20' X 24' Pole barn on 25% slope - best method?

[coast40]

Yes that's probably the leading candidate at this point. Finding a good contractor who will handle both concrete and the construction isn't easy though.

You might be better off finding a concrete contractor AND a building contractor. Finding one that does both might lead to someone that is better at one than the other. And it might be quicker to start the project with separate contractors. If you are designing to accepted building specs, any builder should be able to put up the building.

 

[masscity]

My Pole Barn is similar to the first one. My PB is 40 x 60 x 12. At 60' my drop off is 5'. Around a third of the front of the PB is on flat ground and the rest
is on the hillside. We have red clay here and they built a large tub out the clay. Then we compacted 400 yards of sand in the tub. The front poles were
51" deep and the back poles were 10' deep.
My Propane tank is at the back of the PB and I can drive my Ferguson TO-35 with the brush hog around the PB between the Propane tank and the PB. I
have two OH doors on the front (west side) and one OH door on the south side near the back end. It has a short ramp to get in and works fine.
If you use sand it will collapse on you. I had to use sono tubes to auger the holes. In my case we froze the sand down close the 2' and then used partial sono
tubes so I didn't need so many.

 

[dlctcg]

As jthibodeau89 contractor did you could easily build the area up to level with large retaining wall blocks (Mafia Blocks) & then backfill it, compact it, & pour your concrete floor & they don't have to look like an eyesore either (as jthibodeau89 showed in his pictures). They are used all the time throughout New England for this exact purpose. They are usually a pretty economical solution.

Here are some pic of ones available around here. We are bringing in some of the natural stone faced ones this spring for a project on our property. To give you an idea

 

[DwayneB2021]

As jthibodeau89 contractor did you could easily build the area up to level with large retaining wall blocks (Mafia Blocks) & then backfill it, compact it, & pour your concrete floor & they don't have to look like an eyesore either (as jthibodeau89 showed in his pictures). They are used all the time throughout New England for this exact purpose. They are usually a pretty economical solution.

Here are some pic of ones available around here. We are bringing in some of the natural stone faced ones this spring for a project on our property. To give you an idea

View attachment 717698 View attachment 717699 View attachment 717700

Haven't seen the "Mafia blocks" before at least around here in the Midwest. Looks like those are concrete with a natural stone face on one surface? Agree that would look a lot better than large rip-rap boulders, but they have to be more expensive. Just out of curiosity, why are they called Mafia blocks? To me the biggest challenge with those blocks would be forming the corner.

Found another thread on this site discussing these. How much bank can a "mafia block" hold back?

 

[newbury]

why are they called Mafia blocks

Maybe because they hold up banks?

 

[dlctcg]

@DwayneB2021 -

Yes those are concrete with natural stone & have a really nice look... They are made of High psi/low slump vibrated concrete with New England Field Stone on the face, a 2'x2'x8' weighs 4700lbs

To give you an idea, the company I'm purchasing from gave me an approx. price of $350 - 375 for the 2'x2'x8' with the field stone delivered. The plain concrete ones are much less, but we like the look of the natural stone ones. (A plain concrete 2'x2'x8' is usually around $100 - 150)

Others are just made out of formed concrete, some with profiles some plain. Most of the companies make pre-made corners & even offer half bock sizes. Some companies offer caps for the tops, if needed, too.

I'm Italian & from New England but I can only give you a guess on why they call them that... lol

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Just out of curiosity, why are they called Mafia blocks?

Just a guess, but at 2'x2'x8' one could hide a body quite easily in the wet concrete.

I've seen some pretty attractive walls built with stacked quarry rock. Modular block walls like Keystone and Allen block can be built fairly tall and have a fairly small footprint for the actual wall, are attractive, and can be homeowner built, however they would require permits and inspections to support a building. Keystone uses fiberglass pins and can be built vertically, Allen Block has a back batter built into it. Both (and others) use a geogrid layered into the compacted back fill for strength.

 

[jthibodeau89]

Mine were $100 ea. The concrete shapes can be stained different shades of brown and tan to give the field stone look.

 

[DwayneB2021]

Ended up going with 2X6 PT tongue/groove inside and outside of posts (which are 5 feet deep on concrete base). Gravel compacted inside the box and between the inner/outer walls. Slab poured on top of that.

Have a neighbor with similar construction (he was building on a slope as well, just not quite as steep as mine). Barn has been there a couple of decades with absolutely no issues.

It's not a 100 year solution, but I am certain this will survive well beyond my lifetime. Will drop some photos when this is completed.