Rat Wall

[Engine Mike]

Still planning my new 40 x 60 pole barn. Can anyone tell me how deep the rat wall should be?

 

[k0ua]

Still planning my new 40 x 60 pole barn. Can anyone tell me how deep the rat wall should be?

Well I googled it, and it appears to be a strictly Michigan thing.. I had never heard of a "rat wall" for a pole barn before and I am old.

Best contact the local authority that made such a law.

 

[boggen]

never heard of a rat wall, i have heard of a "footer" though. it goes around the perimeter, it goes down into the ground further than the slab.

best suggestion is contact your local concrete companies and get estimates, you may find some with free estimates, i say local as in they will know the local laws / regs / codes, as well as your specific climate and dirt types

also i would recommend finding a good "concrete finisher" and most likely this will be with a concrete company, with a 40 x 60 shed, weekend warriors including friends it sounds like a very ugly task to try and poor that much concrete, and would suggest hiring the job out.

footers are used with concrete block walls, to basement foundations, to other.

 

[boggen]

forgot to add a footer err your term rat wall, can help with reduced risk of concrete cracking, but dealing with water drainage and getting the water (rain water and like) to run away form the shed, including gutters, to possibly a french drain system if needed. can go a long ways, if it means bring in dirt to raise the garage location higher it may be worth while. if bringing in dirt good compacted dirt is needed. just tossing dirt in and calling it good, can cause settling issues that can cause concrete floors to crack. if ya digging into hill side, only dig as much as you need to, never dig more and try to refill, (dirt compaction issues and settling of dirt issues)

 

[2458n]

When I was in high school building really slowed down and the boss bid on a estate that had been sold in the Toledo Ohio area. The company that had bought the place was sub dividing the property. We were hanging blue board for the plastering crew. The madest guy on the job was the plumber who was doing the sewer run out of what used to be a old grainery. The building was a yellow glazed brick but sat on a flagstone and mortar foundation that was four foot deep and three foot wide. This fellow called it, a rat wall. The purpose was to keep the rats from getting and digging under the grainery. The main house had slate roofing on it that was 3/4 of a inch thick on the exposed edges. This house sat on a bluff overlooking the Maumee river.

 

[dodge man]

I have a rat wall around my garage. The contractor described it as a spade wide by a spade deep. I suppose it depends on the size of the spade.

 

[uprwnab]

When putting in a mobile home in Michigan years ago, I was told that by code I needed to either pour a slab to set the home on or put in a 'rat wall' which is a cement wall at a ceratin thickness (can't remember what it is now) for a depth of 4' around the permimiter of the building. The purpose was to keep critters from digging underneath once the skirting was in place.

 

[varmint]

You might consider asking Morton, or another pole barn building company with lots of experience in your area what they do. Here in Maryland, a treated 2x6 is run at grade, (think of it as a form board for the slab...) but sometimes you will still see from the outside holes going under the slab where critters or snakes have burrowed. As for your slab, control joints (to deal with inevitable shrinking as the concrete hardens) are vital to keep cracking where you want it- every 10' or so would be good. And, keep in mind there will be no better time to install foam insulation board under the slab than before you pour it! In Michigan, I would think 2" min. at least 8' in around the perimeter, or more is better!

 

[masscity]

I used to live in Washington Twp and the company I worked for did poured basement walls. We didn't do any rat walls, but if I remember right a
rat wall has to be 42" deep to be below the frost line.

 

[zmansmac]

I've dug a rat wall for a shed here in SE Michigan. If I remember correctly it was 30 inches deep and had to be a minimum of 4 inches wide. All the people I know here with pole barns, including myself, do not have rat walls for them, just slabs. But a couple of them have issues with burrowing creatures digging underneath. So one of my friends buried steel fencing about 24 inches down all the way around to keep them out. Probably the same amount of work but cheaper than cement.