- How to build a shed base out of paving slabs
- Mix sand and cement together to make mortar or use a pre-mixed one
- Use a trowel to lay mortar for 1 slab at a time on the sub-base and lift a damp-sided slab onto the mortar, using a piece of timber and club hammer to tap the slab into position carefully. Continue to lay the first row of slabs
- Make equally-sized spacers in all the joints in the slabs to ensure they’re the same size, checking it’s level as you go along
- Next lay slabs along the two adjacent outer edges, filling in the central area row by row
- Leave the mortar to set according to the instructions or for at least 48 hours before filling in the joints with mortar or paving grout
- Building a shed base from concrete
- Create a wooden frame around your shed base area (also called formwork) to stop the concrete from spreading
- Mix pre-mixed concrete with water or use 1 part cement to 5 parts ballast
- Wet the sub-base using a watering can with a rose on the end
- Pour the concrete onto the framed base starting in one corner
- Push the blade of a shovel up and down in the edges of the concrete to get rid of air bubbles
- Use a rake to spread the concrete, leaving it around 18mm higher than the top of the frame. Work in sections of around 1-1.m2
- Compact the concrete using a straight piece of timber that’s longer than the width of the base. Move the timber along the site, hitting it along at about half of its thickness at a time until the surface is evenly ridged
- Remove excess concrete and level the surface by sliding the timber back and forwards from the edge that you started. Fill in any depressions and repeat until even
- Run an edging trowel along the frame to round off exposed edges of the concrete and prevent chipping
- Cover the concrete with a plastic sheet raised on wooden supports to allow slow drying. Weigh it down with bricks
- Once the concrete is set, you can install your shed and remove the wooden frame with a crowbar
Ruardean
Ruardean is a village in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, to the west of Cinderford. It is positioned on a hillside with sights west towards the hills of South Wales. Little bit currently stays of the village's industrial history, once it was a centre for iron ore smelting heaters, builds as well as coal mines. The Norman castle, now bit greater than a pile, commanded the shortest route from Gloucester Castle to the Welsh Marches and the Wye Valley. The village has been, in times past, a vital centre of iron as well as coal mining, however little evidence remains of this aspect of the village's background. The main historical spots of the town is Ruardyn Castle, near to the parish church. In the past the town was meant as Ruardyn and also was part of Herefordshire. Nowadays the village exists inside Gloucestershire and also becomes part of the Forest of Dean area. Like much of the surrounding area, Ruardean has actually traditionally been relatively poor; the 1831 demographics records 127 families, with half the population employed in agriculture as well as 160 people on bad relief.