Preparing a Base for Your Garden Shed: Concrete, Pavers or Metal Base

The base is the part everyone rushes, and it's the part that decides whether your shed stays square, dry and rust-free or slowly twists and leaks. Get it right once and the shed looks after itself. Here are your options, roughly cheapest to most solid.

Pavers or slabs

A bed of compacted road base topped with pavers is the budget-friendly path for small and mid-size sheds. It drains well and you can do it in a weekend. The catch is levelling — every paver has to sit flush, or the shed frame won't line up when you build it.

Concrete pad

The gold standard, especially for anything 3m and up or where you'll park a mower or ride-on. A concrete pad gives you a dead-flat, permanent floor that won't shift, and you can bolt the shed straight down to it. More work and cost up front, but it's a one-and-done job.

Timber frame with a floor

A treated-timber bearer frame lifts the shed off the ground and gives you a floor to fix down to — good on slightly sloping or soft ground where a slab would be overkill. Make sure it's properly levelled and the timber is rated for ground contact.

A shed with the base included

The simplest route: buy a shed that comes with a metal base designed to fit it. The floor frame is engineered to match the walls, so it's square out of the box — you still want it sitting on level, compacted ground, but it takes the guesswork out.

Garden Shed w/ Metal Base, 2.38 x 1.31M, Sliding Door

From $344.95 AUD

Shop Now

Garden Shed w/ Metal Base, 2.58 x 2.07M, Double Door

From $504.95 AUD

Shop Now

Whichever base you choose

• Level beats everything. A shed built on an out-of-level base fights you at every panel and never quite seals at the doors.
• Plan for drainage. Ground should fall away from the shed, not toward it, so rain doesn't pool under the floor.
• Anchor to the base. Whatever you build on, fix the shed down to it — a light steel shed is no match for a strong gust otherwise.
• Allow a bit extra. Make the base slightly larger than the shed footprint so water runs off the edge rather than back under the walls.

See which sheds include a base in Garden Sheds, with fast Australia-wide shipping.

For footing and slab requirements, see the Australian Building Codes Board.