Removing dirt and going with concrete for barn.

[sandman2234]

Thanks, it will for sure be very rough.

I would think a "rough broom finish" would be enough, but exactly what a "rough broom finish" is... is hard to explain. A steel trowel finish, where it is slick as glass is never good for livestock.
David from jax

 

[cat fever]

Where are you storing those giant square bales?

Eddie,
I sell all the big bales right out of the field. As soon as they are baled I call the people who buy from me and they come. Although I am looking to get a hay shed just in case.

 

[crreed67]

I may have missed it reading through the thread, but how much do you reckon the ballast box weighs?

 

[scootr]

I've poured a lot of concrete, put down a lot of vapor barrier. I've never put plastic down over rock. We always put plastic on the dirt and sand on the plastic, my concern is the rock will penetrate the plastic every place you step. And you gotta step most every where to get it poured out.
Am I missing something?

 

[cat fever]

I may have missed it reading through the thread, but how much do you reckon the ballast box weighs?

Best guess is about 1700 pounds.

 

[crreed67]

Wow. That's a chunk of concrete.

 

[jyoutz]

If you are going to continue to store hay take the time to throw a vapor barrier down before you pour.

Or just store hay on wooden pallets

 

[scootr]

I would think a "rough broom finish" would be enough, but exactly what a "rough broom finish" is... is hard to explain. A steel trowel finish, where it is slick as glass is never good for livestock.
David from jax

A broom finish will wear off no matter how rough. I've seen a very rough finish... almost a short rake for livestock. Google found this idea for cattle among other ideas like one roller tool

 

[ruffdog]

Neighbor went with ground up asphalt instead of dirt and it didn't go well. It turned to powder and is dustier than dirt now. My wood chips are still holding up though.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

I've never understood this. How does moisture in the ground turn to vapor and then penetrate concrete? Since every building should be on a pad slightly higher then the land surrounding it so rain water flows away from the building, if there was moisture in the soil under the slab, why wouldn't it travel the path of least resistance and work it's way sideways instead of against gravity and through solid concrete?

My understanding for the reason to use plastic under a slab, also called a vapor barrier, is to stop the moisture in the bottom part of the wet concrete from soaking into the ground resulting in an uneven curing process of the slab. This is only needed in soils that absorb moisture, or drain it. If you pour over gravel or on sand you would want plastic to keep the moisture in the concrete. If you are pouring on clay, there is no need for this.

Having said that, there is no harm in spending the extra money for plastic under your concrete if it makes you feel better.

Moisture seen on top of concrete is from condensation in the air.

I've poured thousands of yards of concrete. I still have two power trials, bull floats, all the tools that goes with it. I had a great aunt n uncle that had an early post WW2 house with no vapor barrier. She was squeegee and mopping all summer every year because of that. Take a slab without a vapor barrier, in a shed, and put plastic on top of it, plastic will be wet on bottom. I put plastic under everything except maybe a sidewalk. But I usually do that too. If I put wire in it, it gets plastic before the wire. I've poured 200 yards a day at times. Had 8 trucks waiting on me at 7am on the job. Had to get it poured before the load got hot and started curing. Then the trucks went back and filled up at the batch plant. The 8 truck rush kept us all busy and we poured the others as they returned.