Wood barn floor (stalls and aisle)- do's and don't's?

[MistyBlue]

Wood floors just require slightly different handling.

Bed deep. Don’t use boriums if possible…they chew up wood like termites. When you pick them daily, sweep the bedding to the outside edges and bank it, leaving the center bare. Leave it this way until you turn the horses in again, then just knock the banks down into the center again. This allows the wood to dry.

Downsides: no boriums or studs if you’re in an ice-prone area. No mats. They’re a bit loud if you have a stall walker…sounds like Lord Of The Dance guy, LOL!

Upsides: very easy to maintain, just check each board twice a year for any signs of rot. When one shows rot, yank off that one board and replace it with a new one.

One place I boarded had gorgeous wood floors in an awesome old style barn. The dirt floor underneath was almost 3’ lower. Only problem for us was my mare was a stall walker…and kept the BO awake all the way up in his house that was 200’ away! :eek: :lol:

[She_s_Pure_Gold]

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;6489151]
Wood floors just require slightly different handling.

Bed deep. Don’t use boriums if possible…they chew up wood like termites. When you pick them daily, sweep the bedding to the outside edges and bank it, leaving the center bare. Leave it this way until you turn the horses in again, then just knock the banks down into the center again. This allows the wood to dry.

Downsides: no boriums or studs if you’re in an ice-prone area. No mats. They’re a bit loud if you have a stall walker…sounds like Lord Of The Dance guy, LOL!

Upsides: very easy to maintain, just check each board twice a year for any signs of rot. When one shows rot, yank off that one board and replace it with a new one.

One place I boarded had gorgeous wood floors in an awesome old style barn. The dirt floor underneath was almost 3’ lower. Only problem for us was my mare was a stall walker…and kept the BO awake all the way up in his house that was 200’ away! :eek: :lol:[/QUOTE]

Well, luckily they will rarely ever be locked in so stall walking shouldn’t be a problem I am thinking about using rubber mats just in the aisle for traction and also b/c I probably will use the little studs in shoes in the winter- the paddock off the barn has a decent hill and I would worry about them slipping on ice/snow, plus no indoor and I hope to ride some during the winter. If I use mats in the aisle and bed the stalls well, do you think studs in the shoes would still be an issue? I anticipate the horses being out more often than in, based on other horses I know who have 24/7 in/out access.

[minnie]

[QUOTE=PeteyPie;6488270]
Here’s a picture of reclaimed barn floor boards. I think it’s funny that they are going to use it for a table, after all the talk of pee draining through and such… These are really thick planks:

http://ronaldtibbs.com/barn-plank-and-beam-dining-table/[/QUOTE]

These barn planks were from a sawmill, not a barn, so no pee/poo problem. Just sawdust

[BumbleBee]

Part of our bank barn has them and I really like them.

We bed pretty deep, and dig out the wet spot well but other than that they are pretty easy to work with.

In the last 20 years I can think of two boards than needed replaced(may have been the same board twice) and there was obvious warning and no danger. As that board started to fail shavings started to fill in underneath and you just eneded up with a saggy board that was fairly well supported from beneath.

We just pulled it and replaced it no problem.

[Imago]

I’m converting our old barn into a shop and need some advice on wood flooring. I can get 8", 10" or 12" band sawn 2" thick rough spuce, 16 footers, all for the same price per board foot. Which would you suggest? I like the idea of wider boards, but wonder about splitting and cupping. This isn’t kiln dried, just air dried material. I’ll be laying it over a gravel base.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

@Imago - this thread is 7 years old. You may want to start a new thread with your questions about wood floors.

[alfonsina]

If the topic is the same, why not continue the earlier contributions on this thread? And welcome to the forums!

Imago, one difference in the board width would be a bit more drainage with the narrower boards, a slim gap between boards every 8", versus every 12".

We like wood here in Vermont, a lot of it around and many small local saw mills to cut whatever you want. Wood also is warmer for winter lying down horse naps. I’ve thought if we ever put borium on shoes, I might toss down some light weight rubber mats (like the kind for taking to shows) just for the winter months to protect the boards.

[goodhors]

We have tie/standing stalls with wooden plank floors. Horses are stalled there, from 6 to 12 hours daily, depending on the seasons.

Most of the horses wear studs, drive-in pin studs or drive-in ice studs, depending on the season. These are both riding and driving horses used for competition, on the pavement, so they need traction. We do not use borium or drill-tek on shoes. Some unshod horses may be kept in those stalls too. With the studs on, those planks get a lot of wear, so we usually replace the floors every 8 to 10 years. Some horses seem to wear the wood faster, may need the sooner replacing of planks.

Boards are 2"x12" White Oak planks, rough sawn, not finished or treated. Other Oaks are not as tough or tight grained for long wear. Price of White Oak keeps going up, but does the best job for this use. Planks are bolted down with recessed lag bolts to sleepers set deep in limestone fines, with socked drain tile to move liquids away. It works very well, not wet or smelly from ammonia. The boards do wear down, get uneven with use. Some are amazingly thin when removed, not even 1/2" thick, especially under the hindquarters area.

Use your new cut, green boards IMMEDIATELY. They get harder as they dry, very hard to work with when dry. Use stainless steel lag bolts or fasteners, they won’t rust out from the Oak tannin in the boards, to need early replacing.

I can’t think anyone would want to reuse the old boards for anything except maybe short fence boards where you can’t smell them! And they get smelly again in the rain for a long time. However it might prevent horses chewing on them!!

[Nova2000]

@She's Pure Gold

Here are a few pictures of the barn http://www.flickr.com/photos/84650711@N08/7745609558/. There’s one from the side where you can see the small green door (the one on the right) that goes underneath the barn- there’s also another larger door on the other side. I don’t have any photos showing underneath but can take some this weekend. Also just as a note, you can tell the second floor is quite low (6’)- we will be removing about half of it for the stalls and aisle, so don’t think we’re putting horses in something that small

That is so cool!!! One of my dreams is to convert an old timber frame barn into a living space. So if it were me, I’d move into the barn and build a new space for the horses 😂