What is the BEST stall flooring option?

[beau159]

Lots of things to think about. Great suggestions everyone!

[QUOTE=Bluey;8451051]
When you build a house, at least here, they build a pad and compact and test it to code, generally to test to at least 95% compaction.
An independent company conducts several tests over the whole pad.
Mine tested 98%, which he said was very good. [/QUOTE]

We will have a basement with our house, so it won’t be slab on grade. BUT I do plan on having something done for the barn, similar to what you would do for a house, so that the ground is properly prepared.

@Bluey;8451051

In Europe, some stalls had wood planks over the concrete.
The idea was so at no time horses were in contact with any wet stuff, it went thru the boards to the concrete.
The problem was, wood became very stinky and the urine below it really made the barn smell, even after we washed thru the boards regularly into the concrete channels in front of the stalls, that were draining outside. [/QUOTE]

Hmm. I suppose the wood would retain smell.

In this barn, did they have mats over the wood?

@Bluey;8451051

When you bed with straw, horses walk the pretty straw into little bitty pieces, that sift to the bottom and absorb urine and that is what you take out when you clean stalls.[/QUOTE]

I personally am not a fan of straw for bedding. I don’t like it. I’ll be sticking with shavings, even if they are more expensive.

[QUOTE=NoSuchPerson;8451225]I saw that, too. I said, “Wood floors? In the stalls? Really?”

Back in the Dark Ages when I was a kid, if you lived in a hilly area, it was not uncommon to build a barn into the side of a hill, making it a 2 story building. [/QUOTE]

Well… my grand idea for our future home and barn, is to put it on the hillside so that we have shelter from the North with the winter winds. I can’t imagine how much it would cost for landscaping and/or a giant retaining wall, but I’d love to build my future indoor area right into the side of the hill for natural insulation! I’ll bet that would be nearly toasty warm in the winter.

I don’t think I can logistically get the indoor arena AND barn side-by-side into the hill, so I had planned on having the barn on the south side of the arena, and then corrals on the south side of the barn. The water drainage works well as it slowly slopes from the hill to the dam, and we have the protection from the north.

[QUOTE=Gloria;8451343]If money were no objection, and if I were to redo my barn, I would have recessed concrete stall floor with gigantic rubber mats on top. The concrete should be recessed so once rubber mat is applied and bedding added, it will flush with concrete aisle.

Very clever idea! Certainly something to keep in mind.

[QUOTE=Guilherme;8451418]Clear the site, level it, and ensure proper drainage.

Then when the barn is built the stall base is a concrete slab with a French Drain and proper drainage. Then lay 4-6" of crushed limestone on top of the slab. Then lay treated 2x6 boards over the limestone.* Secure on the ends with angle iron bolted into the walls.

Very detailed description; thanks! I think it’d be too “lazy” for the extra work for the wood, and use mats in place of the wood.

But very interesting concept.

[Bluey]

We didn’t have mats or any other than straw for bedding years ago and in Europe.

[Dance_To_Oblivion]

If money were not an issue I would have put a stall mattress type system in the barn I just built. I boarded at a barn that had them and they were wonderful! Instead I used stall savers because I hate getting the manure fork caught on the edges of mats. I moved the horses into the barn in May and have so far been very happy.

This is the photo album where I chronicled my barn building:

https://m.facebook.com/kathryn.krische/albums/10202914767886334/?ref=bookmarks

[beau159]

@Dance_To_Oblivion;8452386

This is the photo album where I chronicled my barn building:

Wood siding on the outside is beautiful! Well, the whole barn is! Thanks for sharing.

I’ve been eyeballing the SuperStall from IGK. You mentioned you can get the tines caught on them? Or are you talking about some other stall mattress?

[Dance_To_Oblivion]

[QUOTE=beau159;8452660]
Wood siding on the outside is beautiful! Well, the whole barn is! Thanks for sharing.

I’ve been eyeballing the SuperStall from IGK. You mentioned you can get the tines caught on them? Or are you talking about some other stall mattress?[/QUOTE]

Thanks! We went with a wood siding to match the existing barns on the farm. It is hemlock and is aging beautifully.

I meant getting tines caught on the edges of mats grids. I wanted a one piece floor in the stall. All the stall mattresses I have seen are once piece on top. The stall savers are also one piece, and a massive price difference. They function differently, but I do think both have their benefits.

[Jholmes]

I am building a 5 stall horse barn. Thought of getting stall savers. But have mixed thoughts on drainage. I will dig down but how much of what should I put down for drainage and I want the floor to be smooth so the horses are comfortable. Thank you.

[MsM]

I boarded at a bank barn many years ago. My horse was in a lower stall with dirt floor. There were several stalls upstairs with wooden floors. BO was careful to clean well and remove wet bedding and the floors were in good shape (barn and wood were very old!) The only difficulty was that the wood did get slippery when wet. This was mostly an issue during a humid heat wave.
If I were building and money were no object, I would investigate the stall mattress or similar. If I were going with concrete, nothing will drain through anyway. If I had a horse on stall rest from an injury I would want a cushy, forgiving surface for it to stand on - I know my feet ache if I have to stand on concrete a long time!

[Bluey]

@MsM

I boarded at a bank barn many years ago. My horse was in a lower stall with dirt floor. There were several stalls upstairs with wooden floors. BO was careful to clean well and remove wet bedding and the floors were in good shape (barn and wood were very old!) The only difficulty was that the wood did get slippery when wet. This was mostly an issue during a humid heat wave.
If I were building and money were no object, I would investigate the stall mattress or similar. If I were going with concrete, nothing will drain through anyway. If I had a horse on stall rest from an injury I would want a cushy, forgiving surface for it to stand on - I know my feet ache if I have to stand on concrete a long time!

Human feet are not horse hooves.

Concrete floors with appropriate bedding, today with rubber mats also and runs outside stalls take care of any concerns, if someone doesn’t want their horse standing on flat, hard ground, which horses do fine doing anyway, better than on uneven, soft ground.
When we had horses with access to an old concrete slab in some pens, that is where the boss horse choose to stand when napping, is where it may have felt possibly best for him.

Now, to lay down, definitely horses prefer sand piles/soft ground/bedding, not hard ground or concrete.

Horses have two antagonistic needs to what flooring is best for them.
Hard to accommodate both.

[TMares]

Are stall savers the skins that allow urine and such to seep through? If yes, the only barn I know that has them is really smelly. However, I think had the base been built up (big gravel topped with fines) so that it could drain, all would be well. The barn is flush with the surrounding land so I believe it may have just been scraped flat. I love the idea, but that one wasn’t done right. The BO cleans that barn very well, but the ammonia smell is significant.

[OneTwoMany]

In my junior years I boarded at a barn with wood floors in the stalls. My trainer hated them as the wood held the urine smell and they required more maintenance. I would NOT recommend dirt floors in a stall. Compacted or not. Some horses are diggers. You’ll be adding material and filling in holes for the rest of your life. Not worth it in IMO.

[sandsarita]

I have concrete with mats and shavings. Works well if stalls come all the way to concrete and you get them in tight. You can get some urine underneath and if stall bottoms have any ridge under the mats can shift and my horses play with them

trainer has packed Chatt (sp?) and mats but the stubborn ones can dig it up. I don’t like diet/sand due to risk of colic etc

[4horses]

Sand works well for a run in. It drains well and has minimal smell. My barn has dirt floors and i find they are too dusty. I put stall mats on top but still have a dust problem because the sand comes in around the mat edges. My stalls are 11.5 by 11.5 so mats needed to be cut to fit. I plan on trying gorilla tape around the edges of the mats. My mats are not an exact fit and that is the problem

Concrete is really hard to stand on, so i prefer mats over dirt. My stalls are packed down enough that i don’t have slippage. But i do need to level the edges between mats, as sometimes the dirt shifts just enough to lift a mat edge.

[sophie]

My horse isn’t a digger, and where I board, it’s mats laid down haphazardly over compacted dirt (old barn). The mats always end up sticking up eventually, letting the urine go through, and the stalls end up smelling bad. So for my horse’s stall (I clean it myself) , I took all the mats out, leveled the dirt floor, and I bed it deeply with sawdust. She always pees on the same spot, and I take extra care of that area. And if I have to add some dirt to level it at times, so be it.

A friend of mine had a run-in with mats over dirt in her mare’s stall. Bedded with shavings / sawdust. The mare ran into her stall, slipped and fell in the stall and had to have her knee operated on.

I would think concrete would be slippery, too. And wood floors - forget it.

I don’t think there is an ideal solution…

[Bluey]

A friend started using an old barn that had dirt floors in the stalls.
He said he fought those for ten years, then concreted them and the last over ten years now he and his horses are very happy to have flat floors, no more holes and hills and redoing stall floors.

His stalls have runs outside, horses come and go, so are not “standing on concrete all day and night”, as some don’t like of concrete floors.

[OneTwoMany]

@OneTwoMany

In my junior years I boarded at a barn with wood floors in the stalls. My trainer hated them as the wood held the urine smell and they required more maintenance. I would NOT recommend dirt floors in a stall. Compacted or not. Some horses are diggers. You’ll be adding material and filling in holes for the rest of your life. Not worth it in IMO.

Just to be clear, tight fitting mats over compacted dirt with a sunken 4x4 to act as a retainer have worked fine for us in loafing sheds. Tight fitting mats over compacted crushed stone works better. I would avoid dirt floors with nothing to separate the dirt from the bedding.

One last comment about wood floors in stalls. If for some reason, the stall floods, such as when an auto waterer breaks down, the water can accumulate between the wood boards and take days to dissipate.

[spacytracy]

Most places around here have compacted stone with stall mats over, then your bedding of choice.

[candyappy]

We has concrete in MN in the barn my goats and cows were housed in and it sweated something awful. The barn was very open and well ventilated, but during the humid times( short and sweet) but more importantly the thawing period it was awful.

My horse barn had a dirt floor 100% better in my experience.

[MzCarol]

@Garythesquirrel

I recently installed Stall Savers in one of my stalls and so far absolutely love it! I plan on doing the other stall this summer. It’s so easy to clean and the bedding is staying much drier. The shavings I put in over a month ago still look brand new!

I’m curious. With the permeable surface, the urine drains through the mat, but where does it go? It seems it would sit below the surface and the ammonia smell would eventually be horrific.

[MzCarol]

We built our stalls as follows: 4x4 ‘frame’ on the ground for 12x12 stall. dirt base, crushed stone compacted with electric tamper, mats cut to fit within the 4x4 frame to keep them from shifting. This our 4th summer on the property and the stall floors have needed zero maintenance.

[beau159]

You guys have revived my zombie 2015 thread … but that’s okay because we’ve actually broken ground for the house on said land, and I am hoping a barn can follow in the next couple years to come!