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Greeney in France

Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 1173 Location: Limousin area of France
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:10 pm Post subject: Flooring |
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Having a barn is great but as my "petit ferme' is in the region of 300yrs old the floor in the barn is basically soil compacted by cows for the same length of time it is a bit hard on the feet and its not very level.
The floor area is 300m @ 10x30metres
I have been looking at bedecking it with something comfortable, strong and obviously resistant to everything and easily and quickly cleanable, quickly being response to knocking something over not dashing around the barn with a broom
Any of you talented persons with any suggestions  _________________ www.OldFrenchCars.com
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buzzy bee

Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 3382 Location: South Cheshire
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:42 pm Post subject: |
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Hi
A heavy but final job for it is Concrete or a slightly lighter option, wooden railway sleepers. I friend is to lay a track accross the farm and that is set to be 4 or 5 miles long out of concrete ones, so large areas are possible.
Otherwise what about sand to level it and then plank it cover with wood?
Hardcore, the small gritty lime type spread and driven over multiple times then wacked down with a waker plate. This is done on cow beds, and after 3 or 4 years of cows lying on the beds (they have foam and mats on top) they have sunken about 10mm, but it is as hard as concrete. Driven over with a loadall/tractor weighted right up to compact it.
Cheers
Dave |
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peter scott

Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7211 Location: Edinburgh
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:53 am Post subject: |
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I agree with buzzy. Pour concrete over it but be sure to lay damp proof membrane down first. It would probably be best to level it with one of those mini excavators first so that you got a consistent thickness of concrete that isn't going to crack up when you put weight on it.
Peter _________________ https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
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ukdave2002
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4231 Location: South Cheshire
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 10:28 am Post subject: |
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Depends on your budget, ideally you want 100mm of crusher run (road stone) wacked down with a plate, then 25mm of sand a damp proof membrane, and at least 100mm of concrete. In the UK the materials would work out at about £12 per square meter, the most expensive being the concrete which at 100mm thick would be about £8 per square meter.
You may want to split into a working and storage area's and just concrete the working area's?
I would paint the concrete with an Industrial floor paint, I got mine from http://www.regalpaints.co.uk/ used their 2 pack (non toxic) floor paint, which is meant for industrial workshops and very very tough, it works out at about £1 per square meter, more expensive than the DIY floor paints but you will only need to paint in once!.
Figuring out how to cover 300 sq m is a problem we all wish we had!
Dave |
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47p2

Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2009 Location: Glasgow
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:09 am Post subject: |
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As you know I am in the process of building a garage and the floor will soon be on the agenda.
My plan is to have the area where the double doors are with 6" of hardcore and 6" of concrete. The single door area needs to have 6" hardcore and 8" concrete to enable the fitting of the 4 post ramp _________________ ROVER
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Greeney in France

Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 1173 Location: Limousin area of France
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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While concrete is the obvious choice I was thinking of the finish.
concrete is usually dusty not easy to keep clean, very hard and with restorations it just gets covered in rust and oil in a few jobs, I know there are garage floor paint but I have been looking at the special garage flooring like lock together tiles and rubber surfaces anyone try any of these? _________________ www.OldFrenchCars.com
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Penman
Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4850 Location: Swindon, Wilts.
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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Hi 47p2
You have raised a question in my mind by that last post.
Why didn't you have the raft laid down before building the structure?
Wouldn't it have been easier to dig out first without having walls and a ceiling restricting digger movement and tamper board use on the wet concrete? |
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47p2

Joined: 24 Nov 2007 Posts: 2009 Location: Glasgow
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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Good question Penman and one I raised with my architect at the time of building the walls.
His answer was:-
1. The weather is unpredictable so a high quality finish is not guranteed.
2. Too large an area to tackle in one slab and even if covering over the rain will get to it
3. Damage from the building of the walls could occur, i.e. dropping block, mortar spillage etc.
4. Wait until you have the roof on and then do the floor, that way the soil will be compacted by foot traffic and the roof will protect the concrete until dry.
Greeney, You could always polish the concrete to stop the dust problem.
If you look at places like B&Q they have polished concrete and no paint with no dust problems.
The lock together floor tiles are very expensive and need to be laid on a flat surface, they would be handy for an area like vice and workbench area if you were standing in that area for long periods. They say you can drive over them but I am unsure how they will withstand the traffic.
I have a client who owns a tiling business and when I spoke to him about my garage floor he said that I could always tile it if the concrete did not turn out as good as I wanted. His recommendation is quarry tiles as they are the only ones that will withstand the weight and traffic _________________ ROVER
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Greeney in France

Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 1173 Location: Limousin area of France
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Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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Talking of polishing the concrete, there is a company nearby that does a non float finish,piped/poured straight from the lorry, its about 30% dearer than regular concrete but when it goes off it leaves almost a glazed look finish
Funny story though, a local brit whom doesnt speak French or very good English for that matter went to a quarry and asked for "hardcore" and wondered why the boss called everyone in to listen as he asked him to say it again and just stood there laughing, he asked me to go with him as I speak French and wanted to know why they were laughing
The same chap also asked for "preserver" in a french accent!! and got the same response. for those that dont know preserver is French for condom!! _________________ www.OldFrenchCars.com
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