Has anyone ever heard of someone using stall skins over wood floors in a horse barn? I like the idea of wood floors for stalls but if they get slippery when wet and the horses will not be going outside I wonder if this would be a good idea. There will be adequate bedding in the stall as well.
What about thoughts on this being a good or bad idea?
I have never heard of using wood as a base for horse stall. I mean imagine the wood absorbing all of the urine… the planks would need to be replaced every year. Pressure treated wood is toxic and so is most wood sealants. Why do you want wood? If an issue is drainage and your saying these horses will never go outside I would suggest several things. First off the stall need to be huge like at least 16x16 IMO even 20x20. Second you need drainage system like french drains installed. Followed by layers of crushed stone compacted on top. And then probably mats. Stall skins don’t provide any traction they only fasten to the side of the stall.
My horse was on a wood floor all his life. We used 1" rough cut lumber and bed down with shavings, and replaced it every 4 or 5 years. We never had a problem with slippery.
[QUOTE=OTTB_;8530274]
I have never heard of using wood as a base for horse stall. I mean imagine the wood absorbing all of the urine… the planks would need to be replaced every year. [/QUOTE]
You don’t live in New England do you! 
My barn is 160 years old and we have replaced the floors in the stalls twice. Originally they were 2" thick chestnut, and now they are 2" thick hemlock, which is hard as iron once it cures. Chestnut is also extremely hard which is why it was so popular “back when”.
You do not use mats when you have a wood floor, because you do not want the moisture trapped between the mats and the wood. Most of these barns are bank style so there is air below them. The urine not absorbed by the bedding can sometimes seep down and drip out.
Wood is a good flooring for animals because it is warm and soft compared to concrete or metal (or not sure what else you would use in a bank barn for flooring)
We use shavings for bedding. When you clean the stalls you often leave the bedding pulled back for the day for the floor to dry and allow any ammonia smells to dissipate. I have mats in my aisle (also wood) and find them as slippery, if not more, than the wood. The mats are to protect the floor from the wear of the horses’ shoes, particularly in winter when they have borium. That will tear up the floor.
If you were to put wood over dirt (or concrete), you would need to leave a space for airflow, and I would not use the mats.
2 Likes
We’ve used wood for stall flooring (over a concrete slab with french drains and 4" of crushed limestone) for more than 20 years. When first installed (or replaced) the wood will be slightly slick. In a very short time, however, it “roughens” and the problem goes away.
Putting any sort of “mat” over the wood is problematical. I foolishly gave a tenenat permission to do this (to cut down on her shavings use) and in a very few years the boards, which were of good quality well treated, began to rot. The mats were holding moisture against the wood and that promoted the rot. I replaced 3/4 of the barn floors a couple of years ago. If I had not allowed the mats I don’t think replacement would have been necessary.
Wood floors are common in many barns in the U.S. and elsewhere. We don’t hear much about them because there is nothing to be heard. They promote drainage of urine meaning barn odor is dramatically reduced. Boards are “butted” not “tongue in groove.” Cleaning is a snap (relatively speaking).
Wood has a natural “give” that concrete and asphalt do not.
I highly recommend it as a flooring.
G.
I have wood in my barn. Have to replace one stall under where the water was, but the previous owner never used mats.
[QUOTE=Hilary;8531005]
You don’t live in New England do you! My barn is 160 years old and we have replaced the floors in the stalls twice. Originally they were 2" thick chestnut, and now they are 2" thick hemlock, which is hard as iron once it cures. Chestnut is also extremely hard which is why it was so popular “back when”.
You do not use mats when you have a wood floor, because you do not want the moisture trapped between the mats and the wood. Most of these barns are bank style so there is air below them. The urine not absorbed by the bedding can sometimes seep down and drip out.
Wood is a good flooring for animals because it is warm and soft compared to concrete or metal (or not sure what else you would use in a bank barn for flooring)
We use shavings for bedding. When you clean the stalls you often leave the bedding pulled back for the day for the floor to dry and allow any ammonia smells to dissipate. I have mats in my aisle (also wood) and find them as slippery, if not more, than the wood. The mats are to protect the floor from the wear of the horses’ shoes, particularly in winter when they have borium. That will tear up the floor.
If you were to put wood over dirt (or concrete), you would need to leave a space for airflow, and I would not use the mats.[/QUOTE]
Live in MA actually, barns a old dairy farm.
Just curious, then, what is the barn made of? I know some of the old dairy barns have the stone foundation which gets converted to concrete and the animals live “below” so the top of the barn, which is wood, no longer houses animals. My barn was built to house the dairy herd, the draft horses and pigs - the stalls are on the “first” floor, there is a big space below which I use as a run in now, and we did not convert to concrete. It’s just dirt.
I have geotextile fabric (what stall skins are made of) over Virginia Clay base topped with blue dust. We did build drainage pits in the middle of the stalls and we NEVER have urine issues. They were done right. As far as traction it may offer some but with stall skins you have to use a good base of shavings anyway (I find 3 bags per 12x12 sufficient while some horse may need 4 bags). While the drainage is great, the skins do hold a little bit of moisture and I would worry about that being on top of wood as it may keep the wood moist which could escalate rotting. Pulling back shavings while horses are out does allow the skins to dry depending on humidity.
[QUOTE=OTTB_;8534416]
Live in MA actually, barns a old dairy farm.[/QUOTE]
You live in MA and have never seen a wood floor barn? Say what? :lol: Do you pick stalls like at all?
Almost all NE/MA old dairy barns are wood floors - it’s just how they were built. Most were 3-bay barns or large gable barns, or gable fronted bank barns (think quintessential NE barn). In these types of barns the flooring was exclusively wood and usually timber, as that was most readily available - the foundation on the bottom layer was sometimes crushed stone or concrete, but rarely. Most old dairy barns in my area are bank/gable fronted bank barns, with the basement being used for manure or stalls.
Grew up in MA, could probably name a dozen barns that have wood floors.
My only issue with them is that the wood does warp a little so they can be a PITA to pick out. Spent more than one afternoon at Chase Farm (Orange, MA) & Stoneleigh Burnham cursing those wooden grooves :lol:
I would love pictures!! Or it anyone built a barn and put in wood floors, how did you do it? I’ve never heard of anything like it!!!
[QUOTE=beowulf;8534661]
You live in MA and have never seen a wood floor barn? Say what? :lol: Do you pick stalls like at all?
Almost all NE/MA old dairy barns are wood floors - it’s just how they were built. Most were 3-bay barns or large gable barns, or gable fronted bank barns (think quintessential NE barn). In these types of barns the flooring was exclusively wood and usually timber, as that was most readily available - the foundation on the bottom layer was sometimes crushed stone or concrete, but rarely. Most old dairy barns in my area are bank/gable fronted bank barns, with the basement being used for manure or stalls.
Grew up in MA, could probably name a dozen barns that have wood floors.
My only issue with them is that the wood does warp a little so they can be a PITA to pick out. Spent more than one afternoon at Chase Farm (Orange, MA) & Stoneleigh Burnham cursing those wooden grooves :lol:[/QUOTE]
When horses were moved into the barn the wood floors were all ripped up and stalls were leveled and matted. This was many years ago though. It interesting because our barn still still has the old cow manure removal system its just boarded over so the horses don’t step on it.
I had wood floors in my last barn, and it is very normal in the old barns in Washington state. I adore wood floors. They are easier on the joints than concrete, warmer than concrete or gravel, and you don’t have to buy rubber mats. If you put the shavings right over the wood, the pee can drain down and save you a bit of money in shavings. They aren’t slippery either, like rubber can be.
For a while, I even had a wash stall with a wood floor.
