Metal building install- looking for ideas

[pmsmechanic]

Have you got any reject sand in you area? Reject sand is sand with too much dirt in it to be used for concrete. I find that it compacts very nicely when moist and stays hard. It actually makes a very nice floor that doesn't turn to dust. It's also a lot nicer to work on than gravel and moisture just runs through it, unlike concrete.

 

[EddieWalker]

First time that I built a shop, I was in a rush and didn't want to spend the time or money on concrete. I needed a roof over my stuff right away. I hated that shop almost from the day I got it closed in. Dirt creates dust, and dust covers everything. Its never flat and you can't roll anything on it. After a couple years, I sold that piece of land and vowed to never do that again. Then I built a leanto on the side of my current shop and left it dirt. Same issues, same regrets. I just spent the last three weeks pouring concrete for a new shed that I'm building. Since it's in a hard to get to spot for a cement truck, I did it in 3 sections of 10x10 1/2 with 60 pound sacks. It was horrible, exhausting and painful, but it's done now and I'll never regret having it.

If you cannot afford the concrete now, I would save until I had the money to have concrete. After a roof, concrete on the floor is the second most important part of a shop.

 

[jmc]

Although you didn't ask, Morton Builders said it doesn't cost much more to make a pole barn several feet taller so that a cement truck can drive inside. Probably works for steel buildings too.

Extra door height is nice if you have or ever get a backhoe too.

 

[Diggin It]

Gravel will never pack solid and I don't care about dust. Most of my floor is dirt and it'll stay that way. Part of it is crushed rock, not gravel. Crushed rock packs well and can be scuffed up later and repacked if you get a bad spot. You could mix dry cement in with it to help it become harder and smoother in some areas if you needed to.

Advantage is spills soak in rather than staining expensive concrete.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

If you absolutely have to go with the dirt floor, plan for a slab in the future. We have a couple of sheds and garages, where they built the building and then came in later to place a concrete floor. On a couple the idiots failed to adjust the garage door track before they placed the concrete and cast the bottoms of the track in the concrete. Which results in the top of the door not actually closing. They could have placed a 1-foot wide sill under the garage door when they first built the building, and placed it ramps upto it until they had money to do the floors.

 

[ruffdog]

My dad had a shed that was a dirt floor and I hated it. I now have 2 sheds that I put wood chips in and they have held up nicely. It is hard to push the log splitter by hand but that is minor compared to the pluses. If you drop a part it doesn't get gritty and it is nice to stand on, even in winter.

 

[deezler]

Have to chuckle a bit at the notion that petrochemicals and known carcinogens soaking permanently into the floor of your shop is an "advantage". I simply put two coats of acrylic sealer on my nice smooth concrete garage floor, and I can soak up any spills and dispose of them properly and easily.

 

[Root Cause]

Thanks everyone. Good thoughts and suggestions. I do have a 13' high door way x 10' wide. I agree that it would be nice to concrete it but there are other unknowns right now and I would rather have a dirt floor now than an unfinished house. I can plan for a floor later when I know I have the $. For now, I want the RV, tractor etc. out of the weather. I will investigate asphalt costs up here. Delivering anything on a mountain top is really expensive.

 

[fried1765]

Thanks everyone. Good thoughts and suggestions. I do have a 13' high door way x 10' wide. I agree that it would be nice to concrete it but there are other unknowns right now and I would rather have a dirt floor now than an unfinished house. I can plan for a floor later when I know I have the $. For now, I want the RV, tractor etc. out of the weather. I will investigate asphalt costs up here. Delivering anything on a mountain top is really expensive.

Asphalt is probably something you should avoid inside a shop building.
Solvents and gasoline will eat depressions in your asphalt.
It makes for an eventual very messy floor.

 

[Torvy]

Thanks everyone. Good thoughts and suggestions. I do have a 13' high door way x 10' wide. I agree that it would be nice to concrete it but there are other unknowns right now and I would rather have a dirt floor now than an unfinished house. I can plan for a floor later when I know I have the $. For now, I want the RV, tractor etc. out of the weather. I will investigate asphalt costs up here. Delivering anything on a mountain top is really expensive.

We are planning on something similar. 30x40, but part of it will be an apartment. Could you pour concrete on half now half later? You will want concrete footings anyway.