I still find it best practice to in essence roll it down while securing it.

Always enjoy your videos. Very well done. @ 15:00ish.... It's all about that base, 'bout that base, more gravel.

I have only seen this type of foundation once or twice and it is for balcony sheds. Sheds where I live normally is on cinder blocks because it is easier and it is more often than not more than enough for what most people have in them. Some bigger sheds have concrete slabs as a foundation since they know it will have heavy equipment in it. The foundation you made are normally used where a house wants to have a raised land balcony/porch/deck where the difference of the lowest point on the ground and the underside of the balcony/deck will be is to big, they look super nice and many use the extra gravel space to have plants. But it is so much more expensive than a normal balcony/deck.... That foundation is also normally used for a middle of the lawn decking to just look nice, have good drainage, etc.

Gotta give you props for the tenacity with getting that last timber down.

This will be a great project and I'm absolutely sure that Brad will be a great instructor! Can't wait for the follow ons!

All the buildings in our village,even the ancient stuff is built on raft style foundations,we are below the water table and have a huge lake right behind us, any timber on the ground,treated or not is done in just a few years. I used 24" lengths of 1- 3/4" rebar,to which I welded 4" squares to both ends,one end drilled for screws. These I then stood in my hole in the ground at 18" intervals so that only 9" was above ground level making sure the bottom square plates had at least 6" of gap under them and by using string lines to make sure the top plates were all level. I filled in around them to make my 'raft' and nothing has budged in 10 years or so and having insulated the floor timbers from the ground and the bracket via a rubber membrane between them( cut up truck mudflap😁) they are still in perfect condition.

Very good to see you taking the tamping seriously. I come from a mine engineering background, and our prof for tailings dams noted that one of the biggest concerns with building them is overseeing the compaction process. Apparently it's not uncommon for work crews to work fast and skimp on the compaction steps to get the job done faster. Which you can kinda get away with in a lot of applications (including stuff like this shed) but you'll always have some differential settling issues, and different drainage characteristics. Which, if you have an earth-fill dam, is a critical problem. Hope that pressure treated wood works out for you. I live out on the coast of BC (Canada just north of Washington State), and out here we tend to have issues with pressure treated wood not being as rot resistant at the cut ends than is needed in our quite wet climate. Folks who can afford it tend to use cedar instead - you can cut into a cedar log that has another tree grown over/around it and still find good wood in the middle, cedar lasts *ages* - for outdoor applications, and folks using the pressure treated stuff instead buy a product that you brush onto the ends to seal up the end grain. But thats for fairly extreme wet climates, we literally use the terms "rainforest" and "hypermaritime climate" to describe this area. You're definitely in a drier region, going by the trees in the background.

I've built several sheds, decks, and fences over the years. You may consider doing a segment or a video on appropriate times to use nails vs screws. When I was first starting out doing DIY, I used screws for everything, but after a few fence sections fell over because of shear in the wind, I found there's a time and place for everything 😅. Can't wait to watch the rest of your build!

Excited about this series. I'm going to build a 10x12 in my yard for storage next year and this is helpful! Thanks for sharing

Great job. I recently installed a resin shed (couldn't pass up the clearance price - 50% off!) and had to weigh my options for the foundation. I considered installing a frame on a deck block foundation before finding a retired concrete pro who poured an 8x20 slab for $1600. My property sloped more than yours, and I have a wrist injury, so digging out the grade was not an option for me, but this looks much better than the frame option I was considering.

Great video and teaching as always... btw LOVE the shadow ghost deer in the frame that you added.

Thanks for the video. I just built a pad exactly like this for my Standby Generator. However I didn't fill it to the top of the timbers. After seeing this I'm going to fill it up.

That is a lot of work! I will have to take the frame with the gravel only!

Great job my friend. Can't wait for plans. Good luck

Lol... as you were putting the gravel in by cart my first thought was I was going to suggest you get it delivered right to the foundation. I had the same problem years ago when I build my old shed. I was building it at my mother's house and I wasn't home when they delivered it. She didn't have them dump it where I needed it. Wasted a whole day just moving it over. Of course, lots of people have issues with big trucks coming on their property. Make sure you don't have a leach field under where the truck needs to drive, but if you can get it to dump there it's the single thing that will save you the most time.

Thanks Brad! I am planning my shed build. Mine too is 10 x 12 so this is a timely project for me. I have more slope in my back yard and after watching this, I am thinking of renting a tiller after I stake out the 12 x 14 plot. My thought process is tilling up the top soil might make it easier to move the dirt to level out the ground before I add the gravel base. Mine will be a spring of '24 build so I'll have some time to research this theory. Thanks again, and looking forward to the rest of the build.

Good job putting that together Brad! Watching you hand dig everything reminded me of my 14x16 "Covid" shed. The location I needed to use was so far out of level that I would have died if I had to hand dig it. Home Depot Rentals to the rescue with a one day rental of a mini bulldozer thingy with a nice big bucket to move dirt. We still had to hand tamp it because I blew my rental budget on the mini bulldozer. It was worth every penny though.

A big consideration to save your back… Rent heavy equipment such as tractors and backhoes. They are available at the Orange or Blue stores as well as equipment rental stores. They’re for the larger pro power tools that are generally too expensive or specific to buy.

Something I was told about, after I did exactly what you did. Drill a 1/8 to 1/4 hole through the timber first. You can get 8-10" long drill bit for this. Then use the auger bit with the small hole as a guide for the tip of the auger. Cuts out the measurements and hoping you get the big holes from each side line up.

Pretty massive work, Brad! But you did a fantastic job! Well done!!! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Great job! I like the Ghost deer at 9:41 too. haha!

I’ve done a lot of foundation in my life and I’ve never done it the way you did it! And you could if used a sds hammer drill to drive the rebar in the ground, and clear gravel doesn’t compact that good

Hello Ghost deer 😊!

This is awesome!! I need to figure out how to begin a similar job, but at 16'x20' in a yard that slopes...

Looks great! I would do something to coverup those ends so you don't have critters moving in under your shed!

Good video, and even a small shed is a lot of work. I just did a 48x16 deck with a 2 1/2' retaining wall w/gravel as water table made me second guess concrete piers. What I did was use Home Depot tool rental to save a ton of the hard work. Sod cutter $69 for a 4 hour rental. Sister had one of the Mantis type mini-tillers, so I removed a couple tines and had a 6-8" wide excavator. $75 for a compactor rental. Not sure the Threadloks were necessary, I would have just run 9/16 holes every 2-3' before placing the lumber and used some rebar to keep the lumber together. Nice job, haven't finished the video so hope you're going to show the actual shed build. Only critique is using deck screws....

Also if you have a tiller or can borrow one use that to churn up the dig line to make things easier.

Saved yourself a few trips to the gym. I never would have done all that "foundation" work if the shed was just being set on skids. But you have a nice clean space now and the drainage around there is great.

Brad this summer we redid our backyard and I hand poured and leveled 5 cubic yards of gravel and 11 yards of top soil all using the Gorilla Cart. Here is the crazy part...I really enjoyed it. It was hard work but was pretty rewarding. I do wish I'd maybe done it when the weather was cooler though. I may be a masochist.

This is interesting. I just did my shed. Used an auger to dig the holes. Threaded rod and cement and then two nuts to the right level tightened against each other. Metal plates on each one and then the timber right over each rod. Gonna do the same again next summer for a garden office.

Great video. Good explanations as it was being built.

I just did this for a 10x20 resin shed kit. Very stable and drains great. Renting a compactor was key. You’d be surprised how much the gravel will compact and make the base very solid.

Thanks for sharing this, Brad! I recently built an 8x16 shed, and I always like to have treated timber runners underneath in the event that I ever want to move it, it's ready to go. Once in place, I'll place pier blocks or solid cinder blocks/thick caps to keep the timbers away from the soil and have a hard surface on which to shim from. Also, using construction adhesive on top of all of your floor joists strengthens and quietens(yes, that's a word) the floor.

Excellent work. Your videos are always visually pleasing. 😃👍

Short and but ,a great job as normal 👏

Looks good. I like the idea of mixing / pouring a concrete footer instead of 4x6 beams. My 2 cents.

Nicely done and it will last a very long time.

I just did a very similar thing for a 12x18 shed and I spent more time on the foundation than I did the shed… so watching this was both traumatic and cathartic - I feel your pain 😅

Awesome! Video! Thanks for sharing!

can't wait to see the final product !

Beautiful Job 🙏😀💕!

The perimeter encasing the ground can be made with large plastic landscaping ties which are more expensive but will NEVER rot.

Looks like a stable foundation. When you were talking about the Gorilla Cart being a great tool to move gravel, I did wonder why you didn't have it dropped closer. Or why you weren't using a truck to move it. I don't have a truck, so I use my wheel barrow that has the 2 front wheels.

Very informative…..job well down!

Good to see another video. Always look forward for your content. Didn’t the new property have multiple out buildings. Haha never enough space.

Maaaan, good work, I feel moving that gravel. I did a 15x25 gravel pad for a 10x20 shed this past summer. I anti-varmited under the base with some wire mesh stapled to the inside of the rim joist and buried into the gravel about 4 or 5". I put it on before sheeting the floor.

Very interesting to watch someone build a shed on their own. I'm considering adding a shed to my backyard in the near future and you may have just inspired me to hire someone to do it for me. I'm too old and incompetent to tackle that on my own. Whats the pros/cons of building a foundation like you did versus pouring a concrete slab?

Nice built very solid. I am curious though, you put a lot of emphasis on "Drainage". It seemed to me that you were concerned about it a lot more than I would be. What is it that I don't know about your property, or the use of your shed, that is going to make really good Drainage such an important thing?

Good video, thanks for sharing

Did my foundation really fast. Hired a concert guy to lay a concrete foundation in one day! 😅 We get really high wind up on our exposed hill so I needed the weight.

We're used our "'Brad'Pacter!" It makes a big difference to learn from somebody who has a sense of humor and self awareness. The reason I learned to swap out a water pump in a VW Golf, fix a popped capacitor in an oldish TV, and swap out a ignitor in a gas dryer, (after breaking the first two) by pulling out the whole ignitor system, Kids! Dads gotta win!

Quite refreshing to see you build something without all the fancy expensive tools, I've laid a few shed foundation in my back gardens and the work needed is real (so full credit for going the distance and digging it all yourself). I'm not sure a french drain style (ish - with the stone) is necessary but I am all for well over engineeing everything I build. Thumbs up from me.

You did a good job capturing audio in this one, Brad. It can be a real challenge outdoors.

Oh boy, a shed build! 😃🍿

I built one for my 14x24 shed and did mot go to all your trouble. It is just as good to.

Cant wait for the next video!

I think I would have done everything differently? But this is a handy reminder of what it looks like when people have different ways of doing things 👌 You can buy longer framing screws btw

Yaay! Thank you for using a foundation that isn’t a concrete slab. I’ve wondered before if it’s truly necessary to have a concrete foundation for a shed

Seriously love the “Ghost Deer” 😂

I always take old chain-link fence or metal fence from the garden store and lay it underneath the gravel. It stops the woodchucks from building a home.

Curious what the cost difference was for this vs a poured slab.

Well be huge when it's finished 👍

You should do a concrete slab. Like a house. The reason is it will last a long time. And one more thing it might blow away.

Brilliant. Obvious but not obvious if know what I mean. Most pre-made sheds have wooden bases that rot away due to damp. Like the levelling idea.

OK, a couple suggestions from experience (I helped a friend put in an above-ground pool many years ago). 1 -- it probably would have helped if you'd gotten a tiller to loosen up the soil beforehand. "Oh, but then it would be soft, and settle!!" Yes, which is why you then run a hose out to it (possibly not practical in your specific circumstance) and then water the ground down to "pack" it, especially using the tamper. This leads to: 2 -- you can use a smallish 2x4 -- probably 2-3 feet long -- to gradually push some dirt to the opposite end (e.g., to "screed" it). Get it approximate when dry, and then you can scrape it better when wet, to even stuff out across the... ah... "board". This is probably easier than shoveling. You can even make it easier if you have two people and/or a small tractor/riding lawnmower -- you could have someone put weight on the board as the tractor pulls it slowly.THIS can make that levelling job far far easier. You could even rig something that let you stand and walk with it while keeping some weight on it as needed to find that nice middle ground that gets 2-4 inches at a time but not a hell of a lot more. Water it down again when you get all the leveling done, so you can be sure it's packed tight. Having heavily watered it -- turned it into serious mud -- will help really really pack the dirt down. Do **NOT** underestimate the value of using *water* -- even if -- particularly if -- you're using a hand tamper, like that shown -- to get the water compact. Doing it when it is distinctly slushy mud allows the sand particles to flow around each other to get tightly packed. Obviously, you don't want too much water, you don't want it puddling on the top, but really "slushy". It's good if it splats a bit when it lands, then there's a puddle when you've hit it a couple times. Yeah, you're going to get dirty... That's half the fun, until you track it inside and the wife gets very annoyed, so prepare ahead of time to clean off outside. 😀 NOT applicable to this scenario -- for a circular bed (e.g., a gazebo or a circular above ground pool), you can use rebar to create a pivot point, and then push it around to scrape a circle level, using a beam level such as the one you show, to get it very flat very quickly, as the scraping will push stuff into the holes readily. Again, apply water routinely to turn it to mud, so it moves and packs readily. You might have put some watershield -- tyvek -- down on the underside just because that part is going to collect dew and moisture?

Good job anchoring but I agree with other comments as should of keep the dirt away from the timber’s. But awesome job.

Nice work on that shed foundation Brad. I would have put down either a concrete block or cement slab and then just purchased a prefabbed shed. Easy peasy..... 👍👍😉😉

Love seeing you doing it manually, I'm sure your back is killing you. 😂

I got a wagon like that for free on throw away week and I was in really good condition

Do you need to add a protective layer to keep the wood from rotting due to contact with the soil?

what is the function of the 4x4 skids vs just the 2x6 directly on the stone base? Is it for air flow? Or so the skunks can have a nice place to hang out? Is the 4x6 PT that you used rated for ground contact? It looks a bit light on the chemical

Brad, Keep up the hard work, I appreciate how much work you put into your builds and videos! But let me speak for your back! You own a massive chunk of land that has so much potential! But save your back and buy a tractor with a front loader or a buy skid loader. This would help so much with your projects especially because you work by yourself! You would also be able to get so much more done in a shorter amount of time! It would truly be a great investment! This also means more videos for us!😂

I had some boards outside covered with plastic. The moisture from the ground started molding the bottom boards. Not sure how your plywood is going to keep from molding.

Okay but why the deer ghost 😂 9:41

at 9:43...was that the ghost of buck's past?

nice job

Try a long handle flat blade shovel on dirt work,occasionally dress with a file .

Curious as to why the 4x4 side is left exposed with the possibility of that providing shelter for skunks??

the ghost deer cracked me up

That new property looks like it needs a nice tractor out there to help you carry that rock! Hopefully soon for your sake!

In the UK, that size wood for shuttering the concrete would have just about doubled the cost of my shed.

cool build, why not dry pour concrete base?

Moving that stone is no joke. I had to do that as a teenager to the house I grew up in. Spreading stone by shovel and wheelbarrow on a drive that is 3 cars wide and 3 cars deep sucked. Dump truck driver just made it worse by saying "If it wasn't for these power lines I could spread this stuff out like butter on a piece of toast."