Pole barn pad

[Ridgewalker]

I am clearing a spot for a 30x50 PB. The area I want to place it has
a drop in grade causing me to need a pad built up of about 2-3 feet on one end to level the area.

Am I asking for trouble by doing this? I am concerned that the poles will be in the fill and that it could wash out over time. Should I use piers in this spot? Is
that something the builder (not me) will be able to adjust for?

Thanks

Ridge

[LD1]

When I built my 30x50 pole barn, I had to do the exact same thing. It all depends on how steep of a grade you are building on. Instead of builing it all up, I started at where the middle of the barn was going to be and removed the dirt from the uphill side and used that as fill for the downhill side. At the farthest part of the barn, I had built up about 30". I just made sure I set my posts at least a foot deeper than I had built up.

On the uphill side, it will also be a good Idea to put in some black 4" perforated drain tile and cover it with limestone. This will prevent water from running through your building. If you have access to a transet or some other way to make sure it's level before you have te builder come in that will save a lot of hassle. When you are trying to level a grade, it is very decieving. I thought I had mine level enough but when we put the transet on it, It droped 10" over the 50' length.

[rdln]

you must be down south? couldnt tell by your bio. just put poles deeper in that area to make sure they are on virgin subsoil. definitely tell the builder the situation.

I had my sight built up 4 foot minus a foot of topsoil, bought an extra foot of depth to make 5' below grade.

[pitt_md]

I am going to build the entire pad up to avoid water problems. I will have a mountain of dirt to use from the construction of my new house.

[Ridgewalker]

I am in Missouri...about as midwest as you can get!

There is one more detail that I forgot to include. The spot where I am building the barn has an existing 12' wide concrete driveway and sidewalk on the high side. It will allow me to use the sidewalk for my mandoor and the overhead will go over the driveway, this will be on one of the 30' long sides. Because of that I have to build up from the low side to match the grade of the drive.

Thanks for the tips. Keep 'em coming.

[3RRL]

Building up your own pad can be a fun experience.
There's no mention of what kind of tractor you have in you bio, but I assume you have one. When you build up that pad lay it in lifts of no more than 4" or less. Less for better compaction. Drive over every square inch to compact the heck out of it and use water. You can use your tractor or truck for that. Do that for each lift slight above your desired height and then cut it down to what you want to get a nice level surface.
Be sure to build your pad a good 6' to 10' past the size of your building on the built up side though, and slope it for water run off. You might consider some sort of French drain where you will get the most run-off to avoid wash outs.

[YM-135trac]

Originally Posted by Ridgewalker

I am in Missouri...about as midwest as you can get!

There is one more detail that I forgot to include. The spot where I am building the barn has an existing 12' wide concrete driveway and sidewalk on the high side. It will allow me to use the sidewalk for my mandoor and the overhead will go over the driveway, this will be on one of the 30' long sides. Because of that I have to build up from the low side to match the grade of the drive.

Thanks for the tips. Keep 'em coming.

Slab footing must go deep(local code) into undisturbed foundation/earth. Floating-slab, even w/proper compaction, on any slope is asking for trouble.Cabling poles together below grade will increase stabilty of building(ask PB-builder)

Any cut(digging) on the low side will undermine slope stability(exception,properly built terracing of slope) The drain is mandatory(add plumbers clean-out to it, KEEP IT WORKING. Put a good liner in the bottom, size it properly(?sq. ft.up-hill surface water to be drained) the goal is to get 100%up hill run-off to drain thru that pipe. Any run-off gets under/in your new fill, your slab/building is toast. terracing the hill below,(Although,if done right can fortify slope) for the exploit of fill material sounds kind of expensive?(maybe not anymore compared w/diesel/trucking fill hauling cost?) why not find clean suitable fill locally? Sometimes it's free?( trucking cost?) Lots of useful terracing info on the net. good luck

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Originally Posted by Ridgewalker

I am clearing a spot for a 30x50 PB. The area I want to place it has
a drop in grade causing me to need a pad built up of about 2-3 feet on one end to level the area.

Am I asking for trouble by doing this? I am concerned that the poles will be in the fill and that it could wash out over time. Should I use piers in this spot? Is
that something the builder (not me) will be able to adjust for?

Thanks

Ridge

I am doing the exact thing, a 50X30 PB about a 2ft drop. The builder will bring in loads of fill dirt to build the pad. The fill dirt guy he uses "walks in" the dirt after each load with his truck filled with the next load of dirt for compaction. He says this and a couple of rains will get the pad ready for construction. The builder has built a lot of pole barns in the area and comes with recommendations. Does his plan for the pad sound reasonable?

Ridge: I hope you don't take this as me trying to steal your thread. Our situations are so similar, I thought it would be OK for me to jump in.

[Ridgewalker]

Originally Posted by TNhobbyfarmer

I am doing the exact thing, a 50X30 PB about a 2ft drop. The builder will bring in loads of fill dirt to build the pad. The fill dirt guy he uses "walks in" the dirt after each load with his truck filled with the next load of dirt for compaction. He says this and a couple of rains will get the pad ready for construction. The builder has built a lot of pole barns in the area and comes with recommendations. Does his plan for the pad sound reasonable?

Ridge: I hope you don't take this as me trying to steal your thread. Our situations are so similar, I thought it would be OK for me to jump in.

No worries...other than the lack or responses to your question.

What I am learning is that whoever builds the pad needs to do it in layers of 4-6" at a time. It sounds like that is what your guy is doing.

[EddieWalker]

The thickness of each lift varies by the soil type and what you have to compact it. One basic rule of thumb is that you cannot to too thin, but if you go too thick, you won't get compaction.

Six inches is pushing it unless soil conditions are ideal. I'd go for 2 to four inches and prefer two inches myself. The thiner you spread it, the easier it is to compact.

Moisture content is also critical in compacting soil. Too dry and it wont do anything. Too wet and it's just mud. You want to be able to squeeze a handfull of it into a solid lump that holds it's shape. If water oozes out of your hand, it's way too wet. If it breaks apart or parts of it doesn't hold together, it's too dry.

Driving over it repeatedly is how it gets compacted. Just go back and forth, change directions, and cover every inch of it over and over again.

It will take allot more dirt then you thought possible, it always does. Remember to built up a large and gradual slope along the sides for mowing and getting arournd the building. Lots of people don't do this and end up with steep drop offs that end up rutted and ugly looking. Take the time now to make it nice and you will never regret it.

Eddie