I've heard many posts about pouring a slab for the
floor of pole barns, but my problem is the $$$ and I wanted
just the dirt floor. Does anyone have any comments onthis, like the floor getting too muddy in spring etc.
Thnx...Shawn
Thanks for the advice Mike, actually I was thinking
about crushed shale but where the barn is located is
hard to access with a tri-axle truck. a 4x4 can get there
very easy, but its bed is soo small.
Shawn
Make the barn's floor higher then the surrounding site. That will keep water from flowing inside, and what does get in will drain out. It's also just good building practice.
You might also be able to find some low cost materials to cover the floor. I have seen old cut up roofing material used in this way. Also, old carpet or tar paper. In the old days, you used to see waste oil used also, but of course, that's a no no nowdays. Gravel is always an option, but personally, I hate working on gravel.
I echo Dave's comment on making floor of barn higher. I built a 30x40 pole barn 3 years ago, with thought of pouring floor a year later (now complete); however, I did not take into account drainage. Needless to say, first thaw of spring (and spring rains) made it interesting. Somewhat embarassing to ask neighbor for help in getting my car out of the garage (sunk to axle).
Due to my lack of foresight and poor planning, ended up having to grade around exterior of barn, trench and put in drain tile, before we poured the floor.
I agree that high and dry is a requirement. I would also remove all topsoil from the building site and replace w/ bank run gravel. The nicest horse barn in the world isn't worth crap if it's sittin' on top soil! [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
I have a 60x40 Pole barn that came with the home when we bought it (the house was about 4 years old). The barn's floor was dirt - in order to build some dog kennel runs I put in some concrete but left the rest of it dirt. Until I could afford the concrete (which I now have - 6" with 4x4 rebar and a trench drain in the center), I used to treat the dirt floor with the sodium chloride treatment that the county used on the dirt roads near our house. This stuff was great - it came in bags, you spread it out on the ground, and then wet it down with a hose (you can even smooth out the floor first and then do it so you get an even result). Once it dried, the floor was like concrete and the dust problem was pretty much gone. The county uses it on the dirt roads and treats the areas in front of the houses to keep the dust down. I found new ill effects to my dogs or anyone by having it on the barn floor either.
I suggest you contact your County roadway dept and ask them where you can purchase the stuff. It comes in liquid and solid form and is fairly cheap. I think I treated my entire floor for about 60$ and it lasted several years.
Concrete is the way to go though if you can afford it. I got outside aprons, 6" of concrete, etc., all for about 6K. It really makes a difference in the long run.
I bought my property with a pole building already in place. They must have made the same mistake as the building is lower than the surrounding ground on three of its four sides. Two of those three are gentle slopes I'm hoping can be cured with a couple days with a D4 dozer. The third side, however, is a different story.
There must be a three foot drop over a three to four foot fun along that side. Of course, the natural slope running parallel to that side goes toward my drive. Any thoughts as to how I might handle that other than the dozer. I'd like to avoid that because of the amount of dirt I'd have to move and because of other considerations as well.
Lastly, assuming I get the drainage problem handled, what would you suggest for the floor? I want to eventually pour concrete but that might not be in this years budget [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I think right now I'd like to at least get something over the dirt in a 40' wide area either 24' or 32' deep. The entire building is 70' wide and 80' deep so I'm looking at under 20% to under 25% of the total area at this point in time. As money allows, I'd like to put concrete over this area, stone some more area, concrete over that, etc., until I have the whole thing with a concrete floor.
<font color="blue"> The first pole barn I built was a 24x32 at my last residence. It was poorly drained due to being downhill of the driveway, even though it was on gravel as well as a side hill. The crusher run was always damp and everything turned to mold or mildew [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] that was stored there except the boat. I corrected that mistake when I moved and built my dream building. I picked a high spot with a slight incline to encourage drainage, dug the high side down a foot and filled with gravel to 6" above grade and then leveled an area large enough for my 40x60 with gravel (40 loads). While the Mennonite built the frame, I dug underdrains for the floor. They included the cement in the price of the building, I do not regret it. This building can house anything, it is high and dry and useful, not a damp storage like the last one. If you can not afford the floor now, build it with one in mind and construct it with the pad well above current grade level. You can buy calcium cheap at a commercial farm supply outlet such as Agchem if you want that for now. I have seen cold patch used in these buildings as well, works ok as long as you put plywood under your jack before trying to lift the car [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] </font color>
Now with all this talk about draining, I may have a problem. There is a little hill next to where I want to put my barn. Its kind of like this... \___________ There is about 20 feet from the \ to where the barn is. Now this is in some woods, but most of the soil drains REALY well. What do you all think? This is realy the only good place to put it on my land. Should I put in a french drain before the barn anyway?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote