PSA: My uncle's advice about concrete footings saved my shed from sinking

Last spring I built a 10x12 shed in my backyard here in Ohio. My uncle who builds decks told me I needed to dig footings 36 inches deep because of frost heave. I thought he was being extra since the shed only weighs like 800 lbs empty. Well after this winter I went out and the whole left side dropped about 2 inches. The door wont even close right now. I had to jack it up and pour concrete piers underneath which cost me $300 and a whole weekend. Has anyone else cheaped out on footings and regretted it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_sanchez193d ago

Man that sucks. Same thing happened to me with a little garden shed I threw up in a hurry. My buddy kept telling me to go deeper with the footings but I figured it was small enough it didn't matter. Big mistake. That thing was a mess after one winter. Ended up having to tear the whole floor out and redo it. Learned my lesson the hard way. Your uncle was right on the money with that 36 inch advice for Ohio.

victor_butler503d ago

Hold up @kim_sanchez19, I gotta push back a little on that 36 inch thing. That's not exactly right for most of Ohio, especially if you're not dealing with a deep frost line. The frost line here varies a lot depending on where you are, but down in southern Ohio it's usually only around 30 inches. Up north it can be deeper, maybe 36 or even 40 in some spots. You really gotta check the local building codes for your specific area before digging. I learned that the hard way too when I helped my cousin outside Cincinnati and we went way too deep for no reason. It's better to call your county inspector instead of just guessing.