Garden Room Workshop Extra | Plinth foundations

In this quick video we take a look at the option of using plinth/concrete pad foundations for timber-frame buildings and compare them to dense concrete block foundations that I used for my garden room build.

Chris Wigley gives some first hand shots of these pads in action with the various metal brackets for different joins. He purchased 2.5 tonne plinths from Easy Pads which support single storey timber buildings up to 20m2. He bought just before lockdown (result of the 2020 pandemic for people of the future!) so had to make the decision to buy or not rather quickly.

There are smaller and bigger ones available. Swift Plinths is another manufacturer worth looking at if you decide these are for you. Enjoy!

[mikedeman]

I've just binged on all of the videos on this playlist and I must say a big Thank You because it is the best set of videos on this subject that I have found on Youtube. There really is nothing quite like it out there. The amount of detail is amazing and you have a great presentation style. Thank you:)

[xistacio]

i filled and compacted a tyre and laid the cement blocks over it
used clear hose/water for getting the level right .
once again thanks for sharing

[AMG]

Well I went with the concrete blocks, done 9 with extra blocks in between on my 5.2 x 3.2, ,, and I'm waiting for 9am to start the walls 😁 it's been a struggle in this heat but all the hard bits are done. Also I picked epdm which in my opinion looks like the best option. Thanks again Ali as everything you have uploaded has really helped me build what I'm building.

[Fogmeister]

Just starting out on my build now. About to break ground on Friday so these videos have been amazing! Thank you!!

That taper of the roof joists is an excellent idea and really opens up the front. Some I’ll be doing too I think!! Thanks

[civicvtec]

Going to be having a crack at a lean to garden Room over the summer, watched your whole series buddy. Very informative 👍👍👍

[mpr]

Hi Ali, thanks for all the great content. My build is rather modest by comparison but have found your videos incredibly helpful through the design process. Making steady progress now and hoping to raise the walls this weekend!

[mariah]

Short and sweet yet still super informative. I love the graphics you use Ali; they support what you're saying perfectly and sharing other viewers' workshop builds is great for even more inspiration 😃👍

[lindseyscott]

Excellent video. Exactly the info I was looking at. Planning a 5m x 3.5m. Was originally thinking a concrete base but prefer this idea to get more air flow underneath the building. Also easier to put back to lawn in the future if I was ever to remove the building.

[dannymurphy]

I have seen people pour concrete into buckets, worth looking into if you are on a budget.

[rodgerq]

I think I'd have liked to see a second nut on the thread so you can lock the two together, stopping any movement

[olavedernikova]

A truly brilliant set if videos but I was wondering if you have a final list of the materials used and a rough idea of the cost? I did not see anything in the video relating to design

[bobfal]

I'd be really tempted to try and fabricate something, famous last words but I cant imagine it would be too hard. Should probably watch your other vid first though :)

[rich_freeman]

I also had a look at ground screws as I liked the idea of less waste, no concrete and speeding up the build. But for my 4x3m build, I needed 12 with a total cost of £412 - it was too much compared to block foundations.

[rayphillips]

Hi Ali

Just checked back to your channel page to get a refresh on wall framing around the windows (this weekends task) and noticed this extra video

I used 15 of these on an 8x4m base (on sloping ground) and can confirm they don't wobble excessively if you stick to the recommended 100mm of adjustment (which I assumed was in the range 0-100mm). This leaves plenty of support inside the (sleeved) hole.

The small amount of play that remained disappeared when the base was bolted down (as speculated by Justin).

However, what has started to worry me, is that since I have been working on the base I have noticed that one or two of the mid-span nuts have come loose and can now be turned easily with finger pressure - in fact one whole span of one of the short side walls was floating above its mid-span jack. I assume this is due to power tool vibration caused by me adding the insulation, ply and now three out of four external walls.

Of-course I can thread-lock the outer ones - but - if the three central pads which are now inaccessible on my project have done this I am (un)screwed.

Perhaps Chris has not reached this stage yet - or - has been smarter than me and added thread-lock (BTW there is nothing in my documentation to say I should have done that).

The center pads are the ones to worry about as you wont be able to get at them in the future.

Hope this saves someone else the trouble I may now have...

[mvk]

Useful review. As a point of note, whilst the brackets are listed as anti corrosion plated I wonder about the supporting screw-thread and nut. You might never need to adjust this, but I can imagine this would turn into a solid block of rust at some point.

[partywallsurveyor]

Would love to see a video on manually applied ground screws/screw piles. Thank you both for this one, these were a contender.

[tom_robson]

Hey mate really enjoying your in-depth videos as a new subscriber and someone researching construction methods in order to build an office myself. I saw you changed the block plinth design and cemented the blocks together. Could you do a video on the correct method for the block plinths? Thanks again

[ricardo-iwsq]

I'm planning a shed/workshop 9m x 3.5m and was looking at the screw as well the type that looks like a screw, but I've been looking at making my own, I'm a toolmaker, the base would be made from channel. I did a decking and made some M20 adjustable legs and concreted them in, it worked well but a pain in the rear to get concrete into the holes, I did over engineer the project. I would love to see how others have got on using the ground screw. Top video as usual 👍

[ashleydawson]

We're thinking about using "ground screws" for our build. They seem like they may be easier to install and don't require bedding, concrete, etc.

[nathanpowell]

I plan to build a 4x3m garden room on land that slopes from back to front. 12inchs. I thought the use of easy pads might be a good idea as I can put the front pads at ground level and bury the rear pads.

Someone has mentioned to me about concerns over the frost line. Can anyone shed any more light on this and how this impacts on the use of these pads?

Easypad website suggests that the pads can sit on or below ground level