Dirt Barn Floor, Eventually putting in slab but gravel in mean time?

[4570Man]

I could spread almost all of that with my tractor. I would remove anything from the rear. Running without any ballast besides loaded tires isn't ideal, but still beats a wheel barrow. I could probably borrow a subcompact and do better.

 

[fishheadbob]

36 years ago "Gravel Jack" my kinda uncle told me to put down crushed gravel for a base 42x64 . He said it would pack down real hard and provide a great base for the concrete I wanted but couldn't afford. Then he gave it to me, about 6 inches in most places saying to give a twenty to the guy making the deliveries. He was spot on. Years later a friend of mine with a gigantic concrete construction company - think interstates - asked if I wanted a freebie floor in the barn. I told him no thanks.

 

[Streetcar]

The crushed concrete will work as a floor in the barn. Compare price to 304 gravel. Crushed concrete can cause problems if exposed to weather cycles, repeated wetting.

 

[LD1]

Alot of talk about the stuff with fines mixed in. Around here its called 304's (1.5" to dust) and 411's (3/4" to dust). Also called crusher run, bank run, etc.

A word of caution, its not what they consider "self compacting". Stone of uniform size is. Driving on it and walking on it may "displace" it, but it dont need packed in prior to pouring. Which is why it is used for concrete base. The stuff with fines and dust, that DOES need compacted prior to pouring

 

[Egon]

Don't plan on pouring concrete over gravel or crusher run. The base for a concrete pour needs to be on top of tightly compacted material unless the pour itself is going to be very deep.

Also a thick layer of gravel is not only a pain to walk on it's a drag to drive on. Just did a 2000 sq ft building with a 1200 sq ft shed roof (aka car port). In an attempt to save a few bucks I used gravel instead of concrete in the shed roof area.

Not my brightest idea.

It's a nightmare to walk across as it shifts under foot. Driving on it instantly makes hills and valleys that are a pain to deal with. If I want to work under a vehicle it's mandatory to put down a pad because creepers or anything else with small wheels (welders, portable upright power tools, etc) just dig into the gravel and won't move. Trying to sit on a stool or chair is laughable, they just dig deeper and deeper holes if the user moves around

As soon as the budget permits I'm going to dig out the gravel, put it on the road, then pour concrete for the shed roof floor....

Are you talking about crushed fractured stone or rocks that come straight from the quarry without crushing. If it's the later using it on the road might not work as well as thought.

 

[Egon]

Do the concrete yourself and ask a few buddy to help out a 30x30 is not to big just 900 sq. feet.

That is fine if there is a person on site that can handle a chute. If not get ready to sweat.

 

[dmccarty]

Alot of talk about the stuff with fines mixed in. Around here its called 304's (1.5" to dust) and 411's (3/4" to dust). Also called crusher run, bank run, etc.

A word of caution, its not what they consider "self compacting". Stone of uniform size is. Driving on it and walking on it may "displace" it, but it dont need packed in prior to pouring. Which is why it is used for concrete base. The stuff with fines and dust, that DOES need compacted prior to pouring

Road base in my area is called ABC at the quarry. This is rock from dust to about 2 inches in size. ABC is supposed to have just the right amount of moisture from the quarry. Not too little and not too much. You don't want too much since then you are buying water... We use ABC on our driveway and it works great.

Our house has a concrete slab even though one side of the floor is about 5 feet above grade. Most houses would have a crawl space but I hate crawl spaces and we wanted the concrete for its mass and cheapness. The concrete is colored and is our finished floor. The foundation is filled with stone, I think it is 67 stone, which is about 2 inches in size and self compacts. The builder just filled up the foundation with stone, smoothed it out, put down foam insulation and poured the concrete. The concrete floor has not settled one bit.

We had planned having a slab porch on the back of the house but we could not make up our mind about various options so we did not pour the concrete. I had some 67 stone delivered which I smoothed out with the tractor and we have been using the space as a parking area. Figured if we ever poured the slab we could just add a bit more stone....

Later,