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 Born not Made
Posts: 2931
   
Location: North Dakota | What do you currently have in your barn, or WISH you had in your barn?
My horses live outside 24/7 for the most part, but sometimes I'll throw them in a stall for various reasons. I'm "dreaming" of what to put in my dream barn someday (now that we bought the land!!). I've got plenty of time to plan, as it will be a few years. I want something the horses are going to love AND something that is easy to clean/maintain.
Concrete sounds really easy to clean or hose off (and you could put a little sloped drainage channel on the side), but then of course you'd need some good mats over the top. I'd also want shavings just because I hate it when urine gets splattered all over the place.
Dirt/sand is more forgiving to the horses but can get rathy DUSTY and they can dig holes in it, if they have to be kept in.
I've seen all sorts of fancy contraptions on the internet, but have no idea which ones are good.
Thoughts?
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 Midget Lover
 
Location: Kentucky | Mine is pretty simple. Just a packed dirt floor with pellets/shavings on top. It's easy. Mine don't paw, but if they did, it's easy to add dirt and pack it in. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| I have dirt floors. Never been a fan of concrete or mats. I like dirt floors better because they are more forgiving, not slippery, and cheap. The barn already existed and was heavily used before we got where we are, and there were "holes" and dips in the stalls. I stripped them really really good, bought screenings to pack in the holes and level it out, put dirt back on top, and then added a lot of shavings. We've been there 4 years and I haven't had to do it again so far, and it cost about $40 for a truck bed full of screenings. (I think other places call it crush and run? It's finely ground up stone, like sand, but its gray)
The bonus to dirt floors is if you start with them and hate them, you can always go back and add concrete or pack again and add mats later. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | You dont want concrete. It is very unforgiving and leads to alot of arthritic issues and doesnt drain. We put crushed rock ( gravel) in our stalls, compacted it and then have good stall mats on top. It's easy to clean, cuts bedding costs and drains very well. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | we have cement, a thick lime layer, and rubber mats
eta: the thick lime layer was added for the horses on top of the cement because that was there first. They didn't want to bust the cement through because they weren't sure if it would compromise the structure.
Edited by Crowned Image 2015-12-22 7:36 AM
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | ThreeCorners - 2015-12-22 7:29 AM You dont want concrete. It is very unforgiving and leads to alot of arthritic issues and doesnt drain. We put crushed rock ( gravel) in our stalls, compacted it and then have good stall mats on top. It's easy to clean, cuts bedding costs and drains very well.
This! Plus add a french drain about 14" down and cover it with 2" rock then add the foundation layer followed by your crushed fines that need to be tamped/compacted. We've had several 1 foot rains and the barn has not had any flooding problems due to the french drains running thru the stalls and two running thru the 30' runs we have attached to the stalls. My only issue is that one of french drains ended at the round pen. So, I get round pen flooding and a milk chocolate pool to placy in. |
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Regular
Posts: 55
| We have sand with mats on top. About 4 inches of sand and 3/4 inch mats. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | Yep, I agree. When we built our barn, we looked at everything. Asked some horsemen that probably have seen it all. They said dirt on bottom with several inches of limestone screenings (sometimes called chat) and interlocking mats on top. We use a inch or so pelleted shavings on top of that. I would never do concrete as the ammonia and bacteria build in it badly. |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | Forgot to say that any and all pictures are welcome. I'm visual so pictures are great!
I'm not too keen on doing dirt floors with shavings on top. I know I won't be using the stalls that often, but recently when my horse Red was on stall rest for 2 months, where I boarded they had dirt floors with shavings on top. I cleaned his stall myself twice a day. And it still seemed like things would NOT dry. I didn't help that we had several days in a row of rain, but the actual dirt floor was WET. Now granted, they may have not done their base correctly or something like that, but I didn't like that no matter what I did (new shavings, etc) I could not get that stall DRY for Red.
As far as the "screenings" or sand in stalls: Do you have a problem with dust? The place I used to have before this had that in their stalls. It made clean up easy, but man was it DUSTY. If you'd have the horses move around for any period of time, you'd see the dust in the air. And it made legs dirty. I may sometimes put a horse in a stall to keep them clean for a show, so that would not be ideal for me.
How about the lime? Is that dusty? I suppose not if you put mats over the top.
I've definately leaning toward mats on top of something, whether that be dirt, lime, or concrete.
For those with dirt floors or some kind, any problems with rodents digging in? This was one thing that was brought up about concrete vs. dirt.
I've never heard of the ammonia/bacteria buildup on concrete. I'm assuming that is with mats over the top? Why is that it does that with concrete, and not with dirt?
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 IMA No Hair Style Gal
Posts: 2594
| We had limesand put down on top of the dirt, had enough for a good base.....probably 3ft? And then in the stalls everything is matted. I will have to get some pictures when I am on my laptop. Love how we did it. We have a shedrow style barn with a 12 ft. overhang. If we just had dirt our barn aisle would get muddy. |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | My barn owner has packed dirt floors with shavings. I use pelleted shavings and won't ever go back to normal shavings. The pellets break up into a dense "dust" and urine drys really fast and since there aren't any flakes there's no waste with poop. No dust with shavings with what I've noticed after a year. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 851
Location: West Texas | With concrete, you obviously have to put mats on top. Because concrete does not absorb moisture (urine), you will have to use a lot of shavings in order to soak up all of the urine. If not, it will go through the mats and not soak through the floor. This will harbor bacteria and will give the ammonia nowhere to go but up into the stall. Just know that you will need to use more shavings and haul them out constantly to keep the stall clean and dry.
What many places do, and what we have is dirt base on the barn. Then we add a layer of screenings, leveled and packed. This firms up to almost a concrete consistency, but it will absorb excess moisture into the soil. You put mats on top of that. You can use regular shavings or pelleted. We use pelleted, because it absorbs more moisture, needs only half as much in the stall, and can be spread easily through a manure spreader (is more biodegradable). From time to time you will have to pull up mats and even out the screening base. Ours is caliche, but is the very fine screenings or chat. If you decide on this route, your local sand and gravel services should know what you need.
Edited by Tdove 2015-12-23 8:47 AM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 628
Location: Missouri | We have level dirt, then about 6 inches of packed chat, and mats on top. I love this set up. It's easy to clean and the horses lay down a lot more. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 126
Location: Ohio | I'm building a barn in April. Entire floor will be concrete with igkequestrian super stall mattress system in the stalls. I wanted something where urine couldn't soak through and I could completely clean/disinfect and keep smells down as I will also be living in the barn (apartment attached). I've done a lot of research and this is what I finally decided upon. I think/hope the mattress system will be easy on the horses and they won't feel like they are standing on concrete. I can let you know how this all turns out in a few months! |
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Born not Made
Posts: 2931
Location: North Dakota | SNH - 2015-12-23 10:27 AM I'm building a barn in April. Entire floor will be concrete with igkequestrian super stall mattress system in the stalls. I wanted something where urine couldn't soak through and I could completely clean/disinfect and keep smells down as I will also be living in the barn (apartment attached). I've done a lot of research and this is what I finally decided upon. I think/hope the mattress system will be easy on the horses and they won't feel like they are standing on concrete. I can let you know how this all turns out in a few months!
I have been eyeballing these. They look so comfy! How thick is the padding under the liner? I couldn't quite find it on the description.
Can I ask you how much it cost for 1 stall and what size? (PM me if you don't want to post)
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Veteran
Posts: 126
Location: Ohio | They sent me a sample of the materials. I worked on beating them up and think they will hold up :) the mattress pad is about 2" thick but very compressed and comfy to stand on. They quoted me $4000 for 4 12X12 stalls. |
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 Queen Boobie 2
Posts: 7521
| ThreeCorners - 2015-12-22 7:29 AM
You dont want concrete. It is very unforgiving and leads to alot of arthritic issues and doesnt drain. We put crushed rock ( gravel) in our stalls, compacted it and then have good stall mats on top. It's easy to clean, cuts bedding costs and drains very well.
^^^^
This |
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What is the best flooring for a stall?