Low Cost Shed Floor?

With too many other projects taking my cash right now, I don't have the funds to put in a concrete floor in the tractor shed. This is a semi-enclosed, 15'x30' galvanized steel structure. The flooring now is very soft sugar-sand. The tractor tires really dig in and cause huge ruts. I was thinking of going to some sort of geotextile fabric with caliche rock on top (limestone rocks). But I had a bad experience with the same thing a few years ago, when the rocks eventually disappeared even with fabric under them. Any suggestions? My budget is about $300-400 for this.

I have heard of a process called "mixing in place" where you add Portland cement and water to the existing sand floor, compact it and let it cure.

It wouldn't be as rugged as a poured cement floor, but it would certainly be a big improvement over the loose sand.

I have the same problem to some degree, hopefully someone who's done it will chime in with some pointers.

There really is no low cost floor.

In your case you could spend the avalable dollars on crushed gravel and spread 4/6 inches thick as far as it will go and add to it as money becomes available.

If the equipment that has tires is allways run over the same spot cement paving blocks that are placed where the tires go may work. Note: do not use cement sidewalk blocks.

Hope this helps.

Egon

Fawteen

It's been a while since I researched this so my information may be a bit off. The top soil is scimmed off. Portland cement is spread on the subsoil and is rototilled in. The surface is then compacted with a plate compactor or other type of compactor. The natural moisture in the soil is absorbed by the cement. ( In dry areas I would imagine that water would have to be added ) If you already have a rototiller the cost would be for Portland cement and possibly for rental of a plate compactor. This may also make a good base for later adding concrete. A 94 pound bag of Portland cement is one cubic foot. If your rototiller tills 6 inches deep, one bag of cement for every ten square feet would give you a 5 to 1 mix. This may be a bit rich so you can adjust it accordingly. I think if you do a search for rammed earth you might get more information.

RonL

I've read about the method ronl described to make outdoors basketball courts. Seems to be a very viable option for your situation IF you have a rototiller. The basketball court called for one 80 lb bad of cement per sq yard, tilled in and tamped.

Thanks, Ron.

The floor is screened gravel on one end, and when the budget started getting tight, I switched to bank-run sand on the other end, so after raking all the sheep and llama poop out [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] I could start mixing. Lessee, 20x32 is 640 square feet or 64 bags of Portland. Ouch...

Still, a lot cheaper than a Readymix truck. SWMBO has already mentioned that I need to do something about the barn floor, so maybe I can sneak that into this year's construction budget. After, of course, I finish remodelling the guest room and upstairs hallway... [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]