# Building a dirt floor barn on wet clay?



## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

I live on a very wet piece of flat land.
I'm planning a small barn for some hay storage, tractor shelter, and some stalls for critters as well as a feed room. Feed room will have concrete slab. Concrete footings all around the barn.
There will also be large overhangs on two side so provide shelter for tractor and cattle.
I could raise the whole structure up a bit on gravel, but then scraping manure out will end up with gravel in the compost pile.

A few questions.
1-Will perimeter drainage help at all? I don't know that a buried pipe will ever see water if there is clay above it- as well... the only lower spot to drain to will have cattle over top.
2-So long as there are no low spots, will a covered area like this pack hard or become muddy with moisture soaking through?
3-Is there anything else to be considered here?
Thanks for any ideas!


----------



## Ray (Dec 5, 2002)

if you put in a perimeter drain field, you bed with gravel and cover with gravel and get a load of top soil that will allow water through for it to work properly. 
you might try to build your barn on a hill so water runs away from it in all directions. even a small false made hill will be ok, that will keep water out the best. And the interior floor might be best covered with a dry sawdust, to keep animals from slipping when wet?? I'm sure there are some folks from the clay area that will know best good luck


----------



## djberg (Mar 14, 2007)

Fireweed,

Clay is a real pain. Where the water in it can freeze, like B.C., it's even worse. 

If you're building a continuous frost wall foundation, you might want to build the top at a foot or so above grade. Dig three or four 12" drainage trenches, from grade, across the floor of the barn. Have 4" PVC pipes at the ends of the trenches, through the concrete foundation walls. Fill the trenches and 8" of the floor with crushed stone or gravel. Top the floor with 4" of tamped earth.

You should also have perimeter drain pipe around the outside of the footings and they should be connected to a big drywell. 

Oh, and when you're backfilling on the outside of the frost walls, use gravel there too.

Ramp up to your barn doors with more gravel.

Make absolutely sure that your footings are below the frost line.

Don

Today's Plans


----------



## fireweed farm (Dec 31, 2010)

Excellent info, thank you.
Because cattle will be allowed to rummage around the barn and where the drainage will be buried (no way around this as the land has no better spots for this building), will their weight and manure combined not completely block usefulness of any drainage?


----------



## jcgoldie (Aug 5, 2011)

Not sure if this post is still active, but I have a 25X40 polebarn built on clay. Its on a bit of a slope so when I moved in, the water draining on the uphill side seeped under the wall during heavy rains and made a muddy mess in places. I just dug a 2 foot deep trench around 2 sides and filled it with 3/4 inch limestone with a 4 inch drain tile buried in there and a slight slope to the trench. It works best if you dont cover the rock with dirt, just leave it exposed and the manure shouldnt clog it unless you have alot of cows around your barn continuuously. $120 for a 10 ton load of rock and $30 for a roll of perforated 4 inch black tile at the farm store (be sure and lay it with the holes side down)... a day of digging and my barn has been dry as a bone through some heavy rains past 2 years.


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Djberg is right on target!

I am wondering if your "flat land" is a low spot for terrain around you; and if so, you will need more than just a few drainage pipes. Otherwise, the drains under your floor and around your structure should work well as long as they are beneath the freeze zone.

As for storing your hay, why not create a loft for it?


----------



## Bentley (Jul 10, 2008)

IF you install a French drain as several have suggested, make certain you have an even lower area to drain the water to. Otherwise, a catch basin with a sump pump would be needed.

B


----------

