I’m working on getting a horse property and would like to put a barn on it.
I really like concrete block barns. They seem cooler, lower insurance rate, easier maintenance …
Any input ?
The only concrete block barns around here are vet hospitals and the highest end TB breeding farms, that didn’t skimp spending as much as they wanted to have a first class barn.
Some of those barns have been around now for over 50 years and still look like new.
The advantage, they are as fire proof as you can make one.
The disadvantage, compared with a building shell and portable stalls, you can’t remodel them very easily when your needs change.
Many of those barns were the old kind, where you led horses in and out and it took so much labor to operate them.
One vet clinic did cut doors on the back of the stalls and put doors and runs there, but it was not easy.
Today, most everyone has stalls with doors into the aisle and doors to the outside with runs there.
Some progressive barns, as one of the Priefert systems, have stall sides that slide into the aisle and you can strip all the stalls on one whole long side with a skidloader with a few passes.
Building with concrete will be, well, set in concrete.
The ones I worked in, they sure were nice barns to keep clean and disinfected, especially nice with broodmares.
Almost all my neighbors have concrete block barns, and I envy them (mine is wood). My neighbor told me that her 6-stall center aisle concrete block, tin roof barn cost about 35,000 to build in 2003. The walls are easy to clean, they seem cooler in the summer.
Two other neighbors have barns made with concrete block, but the blocks have spaces in them, rather decorative, and great for airflow (which we know in FL is a plus).
And they seem to be the barns to go to during hurricane evacuations.
If I were to build a barn in FL today, it’d be concrete block. Low maintenance, self insulating, virtually hurricane proof, and generally indestructible. If you can afford it, do it! :yes:
Welll… I have a wood barn that now has hardi-panel (concrete board) on the exterior. Low maintenance and a poor mans concrete barn solution 
I love my concrete barns…clean easily, cool, hurricane safe, etc. Was same price as Morton was when wec chose to build it. Do a14 ft isleway and high scizzor trusses with ridge vents in roof… Roll up garage doors on it are great for winter
Wow, I think I would like to replace the wood siding on my barn with the Hardi-panel! I’m checking out their website now.
QQ for you - did you DIY or have a contractor install it?
We have a big storage shed that is made of the hardi-panel, and it is holding up beautifullly.
I have Hardi-panal on my barn. It is about 10 years old now. You have to be careful that whatever you line your stalls with is up agains the hardi or it will split, crack, or develope holes if the horses can lean on it like mine can. I Have about 6" between the hardi and the tongue and groove boards that line my stalls. and they have cracked it were they itch up against it. Most of it needs to be replaced now.
Does anyone know if anyone builds cinder block barns in or around Houston?
Just one warning, a QH breeder I met decided to build
all his stalls of concrete block after someone he knew
lost valuable horses in a fire. His barn was well protected
against fire but he lost his stallion when that horse kicked
the concrete wall and broke his leg. The owner reckoned
that if the wall had been wood rather than concrete, the
horse might not have broken his leg when he kicked.
Did it ourselves. Very easy to do but you need a special saw blade to cut it. I should say that we did not take down the wood as we have T&G for the whole barn. We just put the Hardi-Panel on top of it. I love it.
[QUOTE=florida foxhunter;4850692]
I love my concrete barns…clean easily, cool, hurricane safe, etc. Was same price as Morton was when wec chose to build it. Do a14 ft isleway and high scizzor trusses with ridge vents in roof… Roll up garage doors on it are great for winter[/QUOTE]
That barn is gorgeous!
Mark says he approves.
I would love to see pictures of the barn. Photos of the horses that might be living in that barn would be appreciated, too. :winkgrin:
Ditto! Nice to know that I might be able to just put the Hardi-panel right over the old siding! Now I just need to talk my DH into it (his hobby is house remodelling, not the barn).
Would love to see the pictures of the hardi panel stuff … it’s seems interesting.
[QUOTE=Robin@DHH;4853869]
Just one warning, a QH breeder I met decided to build
all his stalls of concrete block after someone he knew
lost valuable horses in a fire. His barn was well protected
against fire but he lost his stallion when that horse kicked
the concrete wall and broke his leg. The owner reckoned
that if the wall had been wood rather than concrete, the
horse might not have broken his leg when he kicked.[/QUOTE]
Just to add my two cents in - i have learned really quickly no matter how safe you make your horse’s home if he wants to get into trouble - he will
I have “ouch-proof’d” my pastures - no holes, wires, etc. and we will still come with the occasional laceration
I have boarded my horses in both steel, wooden, and concrete barns - and overall i prefer Concrete barns as they are nicer and cleaner and less maintenance.
I can understand what that QH owner/ breeder went thru with his horse kicking the concrete wall and snapping his leg. but I would like to point out that this can happen anywhere. I had my big guy (also a QH) in a wooden barn and he was ALWAYS the last horse to be turned out because he was as i called it a Confused Alpha-male. If you put him out first and then put ANY other horse in with him - he ran them off and bullied them - as if to say THIS IS MINE! but if you turn out 1 or 10 or whatever number then turn him out - he played nicely because that was their turf. He got along with everyone as long as he was the last to be turned out. He was in a Professional 60 Stall barn so as you can imagine even with 6 stablehands turning everyone out for “strip clean day” it still takes a almost 30 minutes to get everyone outside (each groom took 2 at a time so there was only 5 trips and the day turnouts were close by). Anyways as i said my guy was ALWAYS the last one out but this fateful day he was impatient and started to stomp and “mini-hop” rear to show his impatience about being turned out. He started to kick his stall as the grooms walked out on trip #4 and as they walked into the barn for the final group - which included my big guy - they were a sickening crack and an equine Scream. They ran to his stall and thats when they found him. He had kicked THRU his stall into his buddy’s stall and snapped his cannon bone in half, tore his stifle tendon in his knee, and there was alot of blood. After getting the call and talking to the vet - i made the tough decision to humanly euthanize him as it was a very bad break and it was a rear leg and the vet didn’t think he would make it thru surgery let alone have a viable life afterwards. So moral to the story - Horse injuries happen everywhere. I am not against a wooden barn or even a steel barn- and a friend’s horse got a severe laceration from a weak spot of a steel structure and this other breeder that you mention lost one from a concrete structure… so you have to pick the structure that is best for you and make it as safe as possible and know that horses will be horses and they will still somehow find a way to get hurt – and its usually 2 a.m. LOL YAY for middle of night emergency vet farm calls !!
Hope your barn comes out to the barn of your dreams (and budget) and I myself is currently looking for my own land so i can build my own barn (it will be concrete) here in the smokey mountains of Gatlinburg Tennessee - we get high winds heavy snow and blazing heat so I have decided concrete is best for my needs - and yes it will be named in memory of my big guy who i lost a year and a half ago.
No idea what they cost in FLA, but I built a concrete RCA barn a couple of years ago and I love that thing. Block up to the gables, then hardi-board siding on the clerestory. It was dadgum expensive, though, upwards of $100K.
The pros: It’s pretty fireproof, and I never worry about it blowing away. My horses seem to sense that it’s solid and in bad weather settle in it much better than in their old wood barn. I can hose it down when it gets nasty and it looks great all the time. No wild temperature fluctuations, but if the sun shines on it all day the block will radiate stored heat back into the barn. This is great in the winter, not so great in summer. So I have stall misters and big-ass fans. If you have a stall kicker you can always hang up rubber mats on the walls. My experience with my curmudgeonly mares is that they test it out once and learn fast not to do it again.
What is with all the old posts being bumped up again by newbies? This is the third one I’ve seen this morning!
In my experience, I have found brick to be somewhat cooler but concrete can be hotter depending on shade (such as, very good idea to have overhangs on your roof) and orientation unless you have designed it for great airflow and use fans everywhere in summer.
