Fill and Grass Leveling Yard For Boat Shed

[HangOutdoors]

Figured I would ask my bretheren here since I have had conflicting information.

I have a slope in my yard that I need to bring up from max of 1.5'. There is grass there now. Do I need to remove the grass before I bring in the fill or should I just till it then fill, or can I just run the fill over the top ? It is an area about 15' wide and 40-50' long that is slopped. I plan on putting up a concrete pad and a nice large shed in the spring for boat and pool stuff. Figured If i did the fill now it would have time to settle over the winter before I pour the concrete pad.

 

[drewkaree]

Are you saying you need to bring the total level up 1.5"?

If that's the case, you will be better off removing, rather than filling, to level the area. The filled-in area is "disturbed soil" and will be the most suspect area of your slab. For that same reason, do not till anything - it'll settle, and cause you problems.

If you are having someone pour the slab, 1.5" is a nothingburger for concrete.

If you want to level the yard and have grass in the area, I can definitely suggest some tools to help, and some tips. Lemme know

 

[zipper]

Stripping the area depends on how much top soil you are going to cover up. Topsoil is more expensive than fill/sand. You could strip the topsoil, fill the area and spread your topsoil back over the fill. If you are going to put a slab/shed on the fill, you will want to put some water on the fill under the proposed shed site. Then rent a wacker packer to compact the fill, subsoil then bring it up to grade or you may end up with a sinking, out of level slab or worse, uncontrolled cracks. You may want to have a perimeter footing around the slab that rests on undisturbed soil under the fill anyway as frost may figure in the equation some Winter down the road. Good luck.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Under the grass there is not much topsoil at all.

 

[zipper]

Under the grass there is not much topsoil at all.

So what is under the grass? Sand, clay, gravel, hardpan? You dug a bunch of post holes, so you should know the subsoil. Just trying to ascertain if it is generally a wet or dry area.

 

[HangOutdoors]

grass > little bit of topsoil > Random pebbles and dirt > then sand after about 6 inches which looks like what they used after home was built. Although some holes had far less sand than others. If you look at the pictures you can see it slopping down from the garage on the left out to the trees. The neighbor built up is lot by his garage 1.5 ft. When I ran the fence I wanted it straight (for the most part). Now I just want to bring up the grade to level a couple inches below the bottom of the fence, of course pitched a bit for water run off from my garage to the trees. Other picture you can see what came out of the holes.

I am looking at shed kits, vinyl sheds or building my own. We have way to much boat stuff and also my tools so I want a boat shed. Shed has to be under 200 sqft, that way I don't have screw with permits and another tax assessment and under 13' high. Was looking at kits. Although the large vinyl ones look really nice. Figured I would pour a pad (used to be in concrete many years ago so I can handle it easily) a couple feet bigger then the shed all the way around.

Will put board racks in it, places for tubes, hangers for vests and tow ropes. Fishing gear shelves. A place to put winter cover/mooring cover, spare parts, etc. Right now I can't even move around my garage with all the boat stuff.

 

[zipper]

Looks firm and dry, good drainage. I would just add fill to desired grade, make sure it is compacted under the slab and then add purchased topsoil for any slope to existing grade not under the slab. Can't be more than 1 truckload for the perimeter a 200sf shed. Our limit for no permit is 144sf.

 

[djetok]

Looks firm and dry, good drainage. I would just add fill to desired grade, make sure it is compacted under the slab and then add purchased topsoil for any slope to existing grade not under the slab. Can't be more than 1 truckload for the perimeter a 200sf shed. Our limit for no permit is 144sf.

Bolded is very crucial.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Should i till the grass? Or just cover will fill

 

[djetok]

Should i till the grass? Or just cover will fill

I would box blade and compact it. Or hire someone to blade and compact it.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

While I have no personal experience with them, I was looking at Versa Tube for a type of hard boat cover. Seems like a decent product that I believe also has some engineering services, snow load etc..

As far as filling, you don’t want any organic material in the fill that can decompose and create a void. Raising an area 1.5’ is not an issue as long as the fill extends a ways away from the pad. Other wise you may want to dig a small footing and use a stem wall to retain the fill and have a place to mount your vertical risers to.

 

[AZMark]

When I took out lawn for concrete the guys were adamant that I remove the old grass or else it would settle as it decomposed.

Sod cutter would do 200ft fast.

 

[Ohio]

Yep. Sod cutter to remove the grass. Add fill and compact every 4" of fill. You will want to just use soil for the first foot or so of fill then at least 4" of gravel for the base under the slab. Pea gravel is recommended as it doesn't need to be compacted.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

When I took out lawn for concrete the guys were adamant that I remove the old grass or else it would settle as it decomposed.

Sod cutter would do 200ft fast.

I pulled up 250 square ft of grass for the new flower beds last week. What a pain in the a$$ that was as there was at least 2" of roots under the grass. Given this, I could see why the concrete guys wanted the old grass removed.

Jim

 

[Ohio]

I pulled up 250 square ft of grass for the new flower beds last week. What a pain in the a$$ that was as there was at least 2" of roots under the grass. Given this, I could see why the concrete guys wanted the old grass removed.

Jim

Did you do it by hand? or use a sod cutter?

 

[shnknapp]

Based off your post, I'm reading that you want to raise up 18" before the potential concrete. If that is the case, I would just till up the location and put down some grass killer. At that point, bring about 12" of fill and just let it settle over the winter. Come spring, bring in about 6 inches of class 5 but compact it in 2" steps to help minimize the unavoidable concrete heave you will get. Or if really want to go big, do it all in Class 5. Just had our asphalt driveway and garage floor done and brought in 12" of class 5 compacted at 2" steps.

 

[HangOutdoors]

You are correct that is what I am trying to do @shnknapp

 

[shnknapp]

You are correct that is what I am trying to do @shnknapp

Ok, I stand by my suggestion. You don't want to bring in 18" of fill to just remove 6 inches a couple of months later. This is assuming that your area of MI experiences some of the brutal temps that MN does.

 

[the MfM]

For 200 sq feet I’d make it out of wood and skip the concrete.

Use some 6x6 for cribbing to level it and it will look all boaty.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Problem is, where I live the city has rat issue and I live near the railroad tracks, although i am pretty clean and clear of them, I don't want to introduce another area for them to make some nests.