Feed Room Floor?

[UncleLA]

I'm converting a horse stall to a feed room and would like suggestions on flooring material. I would rather not use concrete in case I need to use the stall in the future for animals.
I was considering removing all shavings, wetting and packing the remaining sub-dirt well, and then putting limestone on top. I want a nice hard surface so I can easily roll the dolly with feed sacks or feed barrels.
If I do that, should I put a barrier between the dirt and limestone?
Any suggestions/ideas/thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[dun]

The limestone directly over dirt works real well but it needs to be dampened as you back it down. I would put the lime stone down then lay a sheet of plywood over it where the wheels of the hand truck will run and stack the stuff on pallets to get it away from the ground moisture.

 

[Dakota]

Need some advice - we moved onto our current property about 2 years ago. Previous people built a tack room in the barn, but put in a wooden plank floor that floats about 4 inches off the what looks like a plain dirt/sandy bed. The wooden floor is starting to break down and wear out, so we would prefer to change the floor to cement. I'm pretty sure the drainage is okay under here, and we've never had water seep through the floor. The rest of the barn floor, including the stalls, is poured in concrete, so the tack room is the only place without concrete.

So, how hard would it be to make this a cement floor? Would it literally just be the simple matter of yanking up the planks and pouring down cement????

??: Should we put down some pea-gravel first to improve drainage, and then pour over top?

Additionally, I would like to have in-floor heating so that the tack room is slightly heated in the winter - has anyone done this on a plain cement floor and how did they like it?

Are there any additional precautions we need to watch out for before embarking on this little project??

Appreciate your advice and thanks in advance!

 

[JSCATTLE]

I'm a concrete contractor. You don't have to put pea gravel down for drainage . Take the boards out . Level the soil so that you can get 4 inches of concrete coverage. Place some 3/8 rebar on 18 inch centers. Pour and smooth the concrete. They do make heating elements for concrete . They are for melting snow . I'm to far south to help you there. But you can google it . Radiant heating is what yOu are looking for .

 

[hopalong]

At the price of rail road ties I put them in 3 stalls in my barn used a sledge to get them tight, and then put sand on top and swept it down all and any cracks...One of the stalls was to tight to place length wise so I cut them to length width wise losing about 4 " on each tie....ended up having to make a 3" wide concrete pour on the length, but it was well worth it.

 

[chippie]

you can also level the floor and use stall mats.

 

[novatech]

For a feed room I would use a moisture barrier first no mater what you put on top. Treated lumber works a well as anything and is easy to take out if you ever need to. Frame it like an outdoor deck but use 3/4 or 1" plywood on top depending on how heavy the load. I like to build a feed room as tight as a house to keep the mice out.
For floor heat here is a link; http://www.thermosoft.com/
I'm sure there are other brands.

 

[chippie]

For a feed room I would use a moisture barrier first no mater what you put on top. Treated lumber works a well as anything and is easy to take out if you ever need to. Frame it like an outdoor deck but use 3/4 or 1" plywood on top depending on how heavy the load. I like to build a feed room as tight as a house to keep the mice out.
For floor heat here is a link; http://www.thermosoft.com/
I'm sure there are other brands.

keeping raccoons, mice and rats out is a priority, especially if you are storing bags of feed. Raccoons will have a party with cattle and horse feed. Even if you keep your feed in metal trash cans or barrels, raccoons can open them unless they are tied shut. I'll never forget the time they got into a temporary feed building. It looked like they partied hard. What a mess.