dirt floor pole building

[Moon]

I've recently purchased a L3010 and keep it in my pole building. The pole building just has a dirt floor so everything gets really dusty. Anyone else been in this situation and found a reasonable way to cover the dirt without it costing too much. The building is 30 x 70 and I've thought of black topping it, but don't know if that is possible or what it might cost. Another thought was to put gravel down, but the trailers and such that i keep in there would be harder to move on gravel ...so I'm looking for ideas.

Thanks,

Moon

 

[Soundguy]

Asphalt and concrete prices will probably scare you. Clay may hold up a little better, but when it's wet.. its messy. Gravel may be a viable choice. Good drainage, and very little dirt splatter from the ground.
Perforated stall matting like for use in horse stalls may be an option... but again, these go for about 40 bucks per 6x8x3/4 sheet.
Basically you've got 2100 sf of area to cover. Even using preformed paver stones.. your gonna pay 600 plus. and it will require lots site work.
You might investigate soil cement, as a semi-permanent base.
However.. gravel may be the best way. ( unless you are rich.. then heck.. go concrete )

Soundguy

 

[Mark_in_NH]

Consider spreading Blue stone Hard Pak, sometimes called Ledge Pack. It is a mixture made from blue Stone by products. ie. stones, usually up to 3/4" and stone dust.
You will see it alot in peoples driveways (at least on the East Coast ) Once it is spread out, several inch's thick, spray a Little water on it and pack it down, either by, a roller or even a small rented walk behind vibrating compactor. Iit will set up almost as hard as concrete, yet water etc. will still drain down through it. It is a really Great Product.
Here on the east coast is sells for aprox. $16 a ton.
I use just the Blue dust alone (no stones) for filling pot holes in the dirt roads of a private lake front development. The dust sets up SO HARD that the small hubor grader can't cut the dust, it only kind of scrapes over the top of it.

 

[Moon]

AHH, just what i was hoping for. I never heard of blue stone before, but i think i have seen it in some driveways. Now i'll just have to ck the availability of it here in ohio land.
Thanks,
Moon

 

[Moon]

Thanks for the reply. I'm wanting to stay away from pre formed stones. I never saw stall matting, but for a large area like that I would think of it like 4x8 pieces of plywood laid all about. I'd probably go with rock or the blue stone mentioned in another post. But I don't know what the heck soil cement is. Would this be something I'd talk to a cement company about?

Thanks,

Moon

 

[Moon]

The blue stone idea is really intriging to me. Another situation I'm looking for a solution to is water runoff on my dirt roads. I make trenches to steer the drainage where i want it with varying sucess. But the trenches eventually fill and are a very temporay solution. I was planning to get a load or two of gravel delievered now that I have a FEL to assist transporting it to the various trenches and filling them with stone. Since Blue Stone also drains well would it be a better solution for my road drainage? If its available for 16 a ton here, thats just a little more than the 11 a ton I've been paying for gravel for my driveway; so it doesn't seem too expensive.
thanks again,
Moon

 

[phantom309]

Moon-

The blue stone sounds like good stuff. I've had similar good results with crushed asphalt. It's pretty cheap and packs in tighter and tighter with time.

I personally don't like river rock/gravel/etc as it never packs in and you just push it around all the time.

Mark

 

[woodmills1]

the blue stone stuff is called mixed aggregate or dirty pea down here in southewrn NH

 

[Soundguy]

I had almost forgot about reclaimed asphalt. Even reclaimed concrete may be good.. both are fairly cheap.

Soundguy

 

[Carl_NH]

Mark - regarding Blue Stone, how does that differ in content than stone dust - what's the compacting agent? I have used stone dust for walkway and driveways, and I know the stone dust packs really well esp when you wet it down and tamp it.

Also another inexpensive technique is to use this stone dust base 2-3" packed, then put a top coat of hot tar, then another layer of stone dust to absorb then roll/tamp. This is cheap pavement so to speak.

There are co's that do this, or you can also use the driveway sealer then top dress with stone dust, tho this method doesn't bind or penetrate as well.

The nice thing is it can be recoated every few years if necessary.

Carl