Cover for dirt floor

[TractorGuy]

I just ordered a building to park my backhoe and tractor in. It will have 3 sides enclosed and a dirt floor. A slab isn't in the budget for now.

Any suggestions for a durable floor covering that won't cost a lot would be appreciated.

The building is 3 sections totaling 26' x 42'.

I have another shed I used roll roofing under with Cypress mulch on top that held up for a while. It has water flowing through it when it rains. The roofing eventually broke into pieces.

 

[CADplans]

Any suggestions for a durable floor covering that won't cost a lot would be appreciated.

My first ever shed also was built when I did not have a budget for a poured floor,,,
THEN,, about 3,500 pounds of bricks popped up in Craigs List ,,, FOR FREE !!

That was 1983, and that floor is still perfect,
I set the bricks on a bet of 57's gravel, and swept sand into the cracks,,
More bricks were added about 6 months later, when I found more free bricks.

Sometimes, I wished I had done more of my shed floors in brick,,
there is never a puddle of oil under a leaking machine,, the oil is GONE! :dance1:

I always see bricks listed,, people just want them GONE!! :thumbsup:

 

[TractorGuy]

That's something to look out for.

My shed that had the roll roofing under it is partially floored with patio blocks I was given. I have my generator, fuel drums, and a few other things on that area.

I am planning to build the area up and level for the new shed to keep water out.

 

[s219]

In all my barns except one, I have gravel floors. I put down a layer of 6-mil plastic as a vapor barrier, then spread #8 gravel over the top. #8 is pea sized, rakes easily, and self compacts. It doesn't track much at all. I normally put 4-6" of gravel, but it might be more in spots if I need to level the ground. If concerned about poking through the plastic, you can put down a layer of silt fence material, geo-tex fabric, outdoor carpet, old carpet scraps, etc, on top of the plastic before the stone goes down. Use whatever you have laying around.

In one of the barns, I store a push mower and equipment with smaller wheels, and they wanted to furrow the gravel when rolled around. So I laid down plywood over the gravel and solved that problem. The gravel provides such even support to the plywood, I have driven a car over it and it doesn't budge.

I just put a 12x20 addition on my main barn, and used gravel there too. I think it cost me $120 for about 5 tons.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Allowing oil to soak into the ground is quite environmentally irresponsible. You know what they say about a drop of oil and how much soil it can contaminate. I have had some real doozie leaks (on concrete). I would never even have seen them if they were leaking into gravel.

 

[dusty3030]

I have one the previous owner built on dirt. Had some water coming in.
Did dirt work to divert the water from coming inside anymore and used limestone screenings to cover the floor in the building.. Wet it down really good and compacted it.
It has held up well.

 

[BrokenTrack]

What about EARTHCRETE?

Earthcrete is just what it sounds like. Instead of buying readimix concrete at $120 a cubic yard, you buy bags of Portland Cement (94 pound bags and not the premixed kind) and figure out how many you need for the thickness you would like to make it. Then spread those bags over your floor evenly. Then take your rototiller, a rented or borrowed rototiller if you do not have one already, and mix up the soil and the cement powder as well as you can. At this point you could just let the moisture in the soil harden the earthcrete, or you can add water and mix up the soil/cement/water again with your rototiller. Smooth after that just like you would any concrete.

If you want real concrete, just use gravel instead of earth.

I would suggest 3 bags of Portland cement per cubic yard, so about $30. If you go with a 4 inch depth, you could have a concrete-derived floor for $1200 for the whole thing without a lot of mixing and shoveling. With bulk pricing for the bags of cement, you might pay even less.