lowering barn floor?

Super Steve · Jan 25, 2012

I was just doing some thinking and wondered if anyone has ever dug out a barn floor and lowered it? Our one barn is only 6' from floor to roof and its a pain in the neck (literally) to clean it out because i have to be bent over on the tractor or ill hit my head on the beams.

The floor isnt in that great of shape and one pen still has the old gutter in it so i wouldnt be against taking it all out to redo the concrete.

donjr · Jan 25, 2012

We went to dig out the basement in our lodge about 25 years ago. It had a dirt floor, slate foundation, road height to the first floor at the front and walk out the rear basement door. There was about a 2 1/2-3' upgade to the front foundation wall. As we got lower, we started to dig below the foundation level, and wound up having to put a kicker wall inside. There was no footer under the foundation wall. Just be careful as you go down.

Brian Dan · Jan 25, 2012

Suggestion: Why don't you raise your barn 2-4 feet and then put in concrete blocks. Then you can fix your floor.

dpendzic · Jan 25, 2012

definitely determine the depth of the footing under the barn walls you don"t want to go below that with the floor without having to underpin or support it in some way

notjustair · Jan 25, 2012

We did that when our new super 92 combine came with a water cooler on the roof. It wasn't but a foot, but I still hated doing it. Biggest issue was holding water in big storms.

Nebraska Cowman · Jan 25, 2012

Depending where it is you may run into trouble with water. You sure don't want that. I grew up in a basement barn with a low ceiling like that. We had a tile drain along the stone wall but still it was always damp. And any time it rained we had water in the barn. Not fun.

Super Steve · Jan 25, 2012

40x60 bank barn is the barn i want to lower, has a lean-to on north side and a 30x45 barn attached to the south side. Just seemed like it would be easier to lower the floor

Bruce from Can. · Jan 25, 2012

Lots of barns havebeen dug down below the depth of the stone wall. The barns that I have been in were this has been done the farmer simply stayed a foot or two in from the wall. Yes it will make a ledge around the outside but no big deal.

Super Steve · Jan 25, 2012

i thought about doing that aswell, i would have to move the doors a bit if i do that but its not a huge deal

Mark - IN. · Jan 25, 2012

I had a neighbor do that to his double wide garage some years back when I lived in Illinois. He was a small contractor that was growing and needed the space, so he worked his way around the whole thing, raising it a little all the way around, and around, and around until he had it up a couple of feet, filled it in with a cinder block foundation, then lowered it into place. All in all he raised it about two feet, then added on about 20' in the back, sided it all. Came out good.

If I read this correctly, is 60x40, but is only 6' high inside? I think that I would consider going up a few feet, put the trusses back down in place, enclose it all.

Going down 6" certainly would be the easiest, but wouldn't gain much, and could gain plenty of water during a real good rain.

Good luck.

Mark

gene bender · Jan 26, 2012

Sounds like it would be easier to get a tractor that the driver sat lower messing with a foundation by digging down is looking at a huge problem first would be a moisture problem.

lowering barn floor?

Super Steve

Member

donjr

Well-known Member

Brian Dan

Member

dpendzic

Well-known Member

notjustair

Well-known Member

Nebraska Cowman

Well-known Member

Super Steve

Member

Bruce from Can.

Well-known Member

Super Steve

Member

Mark - IN.

Well-known Member

gene bender

Well-known Member

Similar threads