What to do with a dirt floor

[wotalota]

Having read the THS concrete floor post I thought this might be a good place to ask. I am close to retirement and set out last year to downsize a bit, buy a little low maintenance ranch or a condo. I wound up with an old farm house and a 40x30 bank barn.

I would like to do something with the dirt floor in the barn. Mostly to help reduce the moisture level in the structure. In the fall I treated the lower level for obvious insect activity in the wood and will be watching for that. Also a barn guy came in and re-enforced some of the strucures and put in a sceen door to help the air flow. I hope to have him back when the weather warms to start to pull the strucure back a little into a less twisted posture. It is over 100 years old and I want to do right by it. Head room on the ground level is about 5' 9" and it is somewhat level but slopes off here and there.

I don't personally need the space very much. Another reason to cover the floor is to stop tramping the dirt into the house. I would rather not pour concrete for the cost, the reduction of headroom and the difficulty of getting it into place. However I don't want to rule out that possibility for someone in the future.
I dont think a wood floor down there is practical.
So the best the I have come up with that I could see myself being able to do would be to level it a bit better and put down a strong plastic vapor barrier. Then cover it with a couple of inches of something like 1" stone to provide a clean walking surface.

Are there other alternatives that people have seen?

 

[vallyfarm]

A friend of mine put in stone dust. He wet it to damp all the way through, and then vibro-tamped it. Verry messy for one day, but other than a few places the horses like to dig at, it looks as good as concrete. I wouldnt put a floor jack on it without something underneath, but his skidsteer hasn't chewed it up. Mike

 

[EddieWalker]

Since it's just foot traffic, you can use gravel pretty easily. I'm not clear on how much moisture you get in there, but plastic might hold as much water as it keeps out.

My first thought was to buy those 12 inch square stepping stone pavers from Home Depot or Lowes and set them out where you walk. Then put the rock down on the areas that you don't go to very often, but you still want to cover. Or don't bother with the stone, and just use the stepping stones for a path. They are fairly thin and could even be dug into the ground an inch for added headroom.

Preasure treated wood has made more trails through mud for me than anything else. Eventually I do something permanent, but a 2x8 on it's side has always been a quick, cheap solution to keep my boots clean and dry.

Eddie

 

[Dougryan]

Check out Dirt Glue and products similar to that.
DirtGlue: Soil Stabilization - Erosion Control - Dust Control

Doug

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Watalota,
My neighbor used a tri axle load of Surepack out of Wallingford, Vt. I believe a load is about $200. He covered the entire pole barn floor, this stuff sets up real good, kinda like concrete. Dont know if thats available in your area, but something to think about !

 

[WayneB]

Nothing like down sizing and buying an old farmhouse and barn! So now you have all of your retirement projects directly in front of you.

Stone dust would be a good choice and maybe easier to move around the 1" stone. Once you have it moved around I would rake it out as level as possible and the rent a soil compactor to finish the job.

What is the grade of the land around the outside of the barn and is the surface water running away from the building? If you are sure the moisture is coming up through the ground then lay some drain pipes down before putting in the stone dust.

You could put down a vapor barrier. The concern I would have is it will hold moisture too and might end up being a bigger problem.

Just my two cents.

 

[bones1]

A lot of folks put down some calcium chloride with a spreader and wet it.It's supposed to make a hard surface though I have not tried it.

 

[scagwildcat]

a friend of mine had the same issue that your having, he ended up paving the inside of the barn, the cost was way cheaper then concrete, and it didnt waste head room....

 

[wotalota]

So many ideas and material to learn about. Thank you all. The land is sloped and the long side of the barn is built into the side of hill so the lower level is underground on one side with sealed windows on the down side. On the upside there is a retaining wall and a few yards of flat area to try and prevent the surface water running up against the barn. I will try and rework this one day to make sure the run off is around and away from the barn. This will be my first spring and the snow will be melting this week and with the rains, I'll see how much moisture comes up in the floor then. I think the person who checked out the place for me was recommending plastic sheeting to try and lower the general humidity level to discourage the beetle activity.

 

[vallyfarm]

If you are talking about wood beetles, a good trick is to paint a nice heave coat of paint thinner on all exposed surfaces. This will soak in and make the wood burn them. Has worked for almost 10 years for me with just the one coat. Mike