It is very important that your new shed sit on level ground.  A well-prepared, level site will help to ensure that the building is not stressed by leaning to one side and that doors and windows will open, close and lock properly.  The spot you have selected may look level to the eye, but sometimes a small slope may be hard to see.

Here's how to determine if the spot for your new shed is level.  First add two feet to the length and two feet to the width of the shed.  For example, an 8' by 10' shed will require a level pad that measures 10' by 12', which gives you a one foot wide margin around all four sides of the shed.

Process to Measure the Ground Slope:

1.  First hammer a stake into one corner of the 10' by 12' site for your new pad.

2.  Use the tape measure to find the location for a second stake 10' away from the first stake, which will become one of the two shorter sides for your shed pad.

3.  Use the tape measure to find the location for a third stake 12' away from the first stake and at a right angle from the second stake.

4.  Use the tape measure to find the location for the fourth stake, marking the final corner of your 10' by 12' rectangle.

5.  Tie one end of the string to the first wooden stake.

6.  Pull the string across and tie the other end to the second wooden stake loosely.

7.  Place the line level on the string about midway between the two stakes and pull the string as tight as possible to get the most accurate reading.

8.  Adjust the string up and down until the bubble sits between the two black lines on the vial and secure the string.  You may need to tie the string to the first stake a few inches above the ground level to avoid grass or other obstacles that could make getting an accurate measurement more difficult.

9.  You have found the level between the first two stakes. Use the marks on the wooden stakes (or make your own marks) to take measurements for your shed pad.

10.  Continue by repeating steps 5 through 9 between the second and third, third and fourth and finally the fourth and first stakes.

At this point the line level placed between each of the four stakes should read as level.  Use the tape measure to measure the distance from the ground to the string on each of the four stakes.  If the measurements on all four stakes match then the site is most likely to be very close to level.  If the measurements do not match, then it is important to record the measurements in order around the perimeter of the rectangular site; first corner to second to third to fourth.

What happens if my site is not level?

The difference between a site that is level and one that is not relates mostly to the materials that will be needed to construct a level pad.  Going back to our example, an 8' by 10' shed will require a level pad that measures 10' by 12', which gives you a one foot wide margin around all four sides of the shed.

To build the pad, we dig down four inches, fill the excavated area with Item 4 base material and then compact and level the base material to provide a solid, long-lasting pad.  A level spot will require about 40 cubic feet or about 1 1/2 cubic yards of base material.  If one end of the rectangular pad is six inches lower than the other, we would need 30 cubic feet or just over one cubic yard of additional base material.

The larger the building and pad, the more critical it becomes to select the most level site on your property that still meets your needs in terms of utility and convenience. For a 12' by 24' shed with a 14' by 26' pad on a completely level site, we would need 121 cubic feet or 4 1/2 cubic yards of base material.  If the site was just 12" higher at one end of the pad from the other, with an even slope from one end to the other, we would need an additional 182 cubic feet or almost 7 cubic yards of additional base material.  The 12" difference makes the site so out of level that we need more than double the base material to construct a level pad.