Floor Options For Pole Barn (Not Concrete)

[3 Horse Ranch]

You all are lucky. The place I moved to has limestone scree for a floor. They used it for driveway road base and to "level" the barn floor. It hasn't packed in 20 years and I cannot imagine trying to lie down to work on any thing. It ranges from 4 inches to dust and the rock is angular and sharp.. The plan is for concrete this summer if we can find a contractor.

 

[duffer]

Vapor barrier, crushed 1¼" & less gravel with dust (around here we call it crush & run). Then top it off with limestone screenings if you have it. The trick to getting them to pack down is not a plate compactor, but rather run a sprinkler for 10-15 minutes in each spot. It will compact it almost like concrete.

 

[lman]

I put crushed in my old barn that was supposed to pack down hard. It did not. The tractor tyres break it up too easily. Wish I had never put it in there.

The 'new' barn I did it 'right' the first time.View attachment 730780View attachment 730781

I don't see any expansion joints cut into your floor. Did they do that later or don't they do that down there?

 

[Alien]

Expansion joints not necessary here. This is the preparation. Lawn laid and I have gravelled the rest.

 

[woodchuckct]

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.

As you said but, go one step further. Spread the cement powder pver the crushed stone or screenings or even just good clay dirt. Then till it up wet and compact with hand tamper or plate compactor. Dirt concrete has been around a long time.

 

[coondle]

I have very different climatic considerations than in the USA. My project earlier his century was a total area of 80x 92 with 3 internal posts. The main structure 80x50x16, hay storage shed with one central post. This area was to be floored. Attached as a lean-to was an 80x42x13 9 (with one central post) machinery storage area which retained a dirt floor. The third post within the perimeter was situated within the wall separating the two areas. I carted in 90 tonnes of fine granite screenings of 1/10 inch and under. (First screening size up from pure dust.)

The purpose of this was to get a mixture of dust and sharp sand sized particles to bind effectively with the cement.

I carted in 12 tonnes of cement powder in 1 tonne bulka bags.

I then formed up a panel 6 inch deep by 16x25 with plastic vapour barrier under.

Outside the shed on hard flat dry ground I put approximately 6 tonnes of screenings and emptied a 1 tonne bulka bag of cement onto it, then mixed the pile with my front end loader until well mixed. I then placed the mix into the formed-up section, compacting the dry mix with plate compactor and screed to level. I chose this method to retain the integrity of the vapour barrier but another alternative would have been to add a water proofing compound to the mis and rotary hoe the mixture in-situ to get the screenings and cement to mix.

I then flooded the panel with water until no more water would soak in. Allow to almost dry. To the top I then liberally spread cement dust which was then troweled to a glazed surface. I did this for every panel but one. That one was after some years a little problematic because the surface was always dusting up and shedding. where it was troweled to a glazed surface it was like case hardening steel and wore very well.

Repeat the process 10 times over a period of a couple of weeks and the hay storage area had a cement floor. I had to use plastic sheeting between the hay and the cement floor due to the water content within the cement floor affecting the hay in contact.

An apron with a slight slope made the same way was the placed outside the entry area to full width of the shed.

Allow to dry and cure for a couple of weeks and use thereafter as wanted.

After several years the floor showed some marks and minor cracks in some places but it was also used with my 10 tonne front end loader and my fully loaded 27.5 tonne Volvo 8 wheeler truck plus tractors and other machinery.

Cost under $2500 plus labour (mine) and alternative of a laid concrete floor was about $30,000 at the time.

Two regrets:
1. I did not finish trowel one of the panels, and
2. I did not continue and lay the same floor in the machinery storage area.

A variation on a dirt/cement concrete which I had tried in a small shed but the clay content was apparently too high and the floor did not have the longevity wanted.

 

[ovrszd]

I have quite a bit of square footage with screenings. It works ok, but it can definitely be dusty. If you get it at different times, different loads might not pack the same either. We've had some loads that are more like fine gravel and others that pack almost like concrete.

Screenings will break up a bit as you work and drive on it also. Driving and walking on it is fine, but if you want to roll a tool chest or a floor jack across it you'll start to have trouble unless it was recently packed.

I think the theme of what most people are saying is that you might save money temporarily by using something other than concrete, but you need to factor in how much time you're going to spend dealing with or fighting that material on a regular basis.

I'm hoping to put up a new building in the next few years. I don't have time to do anything but concrete. The extra cost will save me plenty of time in the long run.

The first thing that has to be determined is the use of the building.

My machine shed is exactly that, a machine shed. I don't work on anything in there. I park machines in there. I don't need concrete.

My shop is exactly that, a shop. I work on everything in there. I move things in and out daily. I need concrete.

 

[ovrszd]

Expansion joints not necessary here. This is the preparation. Lawn laid and I have gravelled the rest.


View attachment 730792View attachment 730793

Nice building!!!

I've never saw a concrete worker in sandals!!!!

I've also never saw border forms with the bracing sticking above the top of the form. That makes screeding much harder to do.

Nice building!!!

 

[MrHiggins]

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.

I built my 30X40 barn 15 years ago using Fiberglass in the cement and no rebar. There is not a single crack in the floor after all this time.

 

[ovrszd]

I built my 30X40 barn 15 years ago using Fiberglass in the cement and no rebar. There is not a single crack in the floor after all this time.

My 39x48 shop is 3 years old. Concrete with steel. No visible cracks. But then, I don't know what's going on in the stress cuts. Did you cut your floor?