Help with some shed foundation ideas

[dkmcgowan]

I have a gravel driveway into my backyard and I've decided I want to add a shed to it for now. Eventually I plan to build a garage, but I have lots more trees to take down and some other projects I have to do first, so it will be a few years before I get to the garage.

You will see in my photos I already have some gravel down. It's a #57 base with some loose pea gravel mixed in.

I have a large pile of extra rocks I need to get moved out of the way.

The gravel is about 2-3 inches deep, give or take.

I plan to build this myself so I can learn from it and eventually build the garage I want.

My question is on foundation. I've read about lots of options, but curious what my best option would be.

The gravel is currently 12' wide. I was thinking I would do something like a 10'x12' so I could put it inside the gravel area.

So foundation options?

Note: I know I need some dirt to level things out in the last photo, I kept stealing dirt to move around to level some areas and I ran out...

 

[dkmcgowan]

I was thinking I would do pier foundation style. So I would get 4x4 posts and dig down holes 12", maybe more, I'm in Georgia, so frost line minimum is 12", then 6" wide.

Then use quickcrete in the holes to create the piers. I was thinking I would leave about 2" of post sticking out of ground and then I can cut the posts to get all 4 corners level.

Do I need more than 4 posts? I could do 6, 3 and 3, or 9 with 3 in the center, or maybe just 6 with 3 rows of 2.

Will this work well?

 

[dkmcgowan]

I was thinking of doing it kinda like this...

http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/how-to-build-a-post-beam-shed-foundation-on-a-slope/

But simplier... not sure if I need 6 posts and also would just fill all holes with concrete and not the dirt again...

Also, maybe not the notching but some metal brackets or something to attach to the posts?

 

[Voi]

I was thinking of doing it like this...

http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/how-to-build-a-post-beam-shed-foundation-on-a-slope/

Some neighbors up the street did something very similar to the link you posted put did it more post-frame style where the columns we just buried in the dirt and then went all the way up and supported a top beam and trusses. I wasn't sure what they were doing at first but it turns out they were building a chicken coop and leaving the sloped natural ground, more or less. But it would be easy to add a raised skirt board and do something very similar to the link.

Do you know how the different foundation types will be assessed tax-wise in your area?

Many people just build on skids to avoid the permanent foundation assessment but that can vary from location to location.

 

[Kaizen]

na put down some concrete blocks at the corners and middle. if you are storing literally tons like pellet fuel place a few more. your pt frame will sit on these. put it down and level it to the other corner, then near then etc etc . with stone you can just pound it to get it down to level. put some animal guard fence under it to keep critters out.

 

[Beemer533]

OP, where are you located?

If this is going to be a temporary installation, I would just level out the area and build right on the gravel.

Just use 3 4x4 PT as a base and build a deck on that with PT 2x4 16" OC. If you plan on storing heavy items, maybe consider bumping up the 2x4 to 2x6.