How to Build Forms for Concrete Pads

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

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To support air conditioners, hot tubs, decks, outbuildings and transformers, you'll need to build a concrete pad for support to prevent your expensive investment from sinking into the ground. Here's how you can build forms for pads and columns to support them.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

Measuring tape
Shovel
Posthole digger
Fiber forms
2 by 4 inch boards
Hammer
Duplex-headed nails
1 by 4 inch stakes

Step1

Measure the area for the concrete pad needed for your particular project. Remove all sod in the designated area with a shovel and level the soil.

Step2

Dig holes in the ground for the support columns. An air conditioner pad likely will need four for support. Use a manual posthole digger or, if you need to dig several holes, rent a posthole digger.

Step3

Make the column holes deep enough to extend below the frost line. At this depth, the columns prevent the pad from moving up and down with changes in temperature. Check with the building department to determine the needed depth for your area, but at minimum make the holes 24 inches deep. Create the hole wider at the bottom to allow the concrete to spread out.

Step4

Insert fiber forms for concrete in the holes, if required by local building codes. Forms for the columns may be required in areas that have sandy or loose soil.

Step5

Build the form for the pad, once you have finished the column holes. Hammer together 2 by 4 inch boards, using duplex-headed (double-headed) nails for extra support.

Step6

Check recommendations from the appliance's manufacturer for proper drainage. Check the slope of your pad. Shovel soil from below the boards to adjust the slope of the pad, if necessary.

Step7

Hammer 1 by 4 inch stakes into the ground on the exterior of the form for support.