Hi All

I am building foundations out of bricks for a 10'x10' garden shed
over
an existing patio. I want the shed to sit one bricks height above
the
patio to allow for ventilation. Th patio is not quite level with
about a 2" varience over the 10' of the shed's width. I have started
laying the bricks on their sides, 2 bricks width in 6 lines, and
moving to laying them flat as they go up the slope, leveling with a
dry sand/cement mix.


Does anyone have any advice on doing this. How level is level? Will
the dry mix I am using be secure enough on top of the existing patio?


Any help will be greatly appreciated.


All the best
Colin

coco wrote:
Hi All

I am building foundations out of bricks for a 10'x10' garden shed
over
an existing patio. I want the shed to sit one bricks height above
the
patio to allow for ventilation. Th patio is not quite level with
about a 2" varience over the 10' of the shed's width. I have started
laying the bricks on their sides, 2 bricks width in 6 lines, and
moving to laying them flat as they go up the slope, leveling with a
dry sand/cement mix.


Does anyone have any advice on doing this. How level is level? Will
the dry mix I am using be secure enough on top of the existing patio?


Any help will be greatly appreciated.


All the best
Colin


Better to use a wet (but not sloppy) mix. Have a look at

http://www.pavingexpert.com/

There's probably something on there about using a string line to level
things up. You could use a length of timber instead but getting
something 10 foot long and straight might not be that easy.

On 2007-08-18 14:02:47 +0100, coco said:

Hi All

I am building foundations out of bricks for a 10'x10' garden shed
over
an existing patio. I want the shed to sit one bricks height above
the
patio to allow for ventilation. Th patio is not quite level with
about a 2" varience over the 10' of the shed's width. I have started
laying the bricks on their sides, 2 bricks width in 6 lines, and
moving to laying them flat as they go up the slope, leveling with a
dry sand/cement mix.


Does anyone have any advice on doing this. How level is level? Will
the dry mix I am using be secure enough on top of the existing patio?


50mm variation in 3m is too much for a shed base so you are right to
level the base. I would aim for no more than 5mm over this distance
and preferably less. Also, try to avoid making up too much of the
difference using mortar, but using bricks is reasonable.

For the last couple of mm. you can always use shims under bearers to
get exact adjustment.

I wouldn't use a dry mix on top of an existing hard surface. Assuming
that it's sound, then conventional mortar would be more appropriate.

I wouldn't use a dry mix on top of an existing hard surface. Assuming
that it's sound, then conventional mortar would be more appropriate.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
I will start using conventional mortar now.

I am assuming that the patio is sound, It is monoblock and underneath
it has been leveled with sand. It has been in place for 10+ years.
What sould I be looking out for to make sure it is and what would be
the alternative?

coco wrote:
I wouldn't use a dry mix on top of an existing hard surface. Assuming
that it's sound, then conventional mortar would be more appropriate.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
I will start using conventional mortar now.

I am assuming that the patio is sound, It is monoblock and underneath
it has been leveled with sand. It has been in place for 10+ years.
What sould I be looking out for to make sure it is and what would be
the alternative?


Jump up and down on it. If nothing moves, it's sound

On 2007-08-18 18:27:55 +0100, coco said:



I wouldn't use a dry mix on top of an existing hard surface. Assuming
that it's sound, then conventional mortar would be more appropriate.-
Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
I will start using conventional mortar now.

I am assuming that the patio is sound, It is monoblock and underneath
it has been leveled with sand. It has been in place for 10+ years.
What sould I be looking out for to make sure it is and what would be
the alternative?

Look at the stones carefully and see if any appear to have moved.
Jump up and down on it. You would see if it isn't sound.

coco wrote:

Does anyone have any advice on doing this. How level is level? Will
the dry mix I am using be secure enough on top of the existing patio?

I did mine using half bricks on dabs of mortar. I setup a rotating laser
level and just used a ruler to measure down to each brick to get the
height right on the mortar dab:

http://www.internode.co.uk/workshop/images/thebase.jpg

(using a long level on a few key bricks would work as well, filling in
the others once the reference ones are in place)


--
Cheers,

John.

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