Pole barn concrete

[radioman]

darn it ! tommu beat me to it but I'll chime in anyways. As for a door height, 7 is not high enough for most tractors with roll cage even for a BX. My regular garage has 9X7 doors and I have to put the stupid cage down when going in as I have hit the overhead several times already due to stupidity/forgotten. I built a garage extension with bigger doors due to the way my old garage door cannot be modified to make it higher due to roof eaves right at the garage door height. Take it from me, since you are building a door for it, GO BIGGER! 8-9ft is good start for most tractors.

 

[Duffster]

IIRC The OP's building is only 8' high so it will be hard to make a door any taller than 7'

 

[JonKioti]

I have an 8' ceiling and a 7'6" door with electric opener. If I didn't get the opener then I could have go away with only 3" of clearance.

You will need a low clearance kit, but it lets you put the right size door in.

My door was aa Garaga door - very nice door when it was installed.

Jon

 

[BX Tex]

You might consider recessing the floor in the area of the overhead door opening. Keeps rain and dirt from getting in. On mine, I used a 1 x 12 laid flat with the top side flush with finished grade .... or course the size of the board is dependent on the size of the door jambs... after concrete has set you can pop out the board leaving a 3/4" recessed area for your door to sit in.

 

[tandttravis]

in my area, concrete finishing is $.90 to $1.00 per sq ft , so 1k seems high to me. as for control joints, you need them, you can have them "edged" in or saw cut them after the pour. as for the foam around the columns, you can use sill seal gasket, or expansion joint, but as someone else said, the posts will likely shrink (as all pressure treated lumber does) and you will be left with a void. As others have said, I would talk to another contractor, that is licensed and insured, it doesn't seem as tough your saving any money using the other guy. I am a licensed contractor, so I have a problem with guys who are not licensed and insured, something goes wrong, and they give other contractors a bad name (just my 2 cents) good luck, Travis

 

[Rodmo1]

Thanks for all the responses. With hindsight being 20/20 I probably would have gone with a ten foot building. However with the building as is I am kind of limited to the 7' doors and the building is already framed out. The building is mostly going to be used for woodworking and parking of cars when it snows. My only tractor is a cub cadet model 71...about 45 years old...and very capable of fitting into building. I like the idea of recessing the floors at the openings and will try to include that in the quote that I am getting next Tuesday. Might someday get a cub-lo-boy for plowing but that should fit in fine also. On Sunday I will try to post some pictures.

Thanks,
Rod M.

 

[Rodmo1]

Thanks Travis, It is hard finding a price just for finishing of concrete. The more I thought about that quote it just didnt seem like a good deal to me anymore. I also didnt like the idea of ordering the concrete in my name and the risk of the guy and his crew not showing up when it was to be delivered. So it sounds like I will be going with a contractor. A local company is coming out on Tuesday to give me an estimate. I am hoping for it to be 2k or less. I will post what I find out on Tuesday. I might get a couple other qoutes too just to be sure.

Rod

 

[yooperdave]

8' high overhead doors are not uncommon.

I would not use anything less than an 8' high overhead door - regardless.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave

 

[2manyrocks]

I also suggest speaking with your local concrete supplier, but keep in mind your local concrete supplier may recommend finishers based on their own criteria such as somebody who has paid their bills, buys a lot of concrete from them, etc. I think you want to look at a job the finisher has completed before you make up your mind.

Once the concrete sets, it's set.

 

[Dargo]

It's certainly not my occupation, but I've been involved in every single pour at my place and I'm up to well over 1000 yards now. I've learned a lot along the way. Some of what I learned is that I don't like 'fiber-crete'. You know, the stuff that has 'kitty hair' mixed in with the concrete and is supposed to be stronger and take the place of wire and rebar. Don't believe it. The only concrete I have that is 4" thick is my sidewalks. Otherwise the thinnest is my 1/4 mile driveway, and it is 6-7" thick 5000 psi concrete with heavy gauge wire matting and rebar. It doesn't sound like you're going to have (nor could fit) anything really heavy, but I'd seriously consider going a bit thicker and a bit stronger. As mentioned before, it really sucks doing it again; even if it's ten years later. Around your edges I prefer the foam edging material that has the top 1/4" of it that pulls off. That way you can later seal it up with a good quality flexible concrete caulk. With no caulk I've found that bugs will tunnel through the foam and water is able to seep into it. If you live in an area that freezes hard, that is a really bad thing. The 1/4" layer of sealing caulk on top of the edging material prevents this.

I run some relatively heavy forklifts and equipment in my barns as well as having several lifts mounted to the floor. Depending on the areas of the barn, and what was planned to be built on them, my barn floors run from 8" to 12" thick. I also made sure to use a good vapor barrier. If not you'll get a lot of sweating on your floor. With my 12" thick areas I was able to pour 10" thick heavily reinforced walls and ceiling to make a walk in vault once I installed the vault door. Here's a few pictures of one of the pours.