Anchoring a small shed

[CalG]

My adult daughter bought a horse.

She has been boarding it, but want's to bring it to her place. It's a two mile ride between the boarding barn and her place. A beautiful trail ride over logging roads!

Anyway, She has decided to add a shelter for the horse in the form of a "delivered" 12 X 16 shed roof three sided structure produced locally. The pics look like the structure is well done, but they do only make pictures from the best angles. ;-)
The building appears to be built upon substantial sills. Might be 6X6, Hard to tell from the pics I've seen. I have no details regarding material.
Her lands are the absolute stickiest, hardest, worthless clay soils I have ever witnessed. But it grows grass like crazy!

What I want is some ideas on how to anchor this structure so the wind doesn't blow it away. It's very likely going to be supported on concrete blocks just to level it. But she is opposed to doing any concrete pours. She is not flush with cash looking for a hole in the ground to sink it in to.

I'm thinking 8 pieces of 3 foot lengths of 5/8 re-bar driven in and cleated to the sills. If I can find a source for 3/4 or 1 inch re-bar, I would go that way.

We don't often get winds, but sometimes ....
Ideas to consider?

 

[Midniteoyl]

Ground Anchors (Mobile Home Anchors).. Run them in, lag bolt with washer(s) into the sills. This is the way all them metal RV covers are mounted and it passes code. get the 3/8" or thicker ones and never worry.

Amazon.com

 

[EddieWalker]

I've run rebar through 6x6's posts, and into the ground for retaining walls and landscaping projects. I drill a hole through the posts and then use my SDS Max with the Ground Rod driver to drive them down. It works great and it's pretty simple to do.

If I wanted to anchor a building like you described, I would do the same thing, but probably go with the longest lengths of rebar that I could handle. I also agree that thicker would be better. If you did it every two feet, I can't imagine it going anywhere.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

As mentioned above the ground anchors just outside/or inside for that matter and I have used metal strapping to hold the structure to the anchors.

 

[Carl_NH]

If you have a Post hole digger drill 4 holes and put a bag of Sakrete in bottom of each at 2-3' down, insert a J hook bent rebar or two in each and fill in. 4 60Lb bags are $5 each.

Or you can do a star pattern with three rebar pounded in at angles thru the bottom plate.

 

[ponytug]

I would put something waterproof under the sills to help them stay dry. Urine plus damp is really tough on even treated wood. Even a layer of tar is better than nothing.

We use ground anchors here to anchor our run in sheds. (Shelter-logic).

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

My impression of the delivery crews in my area is they charge customers so much per concrete block needed to do the absolute minimum to roughly get the shed off their delivery truck and "level." If the site for the shed really needs piers to both anchor and level the shed, that's what I'd consider doing. Over time, presumably she is saving money by not boarding her horse. So I'd try to make it a more permanent install for her.

You are on the right track to anchor it.

 

[ernemats]

For my car port shed I used 3/4 inch 3 foot long mine roof bolts (from coal mines) pounded in by hand with sledge hammer , it has not moved through some heavy winds

 

[Topzide]

I would agree on the use of the screw in anchors. Same one used for metal carport and mobile homes. They'll hold the best and can be removed when the shed is done or if a better spot for it is found.

 

[mllud]

Put those screw in anchors in at a slight angle. Not extreme, maybe 30 degrees. I would angle toward under the shed unless you disturbed the soil where the shed sits. Try to screw them into hard or undisturbed dirt.
They will hold better.