Concrete in Lean-to

[Pingel85]

Good Morning All-

I recently acquired some property that has a small barn with an attached lean-to. The lean-to is approximately 13'x21'. This allows me to store all my lawn/garden equipment indoors (rider, push mower, tiller, chipper, wagons, etc). The lean-to has pole framing and a gravel floor. There is signs of rodents digging under the existing skirt boards which were set on grade. My plan is to dig around the inside perimeter and attach an additional skirt lower than the original (will be 2x10 treated, I have plenty on hand and trying to use up what I have laying around). The questions I have is related to possibly pouring a concrete pad inside to make it nicer for working/storing my equipment and keeping the pests out.

My thought is to pour a 2" thick slab, reinforced with mesh. Since this would only amount to about 1.5 yards, I am not planning on getting a truck or a crew to do this work. I would build forms to do this is 4 separate pours (quarter of the building each time) and tie in each one with rebar drilled in the sides so I can avoid having to saw cut afterwards My questions are as follows:

1. What do you guys see as possible issues with this? Is this even a good idea? Any suggestions?

2. Is it cheaper or easier to buy bags of concrete, or to buy the cement/sand/aggregate separately and mix myself. What mix should I use in a slab like this?

3. Would this slab be sufficient for my lawn equipment? Just have a standard Cub lawn mower, nothing huge.

Ive never poured concrete by hand, only done work out of a truck. I have no doubts I can do this myself, but budget is an issue, so if this gets too expensive, it just wont happen.

 

[tomroblee]

You are talking about using 2 x 10 to build what is commonly called a "rat wall". Depending on the kind of rodent, you might need to go anywhere from shovel depth to 2' (or more.) Building codes often require rat walls when a structure exceeds some minimum size. Generally either concrete or some sort of metal mesh is used. The pressure treated wood you have laying around is not likely to be rated for below ground use.

I would question a 2" thick slab, even for light use. It's difficult to get your base entirely flat, so most slabs will have some thin spots. A lot of 4" slabs are formed with 2" x 4" lumber, so the slab will be 3 1/2" thick at best.

Mixing your own concrete will be cheaper than buying bagged ready mix. An 80# bag of ready mix will make about .8 cubic foot, so there will be about 45 bags per cubic yard. I don't know what trucked in concrete costs in your area, but using bagged concrete mix is a lot of work and not very cheap.

 

[topp64]

Even with just a small lawn tractor, or foot traffic for that matter, I doubt 2" would last very long. Other than the thickness, your plan sounds reasonable if you know what you're doing. You will want air-entrained concrete to protect the surface from damage from freeze thaw cycles and de-icing chemicals. You can buy a liquid air-entrainment admixture at Menards. Be prepared for a lot of hard work though.

 

[Lelandwelds]

My thought is to pour a 2" thick slab, reinforced with mesh. Since this would only amount to about 1.5 yards, I am not planning on getting a truck or a crew to do this work. I would build forms to do this is 4 separate pours (quarter of the building each time) and tie in each

1. What do you guys see as possible issues with this? Is this even a good idea? Any suggestions?

2. Is it cheaper or easier to buy bags of concrete, or to buy the cement/sand/aggregate separately and mix myself. What mix should I use in a slab like this?

3. Would this slab be sufficient for my lawn equipment? Just have a standard Cub lawn mower, nothing huge.

Ive never poured concrete by hand, only done work out of a truck. I have no doubts I can do this myself, but budget is an issue, so if this gets too expensive, it just wont happen.

Stick with4" or better slabs. Crushed rock with rock fines would be my choice. Sakcrete is for mailboxes not slabs.

Feed some feral cats enough for them to hang out. Praise your dog when he kills a rat. Get rid of foodstuff and reduce nesting places. With enough human traffic, many rodents leave.

 

[Shootinok]

2" really won't hold up to freeze / thaw cycles very long even without traffic on it.
3 1/2 to 4" is really better. Pouring concrete is tough, hard work, but it's not that bad with a few buddies and some beer. Someone in the group needs to know what to do though, or you could end up with a really ugly mess.
Something to consider with that much square footage, it will take about 150 80# bags of mix. Might as well order a truck.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I wouldn't waste my time doing a 2" slab or money for that matter.

2" thick, 13' wide and 21' long comes out to about 1.7 yards. That's 77 80lb bags and that's alot of mixing, even using a electric mixer.

Do you have a mixer or will you have to rent that ? You're not going to want to try to do all that in a wheel barrow. Trust me, I've mixed a metric **** ton of Quikrete and a wheelbarrow and hoe are not the way to do it.

I've used Quikrete (adding some portland cement) and mixed my own, 1ortland cement, 2: sand, 2: aggregrate. Either way it's hard work and if the pad is large enough and you're not fast enough,it can get away from you as you get tired.

I'd suggest pouring it in one pour, from a truck. Find some family/friends that have done this before and can help. Buy some drinks/pizza for afterwards. You'll still need some tools, floats, trowels and a bull float. However, you may not want to do this large of a pour as your first unless you have good help.

What you need to do is crunch numbers. Call and ask what concrete is a yard, minimum load charge and if there are any surcharges (fuel/saturday delivery). There is a breaking point where there is an advantage to bringing a truck in vs mixing your own.

Remember, concrete gets hard and more than likely, forever. If you screw it up, you have two choices, either live with it or tear it out and start over. I'd suggest doing it right the first time even if you have to cough up a little more cash upfront.




EDIT: this site might help you figuring out what you need.

https://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/howmuch/calculator.htm

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

Some areas have a system where they bring a bunch dry mixed and mix in water only as much as you need. Smaller truck and way less work. Ask the local concrete plants.

 

[finn]

My stick built shop had a 16’x60’ pole lean to with one open end.

I had a 4” thick slab, with wire mesh, poured last summer, had a 12’ wide ny 10’ door installed and added lights and outlets.

Best project all year, as it transformed a fairly useless storage area into a useful extension to the shop.

Well worth the investment.

We used a skid steer to lower the gravel floor.

Took two guys about seven hours for the floor prep and pour, with a couple extra bodies there for the pour. I framed the door opening and did the electric, and contracted the door from a local door company.

If I had tried that by myself, it would have taken most of the summer.