Hello again all.
So I have been planning out my barn project. I'll probably use the Canada Plans gambrel roof barn. I believe I can have the gambrel trusses built at a truss place, which should save time.
But this question is about floors: This is going to be a small, multiuse barn. A proper foundation (below the frostline) or a slab will cost me about the same. If I make a slab, I get the floor 'for free' if I pour a 4" concrete floor (for the foundation) it will cost me an additional 50%.
So for so good. But I read somewhat that a horse barn should have clay floors, elsewhere I read paving stones, somewhere else rough (brushed?) concrete.
What say yee? I don't have any horses, but I think the barn should be designed just in case ....
ok - here's the thing - bare concrete is too hard and slippery for a horse, shod or not. BUT if you use a soft surface (clay, stone dust, etc) you will have constant maintenance when they paw, dig, even turn. If I were building from scratch I'd go with concrete and plan on putting down rubber mats. Use 3/4 inch interlock for th stalls. Once in you have a cushioned monolithic floor that makes doing stalls easy. For the aisle you can use the same or go a little cheaper with a thinner (1/2 inch) roll out rubber matting. Anywhere the concrete is exposed to where the horse is going to walk use a broomed finish, not glass smooth OR just make sure your rubber is wall to wall.
I guess the slipperyness is the problem - must come with hooves.
Is this rubber material expensive? I'd like to think not because most farm related things aren't
Here's my opinion on horse flooring. I built my own stable 2 years ago and I'm always weighing the pros and cons of everything relating to stable design and construction.
Concrete: Okay in the aisleway, not in the stalls. Even with a 3/4" mat the floor will be too hard for the horses unless you use a ton of shavings. Concrete in the aisleway should not be too smooth, but a heavy broom finish will be difficult to sweep. The concrete guys I used said they just "smacked it down once" and that provides a good finish for livestock. We've had not a single problem with shod or unshod horses.
Stall floors: We removed all the top soil from our building site prior to construction, put in a foot of bank run gravel, then 6" concrete in the ailse and 6" stone dust in the stalls. We then put 3/4" mats in the stalls. The stone dust is easy to level and compact, stays level for many years, provides some drainage, and has some give where concrete has none. I've also seen some pretty expensive barns go with the stone dust and mats throughout the barn. This is really a pretty cost effective approach if you're building a pole barn.
The mats are around $45 for a 3ft x 5ft section. Interlock's MAY be a little more, I can't remember, Not really cheap but well worth the expense. I'll respectfully disagree a little with the last post but I guess it does depend on how much you bed. I would rather go through the added expense of using 1/2 rubber under the 3/4 if I was concerned the concrete under the rubber was too hard. I have stonedust now under my mats that I compacted with a plate tamper and I'm still getting some settling and will have to "touch up" this summer. Horses put a tremendous amount of weight per sq inch down and over time with a compacted stone dust base you'll get movement. (I just came back from Cornell where our horse was for a short time and they have rubber over concrete. This is a vet college so I assume they know what they're doing though I admit I don't know if it's just 3/4 rubber or if they put some more under it). Just looking to do the job once and do it right. And GO WITH THE INTERLOCKS. If you save a few bucks and get the striaght edges bedding WILL eventually work its way under them, they will bunch up and you will be "tweaking" things again. With the interlocks that's not a problem. If hardness is that much of a concern you also have the option of using blacktop under the stalls. Better than stonedust but still softer than concrete. Also has the added benefit of urine being able to seep through rather than puddle. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Remember way back to the barn on the farm where I grew up. The floors were concrete with a gutter along each side where the stalls were. The stalls were concrete sloped towards the gutter. 3 in. thick planks were then placed on the stall floor. These were not closed in stalls. The horses were tied to the manger which was filed with hay from the loft holes.
>>Concrete: Okay in the aisleway, not in the stalls.
Well I am glad someone asked the question again...I haven't built a "real" barn yet, but I converted an existing metal building/gravel floor into stalls for my goats and donkeys...but when I do get around to building a better barn I had planeed on going with cemet...I understand how cemet can be real hard on the horses, so mats would probably be a good idea,...but why do so many people recommend a dirt floor? Seems to me it would be impossible to truly clean it and to have years and years of urine soaking into the ground inside I imagine it is going to get really nasty after a bit? No?
What I have been doing is cleaning out the shavings and straw as best I can and mixing in a layer of limestone to reduce the odor, but I am worried about how bad it is going to get with the heat of the summer?
So if you have a dirt floor, how do you go about cleaning the stalls real well? Can't really hose them down? [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]
Everybody is really right here. Personally I would never use concrete as it is way too hard. There have been studies on this. If you are only occassionally stalling a horse it isn't a problem. But a horse that is stalled everyday it will lead to problems unless you use one heck of alot of bedding.
The interlocks are good no doubt but very expensive. I don't use them but if money was no object I probably would. You can get 3/4 stall mats that fit togehter nice with minimal upkeep for $30 a piece. I also agree with the footing material here and that is what I would do if I was building a stall. All of my horses are either performance or broodmares. It is extremely important that they have good legs. Standing on concrete will break their legs down faster than standing on dirt or fines. The colleges do it because it's the fastest and cleanest way to do it. If you asked a good college vet what's the best thing for the horses concrete or fines (dirt) I bet most would say concrete is harder on them.
This is what bedding is for and consistent cleaning of stalls. Even if you had concrete you would have to build drains into each stall to clean them. Some people will build the drains into the mat system as well. It's really not needed if you clean the stalls regularly and use straw or sawdust.
If you live in swamp city like I do , then drainage becomes the highest priority. I'd put a drain in every stall and run it out under the floor. I wish we could have done that.
We have an inch or two of crush run gravel over the dirt, topped by an inch of stone dust, all covered with rubber mats.
I've only found one place that will cut rubber mats to order; everywhere else we found standard sizes, with 4' x 6' the most popular. I recommend that you make the stall sizes fit a multiple of the mat size, instead of having to cut your mats to fit (if you use them). 12' x 12' would be a good size.
Other things about stalls, from my 1 years of experience [img]/forums/images/icons/smirk.gif[/img] - covering exposed wood edges with metal trim. We went cheap and used the metal edging made for sheet-rock corners.. Anyone had experience with that?
As for the aisle.. smooth is better.. especially for sweeping! I can't believe all the dust and hair we are sweeping up in the last few days with the mud outside and winter coats shedding.
And I would make it as wide as you can, as long as you can stand in the middle (holding a horse) and can reach to either side to grab a cross tie.
Other stuff.. would be great to have an electrical outlet by every stall for things like box fans and heated water buckets..
If this is the time to pour concrete, then you might want to think about a washrack. If you get serious about horses, its great to have a place to wash them. A concrete-floored wash room, with a good drain, is a nice-to-have thing (hope we can get one next year). Make room for your water line coming in. And you can use it to wash other things, like your tractor..
I recommend several books on horsekeeping & stables by Cherry Hill.
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