What materials would work well for flooring joists in a high water area?
My BO built her backyard barn ~5 years ago. In a recent tack room cleanout discovered a soft spot. Took up the flooring to discover every single support beam rotted and floating in about 6" of water. It got patched up as best as possible for now, with plans to remove the entire floor and replace this summer when dry. Question is, what to use? That won’t break the bank?
It’s a high water area, can’t change that. Drainage is a big issue and unfortunately was not properly addressed to begin with. We will have to see what we can fix as far as that goes now.
Thoughts?
I’d really worry more about what’s holding the roof up, and how rotten THOSE structures are. Yikes. This doesn’t sound like a safe building at all if the floor was in inches of water & totally rotted out.
She probably needs to worry more about getting a structural engineer out to evaluate if the building can even be salvaged rather than trying to figure out how to band aid the floor on the cheap.
Sorry to be glib but this sounds BAD. Like barn coming down bad.
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I don’t disagree with Simkie. Get someone out to look at posts and such, stat.
For the actual question - I would put down gravel, and then pavers, and then build a floating floor on top of that (like for a shed).
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The entire barn structure was professionally built, so the supports are all pressure treated and nothing else seems to be having an issue, it’s just this one area. Water congregates at that corner because there is nowhere else to go.
That said, I do agree and I have my reservations long-term. The drainage issue is a big one, always has been… her DH is… ahem… ‘famous’ for starting projects and not finishing them. He knows how, he just doesn’t. And now he is very ill, cancer, and cannot do anything. So here we are…
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Pressure treated doesn’t mean forever, especially with the newer chemicals. I spent 6k getting my barn posts shored up, before I started the “real” building projects.
Every single one of my posts was rotted out, and it wasn’t a standing water situation like you describe. Just “this area stays a bit soft”.
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Nothing was having an issue until a “recent tack room clean out” … and then it was found that the entire floor was gone. Until someone with the right experience evaluates the rest of the structure, no one can say yay or nay. That much rot is VERY concerning.
Totally agree with endless that pressure treated isn’t immune to rot. It absolutely rots. The builder may not have been that “professional,” too, to green light building in an area with this much water without proper mitigation. Lots of red flags with this.
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The pressure treatment does not go completely through the wood. When it is cut, drilled, nailed, etc. you break the barrier, think like it’s an eggshell. And unless it is sealed again, that exposes untreated wood to the elements.
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Again repeating that pressure treated wood does rot out in wet conditions. Barns need to be built on well drained land to stand the test of time. If you live in a swampy area, there will be issues and problems associated with that. Some of these issues may be substantial. Sorry.
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Pressure treated wood comes in several flavors. It depends on the retention levels. At the higher levels, the wood will last even if it is submerged in water.
When the public outcry over CCA treated wood became loud enough to discontinue that treatment, sales to the public ended. But there is still CCA sold for industrial uses where professionals know the proper way to use it.
You can find the alternate wood preservatives that will be treated for ground contact, but it isn’t cheap and you won’t usually find it in the box stores.
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While you may not be wrong and it’s a valid concern to ponder… This isn’t Obsidian Fire’s barn? I’m not sure what you are expecting/suggesting her to do as a boarder.
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While I agree with all of you, like Heinz pointed out, it’s not my barn. I am simply trying to come up with options for my BO, who is between a rock and a hard place right now.
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Sure. Obsidian Fire isn’t required to continue boarding horses at a barn that may be unsafe, especially if the barn owners aren’t doing their own due diligence to investigate if the rest of the structure is compromised.
This is concerning. It’s not a question of how to band aid a floor. It’s a question of if the structure is safe. And if the barn owners don’t really care to assess, finding another place to board is probably reasonable.
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Gravel --> Pavers (at least enough for the floor joists to sit on) --> floor.
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old growth cypress is naturally resistant to rot , to keep the water in control use a sump pump
I suspect if there is standing water under the floor then there will be mold to content with
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I also agree that rock is the answer here. Ideally if she could get the existing ground dug out even deeper and backfill, and take it out past the barn. But a 1" clean stone, a limestone or a granite - not river rock, would be my choice to backfill. It would settle in and be stable yet let the water flow through. I’d probably just put stall mats on top for a floor even, to make sure the water isn’t overwhelming the area in future.
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Drainage. Nothing will work long term unless you can get the water to drain away. Even if you put in kryptonite supports, water sitting under the tackroom is unhealthy for humans, feed and tack. I’d dig a big ugly ditch on that side of the barn tomorrow and address esthetics as time and money allows. And I’ll echo the recommendations to get the whole barn checked. If one corner sank or moved a bit that will stress all the trusses. The builder may have been a professional, but charging money for any job is no guarantee of skill level. Sympathies to the barn owner!
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Install drainage, but put in a sump pump just in case to pull out water.
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