Installing metal building over unlevel concrete pad

a1handy

I am trying to assemble a metal building on an 18x26 concrete slab. Once I began to assemble the building I discovered the slab is not level. As I was attaching the metal rails to the slab a gap began to form between the rails and the slab and got progressively worse as I moved further up the slab. At the end of the rail the gap is approximately 1 1/2" thick. How can I support the rails and attach them to the slab without causing the building to go out of square. I tried shimming with treated 2x4's but I am hoping there is a better way. Any suggestions

kwikfishron

You might pour a small stem wall on the top of the slab to level things out.

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tpolk

pack it with compressive grout or rip long pt shims

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The older I get the better I was

rustyjames

Non Shrink Grout

kwikfishron

Don’t know much about that, but 1 ½” of grout?

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a1handy

Do you think the grout would support the weight of the building? Unassembled the building weighed around 3400 lbs

rustyjames

Non Shrink Grout is commonly used under structural steel column base plates. It's also used in thickness up to 2".

Aggie67

I'd also think a little bit about doing wedge anchors, leveling plates and jamb nuts along with the grout, especially if the rails are really light gauge. That's how I'd do it. It's not something that we come across with the sheet metal building kits, but with equipment, tanks, pumps, steel columns, etc, leveling plates, jamb nuts, and NS grout are the way to go.

Also certain grouts can be extended out to 2.5 - 3 inches using pea gravel. The whole reason you want to limit the grout thickness is the heat that gets generated during the cure. Extending it with pea gravel helps because the pea gravel acts as a heat sink during curing. But you have to buy the right grout to go that thick.

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a1handy

Here are a couple of pictures to help better understand what is going on.

Attached Thumbnails