Buyer’s Guide

Site Prep & Foundation Guide

Site prep is the single most common reason a delivery gets rescheduled. It is also the part you control entirely, and it runs in parallel with the build.

Four Foundation Options

Ranked roughly by how often we see them, not by cost.

Gravel pad

Most sheds and most sites

Drains well, forgiving of minor settlement, far cheaper than concrete and quick to build. This is what the majority of our customers use.

Watch for: Needs to extend past the building footprint and sit on compacted, weed-blocked ground.

Concrete slab

Workshops, garages, anything heated

Permanent, dead level, easy to sweep and the right base for machinery, a lift or a heated floor.

Watch for: Most expensive, needs curing time, and must be poured before delivery.

Concrete piers

Sloped ground

Lets you level a building across a grade without excavating the whole pad. Common on mountain properties.

Watch for: Needs correct spacing and depth; get this specified rather than guessed.

Blocks and shims

Small buildings, gentle slopes

Fastest and cheapest. Our crews level on blocks at delivery as a matter of course.

Watch for: Not a substitute for a pad on soft or wet ground; the building can settle unevenly.

Preparing the Site, Step by Step

1. Confirm the location before you dig

Check property-line setbacks and any HOA rules, and call 811 before disturbing ground so utilities get marked. Free, and it prevents the worst possible version of this project.

2. Clear beyond the footprint

Strip sod, roots and organic material from an area larger than the building — a couple of feet past each side. Organic matter decomposes and the pad settles unevenly where it does.

3. Get it level, then get it compacted

Level matters more than flat. Compaction is what stops a pad shifting in its first freeze-thaw cycle, and it is the step most often skipped. A plate compactor from a hire shop is a few hours’ work and worth every minute.

4. Build the pad

For gravel, lay landscape fabric, then three to four inches of crushed stone, compacted in layers rather than all at once. Crushed stone with fines locks together; smooth river rock does not and will shift underfoot for years.

5. Plan drainage away from the building

On Appalachian terrain this is the difference between a shed that lasts and one that rots from the bottom. The pad should sit slightly proud of the surrounding grade so water runs away, never toward. If the site is in a low spot or at the foot of a slope, deal with the water before the building arrives — a shallow swale or a French drain uphill of the pad is far easier now than later.

6. Clear the delivery route

Roughly twelve feet of width along the whole path, plus overhead clearance. Trim branches, move vehicles, and tell us about gate posts, tight corners, soft ground or septic fields. We can usually work around any of it — but only if we know before the truck is loaded.

Winter Changes the Calculus

Frozen ground cannot be levelled or compacted properly, and concrete needs temperatures above freezing to cure correctly. Both are solvable with cold-weather methods and additives, and both cost more and take longer.

The practical conclusion is simple: prep the site as soon as you order, not when the building is nearly ready. Site prep runs in parallel with manufacturing, so doing it early costs you nothing and removes the most likely cause of a delayed install. If you are ordering in autumn for winter delivery, this is the single most useful thing on this page.

Who Does What

You arrangeWe handle
Clearing and levelling · the pad or slab · drainage · utility marking · permits where required · clearing the delivery route Delivery · placement and final levelling on blocks or shims · anchoring appropriate to your surface · assembly on site for metal buildings · tidy-up

Unsure which category your site falls into? Send a photo of the spot and the route in. We would far rather tell you it needs a pad now than discover it with a truck in your driveway.

Quick reference

  • 2 ft pad overhang past each side
  • 3-4 in compacted crushed stone
  • 12 ft delivery route width
  • 811 before you dig, every time
Send us a site photo Check lead times

Site Prep Questions, Answered

Almost never. A compacted gravel pad is the standard choice and is entirely adequate for storage, mowers and vehicles. Concrete is worth it when the building is a heated workshop, when you are putting machinery or a lift in it, or when you want a floor you can hose down.

Three to four inches of compacted crushed stone over landscape fabric, extending a couple of feet past the building on every side. Compact it in layers rather than dumping the full depth at once — that is what stops it settling unevenly through the first winter.

Crushed stone with fines, which locks together when compacted. Avoid smooth river rock: it never knits, shifts underfoot indefinitely and makes a poor base. Any local quarry or landscape supplier will know what you mean by crusher run.

Yes. Gentle slopes are handled with blocks and shims at delivery. Anything more significant needs either a cut-and-fill levelled pad or concrete piers, which are common on mountain properties. Send us a photo and we will tell you which approach your site needs.

It can, but frozen ground will not level or compact properly and concrete needs above-freezing temperatures to cure correctly. Cold-weather methods exist and cost more. The better answer is to prep as soon as you order — it runs in parallel with the build, so early prep costs nothing.

We reschedule, and you rejoin the delivery queue rather than keeping your original slot. This is the most common reason a building arrives later than the customer expected, and it is entirely preventable by starting site work early.

Around twelve feet of width along the entire route with adequate overhead clearance. Gate posts, tight turns, low branches, soft ground and septic fields are all worth flagging when you order. We can plan around obstacles we know about.

Not Sure What Your Site Needs?

Send a photo of where it is going and how the truck gets there. We will tell you what to prep — usually less than people expect.

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