Floor Options For Pole Barn (Not Concrete)

[Tinhack]

I found an old picture of mine going up. The "old" 12x36 section is to the left. I had a small garden and chicken coop I was building at the same time. You can see the hen boxes to the rear of the covered area. It was later closed in out to the end of the wind wall. I think this picture was taken around the fall of 2002. The barn is still solid and functional. And I also have a Bridgeport Mill out there.

 

[yooperdave]

Crushed Limestone - crusher fines - limestone screenings are exceptional.

 

[gstrom99]

+1 for "screenings" or 3/8 crushed, or whatever they call it in your area (which we don't know...). I paid $9800 last fall for a 28x44 concrete pour of 5". This is about 1/3 of my pole barn that I am going to use to erect a finished/heated shop. The rest of the barn got screening put down. If you can afford it, place the concrete when the barn is being built. The crew had a pretty tough time with my pour, since the trucks had to make it inside the big doors and jockey around. A concrete pump could've been used, but that's like an extra grand or more...

 

[EddieWalker]

The first time I built a shop, it was 24x40, and I was in a hurry, and didn't want to spend any more then I had to. I put road base gravel down for the floor to save money. I hated that floor. When I sold that place, the guy who bought it said that he was going to pour concrete. That was 15 years ago, and he still hasn't poured concrete. In fact, he just built a new 40x60 shop with a concrete floor and he said that he would never build anything without a concrete floor after dealing with a gravel floor.

When I bought the land I'm living on now, I created a 12x30 storage area with a dirt floor. I never got around to putting anything down, and it quickly filled up with stuff. Last year, I decided to build a new storage shed and no matter what, it was going to have a concrete floor. I did it in three sections of 10x10 with 60 pound sacks of concrete and a mixer. It was horrible, but doable.

Creating my 10 1/2 x 30 ft Storage Shed

When I built my house, I built a lean to onto the side of my shop that has proven to be a good place to store stuff, but it is also an eye sore that I don't care to see every time I look at it. I was going to pour concrete, but that never happened, and I won't make that mistake again. As you...

www.tractorbynet.com

I'm was going to build a 30x42 garage this year, but then we got a dumb idea to add another 12 feet to it so we could have an indoor, dog washing and grooming area. I've been putting money aside to do it all for cash, and I will not start on it until I have the cash for the concrete. If it took another year, or two more years, I am going to have concrete no matter what!!!! Fortunately, I should have enough money to do the concrete, and have it weather tight by the time Winter ends and the Temps are good for building.

While saving and waiting for the weather, I'm working on getting the area ready. To save money, I'm doing all the dirt work myself. This will be done with my tractor, and also with a shovel. I will set my forms, and I will do all the rebar myself. Then I will hire a crew to spread and finish the concrete. The last time I did this, they wanted $.80 cents a square foot for finish work. I haven't priced it yet, but I'm hoping for a $1 a square foot plus the cost of concrete, which was $120 a yard the last time I checked. 1,620 square feet of concrete, so I want to have $2,000 for labor and hopefully spend a lot less. Then 162 sticks of rebar at $6 each for about a grand. Then 25 yards of concrete for $3,000 should give me a concrete slab for about $6,000

If I wait, it will cost more. If I put it off, it will cost more. There will never be a cheaper time to do it then right now.

 

[ovrszd]

If I wait, it will cost more. If I put it off, it will cost more. There will never be a cheaper time to do it then right now.

I agree Eddie.

Are you pouring a slab with footings and then stick/stud build?

 

[EddieWalker]

Yes. Stud walls, wood trusses, metal roof and Hardie on the exterior walls. Then I will put metal on the ceiling and blow in insulation 2 feet thick for R60. R13 insulation in the walls and sheetrock to finish it off.

 

[ovrszd]

Yes. Stud walls, wood trusses, metal roof and Hardie on the exterior walls. Then I will put metal on the ceiling and blow in insulation 2 feet thick for R60. R13 insulation in the walls and sheetrock to finish it off.

Looking forward to following the build Eddie.

 

[lman]

You guys must be made of money!

I built my own. It started as a 12x36 storage shed and a sandy-clay dirt floor. I added on to the 12' to make it 36x36 but the floor remained dirt for a few more years. I added concrete to the middle 12', a flag off to one side for a lathe room and some rip-rap from the side door to the center (12x12). That's how it is to this day. I have two 6x10 doors on each end so I can drive through. I don't have trouble with drainage or washing it out--There's about a 3" drop from one end to the other. I wasn't building a house--It's a barn!

My 56x40x14 with concrete built about 10 years cost less than half what a new truck costs now. I built the barn and still have my old truck.

 

[ovrszd]

My 56x40x14 with concrete built about 10 years cost less than half what a new truck costs now. I built the barn and still have my old truck.

11 years ago I built a 50x42x12 with concrete, all steel, wired, lighted, insulated with 3 overhead doors for $42K. Still driving my 22 year old truck.

 

[rademamj1]

Decomposed granite 3/4". Wet it down frequently, it will eventually get hard as concrete (well almost). But I'd do the concrete now if there is any way at all you can afford to....

You can actually take this process one step further, and after the compacted gravel drys, take bags of cement and spread the cement powder at 1 bag per 100 sq-ft onto the top of the gravel surface, and using a broom, very slowly spread the powder so its evenly distributed and falls into the surface gravel pores. Follow up with a moderate wet down using repeated light spraying only, and then allow 24 hours to dry. The cement powder will tightly bind all gravel together, giving a very strong concrete feel to the gravel surface that will last for years.