Backfilling pole barn, need advice

[Juiced06GTO]

Looks good, pretty similar to what I did. Are you going to do a vapor barrier under the slab? I used stego wrap under mine, taped all the seams and then put foam on top of that.

 

[deezler]

Nice. So... your rat wall is about 7 or 8 inches tall, underneath the slab height? I hope that is enough to accomplish your goal. I went 24" deep on my rat wall, below the slab bottom.

So now you need a sh!tload of fill brought inside the building to get leveled up to the top of your rat wall sections, right? fun!

 

[DrewStyduhar]

Juiced - Yes I plan on a vapor barrier but thinking about what I should do with the extra flap of plastic at each bay. Leave it flat and put stone on it? fold up and try to integrate into the "main" vapor barrier?

Deezler - Thats correct about it being 7-8 inches and underneath the slab. I have 100 tons of crusher sitting right out in front of the barn just waiting to be brought in. Would have had to do the same thing before, only difference is now these rat walls are here. Just need to finish a few more things and coordinate with this local guy. He will run the skid steer and ill run the rented twin drum compactor and plate. My goal was not necessarily to prevent groundhogs but doing something to help contain the fill. The only problematic area groundhogs could dig in is behind the barn but I have a plan for that. Talked to some concrete folks about doing a thickened edge slab but wasn't happy with the responses I got so pouring these myself was the only somewhat sane option left.

I have thought a lot about putting 2" foam under the ENTIRE slab but I just dont think that's the best option for me. I went over to a local guy's house who has a slightly smaller barn with full radiant heat and he was showing me the ins and outs. I think its neat but I just dont know about radiant under the ENTIRE thing. One gable end of my barn was setup with scissor trusses to accommodate my plans for framing in an office/clean area with storage above since I have 14' sidewalls. I am thinking about pouring this building slab in two sections, one would be approx 12x40 and the rest would be 36x40. My thinking is I can edge insulate the 12x40 and run the tubing just in that. My neighbor does commercial concrete finishing for large warehouses and him and one of his coworkers do side jobs during the spring. He said pouring 40x50 with just us 3 is too much to handle but he would make me a smokin deal on the labor for the 12x40 office area. Guy owes me a few favors so who knows. Still thinking though.

Thanks,

Drew

 

[deezler]

Gotcha. Well definitely don't pay for the high-psi foam board if you aren't going to heat the whole building.... it's expensive!!

I would ignore your current bits of vapor barrier, just do it all correctly on top when it's time for the main slab pour. Just 2c.

 

[jyoutz]

Hi guys,

Just finished a 40x48 pole barn. There is ~12" gap below the bottom of the skirt (2x8) that I need to do something with. This was intentional as the barn is on a slight grade and I wanted to raise it up a bit due to the crazy rain we get here in NC. Due to complications with the county, the building pad was built up just enough to create a level area for the builders to do their thing. Even then, this resulted in ~2.5' of fill in the back. Yes, I understand it would have made more sense to build pad up to

I have ~14" that needs filled up INSIDE the barn. I figure 4" concrete + 4" #57 and ~8" of compacted sandrock would do the trick. The outside we will blend off using cheap fill dirt. Should I double skirt this building with a 2x10 below the existing 2x8?

Just curious if anyone has been down this road before...the builder said they typically put the skirt right on grade but that wasn't going to work in this situation.

View attachment 702570

thanks for any advice!!

Drew

Form it up and pour a concrete skirt

 

[ovrszd]

The mistake was made when the pad wasn't leveled. Then it has just compounded.

By the comments and pics posted it's obvious many guys have made this mistake.

A building requires much thought and determination. Never move to the next step before the previous step is completed properly.

Entertaining posts!!!

 

[DrewStyduhar]

Form it up and pour a concrete skirt

What do you mean? Something different than what I have already been doing?

Drew

 

[DrewStyduhar]

The mistake was made when the pad wasn't leveled. Then it has just compounded.

By the comments and pics posted it's obvious many guys have made this mistake.

A building requires much thought and determination. Never move to the next step before the previous step is completed properly.

Entertaining posts!!!

I dont understand, is this directed towards me? The pad was leveled.

Drew

 

[ovrszd]

I dont understand, is this directed towards me? The pad was leveled.

Drew

If the pad was leveled and the building placed accordingly why would there be a need to "fill" anything?

Maybe I missed something in the original picture? It appears the skirt of the building is a foot or so off the ground?

Sorry if I missed something.

 

[ovrszd]

I dont understand, is this directed towards me? The pad was leveled.

Drew

I went back and reread your original post and picture. Whether your pad is level or not isn't the issue. Pad elevation is. Again, should have been considered before construction. The bottom treated skirt board should be sitting on the ground. Or even dug in a couple inches.

I'm not picking on anyone. Just offering observations. When the building construction was done dirt would be brought in to raise the surrounding pad to the bottom of the metal which would create a slope away.