Building Foundations

One of the key things we discuss with customers prior to the delivery of one of our Glamping Pods or other Garden Buildings is the importance of a flat, level base for the building to rest on.  

It may seem insignificant and can often be overlooked, but it is actually a very crucial part of installation, with just a few millimetres being the difference between having a problem-free building or one that can cause nothing but problems. 

What's the Worst that can Happen? 

Even one of our small Glamping Pods are still very heavy and with uneven or soft ground, over time, the building will "settle" into its foundation, leading to premature deterioration of a building that would otherwise have a lifetime of 30+ years.  

To give you an idea of what could happen, here are some of the problems that we have seen can occur with an uneven base:  

• Door and window frames drop out of alignment, causing problems with opening, closing and locking them. 
• High stress can be put on other parts of the building structure, leading to cracking or breaking. Cracks that appear can allow rainwater to find its way in to the building and damage the internal components of the building. 
• In extreme cases, high movement can cause the roof finish to fail thus causing severe leaks which can prove to be disastrous.

At Wood Wizards HQ, we advise that a concrete base provides a consistently even and solid surface, which will keep even the largest and heaviest of our garden building stable and correctly supported for many years.

You can choose to sit your garden building on Flagstone, hardcore or sleepers but a concrete base is what we strongly advise.

When deciding where you want your garden building to go, you need to be mindful of the following:  

• Do not position a base too close to existing fences or other buildings. Although our buildings are generally low maintenance, you will still need to apply preservative/paint to your building occasionally, meaning you will need access around the building for routine maintenance and upkeep. With this in mind, we suggest a minimum gap of 30cm on all sides of the building. Also remember that if the building is situated too close to a boundary, planning permission ma need to be sought.
• The ground should be as level as possible before a base is even laid. Ensure overhanging trees or bushes are cut away and that you regularly maintain them to prevent damage from branches scratching and damaging the building, creepers forcing their way through joins, or potentially even falling limbs. 
• If you intend to use your chosen garden building for leisure, consider what view you want when you’re inside and the path the sun takes across your garden to make the best of the available sunlight when you use it. 
• Consider if you require water or an electrical hook-up, how far will the shed be away from the source? 
• If you intend to surround the building base with paving or decking, we strongly suggest the installation of a French drain between the paving and base of the building to prevent rain bouncing off the hard surface and driving up under the building, which in turn could cause damp and rot. A French drain is a simple small trench, dug around your building and filled with aggregate that will allow surface water to drain away quickly. 
• We strongly recommend getting professional help when laying a concrete base.  

For our buildings, we recommend around 75mm-100mm in concrete thickness and sited on earth with a suitable hardcore. Try to ensure the base sits around 50mm above the ground, to give extra elevation, away from soil that could rot the timber.   

If you already have a concrete base in place, or if you are getting a local builder to lay the base for you, we recommend that the base is made using the metric size of the building going on top of it to allow rainwater to run straight off the building's roof and into the surrounding garden. 

This will minimise water standing around the lower timbers of the building, which is something that would eventually lead to damp problems (please see French drain recommendation above).  

Please ensure that the base is within 5mm of level before delivery of your building, even if a professional has done the job for you.