Floor Options For Pole Barn (Not Concrete)

[jyoutz]

I have a large steel barn built on a stem wall. For years it had a dirt, then gravel floor. It wasn’t much fun to work in and rodents liked to burrow in the floor. Last summer I had enough, rented a large roll off dumpster and cleaned out the barn. Even with hiring high school boys to help, this took days. Then I had the entire barn floor concreted, except for a few animal stalls. Now the barn is an enjoyable work and storage shop. I built dollyies for a few implements and now can roll them around. It’s easy to keep clean with a leaf blower and garden hose. The concrete cost thousands more than it would have several years ago. Do it now and you won’t regret it.

 

[taem]

For a 64x40 pole barn used mainly for machine storage, I put down staymat (small fines and 1/4" gravel) over gravel compacted then topped with stall mats sourced from a dairy that was going out of milking. Pressure washed and then installed with locking tabs. wet each of them handled like a drowned corpse. happy now with the result and less than 1/3 the cost of cement. We use a home made dolly to move equipment and for the most part, the mats don't move

 

[Hoodoo]

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....

 

[Cycledude]

I am interested in having a small 30'x40' pole barn built this year. With everything being expensive these days, I will not have a concrete floor installed for a number of years.

If concrete is not an option right now, what floor options do I have? I plan to park a vehicle and equipment inside the pole barn. The building will not be heated, cooled, or insulated. It will be used for storage only, but I do not want the floor material to lead to rusting my vehicle and tractor. A dirt floor is not an option to me since I do not want to deal with the mud.

Thanks for your input.

A lot depends on where you happen to live and so far that seems to be top secret information

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

lots of floor options often dependant on where you live so no comment from me here... BUT since you mention rust I highly recommend that if yo plan to grade up to your bottom grade board you make sure you add vent fan attached to humidi-stat, or enough passive venting in eaves or vented coupula or plan to leave doors open. Depending where you are humidity in pole barns can be very bad and since you mention rust better to think of before than after.

Cheers

 

[jyoutz]

For a 64x40 pole barn used mainly for machine storage, I put down staymat (small fines and 1/4" gravel) over gravel compacted then topped with stall mats sourced from a dairy that was going out of milking. Pressure washed and then installed with locking tabs. wet each of them handled like a drowned corpse. happy now with the result and less than 1/3 the cost of cement. We use a home made dolly to move equipment and for the most part, the mats don't move

If I had to buy new stall mats, it would cost more than concrete.

 

[ovrszd]

A lot depends on where you happen to live and so far that seems to be top secret information

Yep. Until we know that our comments aren't worth much.

 

[k0ua]

All I can tell you is what I did. I used 0 to 3/4 road base packed down. It is working fine, but do I wish I had concrete? Uh, yeah. I also second the plenty of ventilation. I had to put some in myself to prevent the rain inside the barn from condensate. The road base is working for me several years in now, but of concrete would be better of course.

 

[ovrszd]

All I can tell you is what I did. I used 0 to 3/4 road base packed down. It is working fine, but do I wish I had concrete? Uh, yeah. I also second the plenty of ventilation. I had to put some in myself to prevent the rain inside the barn from condensate. The road base is working for me several years in now, but of concrete would be better of course.

Yep. Perfect material.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Yes concrete is nice but it's out of my budget. What I used was reject sand. You can kneel down in it and not hurt your knees. It was cheep, basically the cost of hauling. Because of the clay in it, it compacts very well. A couple of wind driven ventilation fans keep the interior dry enough for my needs. Another option I looked at was rig mats. They were plentiful at one time but I didn't have the budget for them.