Broken cement floor - what would you do?

[shoofly]

So we have an old chicken house that we would like to start using again. We want to make 1/3 of it housing for goats, and 1/3 housing for chickens.

So here is our dilemma - the old cement floor in the chicken house is all broken up in places, so much so that it would be really hard to patch (bags and bags and bags of cement, and then I don't know if it would just break up again).

For the sake of the animals - is it okay to use the floor house as it is, with bedding over it? Or will that be too damp and cold (chicken house itself is really well-situated, southern exposure, etc)? Should we try to patch it? Break it out and try for mostly dirt floor? Pour gravel into the cracks?

We are at a loss - we're ready to renovate it in the other ways it needs, but don't know what to do about this.

Thanks for any and all suggestions, thoughts, and ideas!

[plowjockey]

Sound's like my barn.

Cover it with bedding and go! The animals don't seem to really care.

A smooth cement floor makes it easier to deep clean, but sometimes it is hard to justify the replacement cost on an old barn.

[Jennifer L.]

I don't see why it would be a problem to use it that way.

However, I have taken bagged concrete mix, like Sakcrete, and poured it in holes in concrete before and it held for years. And this was in the floor of a free stall cow barn where 60 cows and a Bobcat were on it all the time. So you can do things like that if you want to try it.

If it doesn't affect how easy it is to clean, I'd probably leave it as is.

Jennifer

[The Paw]

I think I would try pouring gravel into the deep cracks until they were an inch from the top, and then topping it off with Sakcrete or some other kind of patching cement.

[Beeman]

Unless the cracks are opened up so an animals legs could get caught I would just use as is. If the cracks are deep and wide just patch them or fill them with dirt and put bedding.

[Darren]

If the ground is relatively flat, just live with it. If you're on a hillside and the floor is on fill, you might have a problem. I helped remove and replace the concrete floor in a garage on a hillside once that had been undercut by water. It was only a matter of time before the car would have broken through the floor into the hole below. In some places there was as much as a two foot gap below the floor.

[Welshmom]

You could put some outdoor rated plywood sheets over the floor and then bedding on top to make it smooth and easier to clean.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

you would be realy surprised what you can do with inexpensive 3 dollar a bag morter and a trowle my back steps were nearly half gone 3 bags and they are quite usable again

if the sections of concrete are heaved a lot then it may not be worth it but if it is just cracks that are 1/2 inch to a few inches fill with mortar then take a large paint brush wet it and smooth it over you can blend from one hight to another easy enought

but like said this would be mainly to make cleaning easier and could be used as is unless an animal clould get it's leg caught if that were the case some crushed lime stone to level off the hole works might be in order

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

True cracks should be caulked. Caulking stretches with the heaving and contraction. Put cement in the cracks and it will only crack again. Use backer rod on deep larger cracks to cut down on caulking consumption.

If you have chunks coming out, then you need to patch them with a cementious material. If it's cold, you'll have to wait until it gets warmer to caulk and patch.

Cracks and walls of voids need to be clean...nothing sticks to dirt.

RF

[Rocky Fields]

PS: use a rubberized caulk...not silicone or latex caulk...backer rod is a foam rod that comes in various widths designed for backing up caulking joints that are large

[Cartman]

If the cracks are open wide fill with gravel or sand almost to the top.
Go to lowes or where ever and buy topping mix. It cures alot harder than anything else.
Pour it kind of wet and it will almost level itself let set for a while and go over with a fine bristled broom for a light roughness to avoid slips when wet.

[clovis]

So how badly is the floor broken up?

[CamM]

A cracked floor might mean there's no reinforcing (rebar) in the concrete, and with frost heaving it bends and cracks. If that's the case you'd either replace the floor or just put the bedding on top. Everybody's suggestions for filling the cracks are good.

[plowjockey]

Originally Posted by CamM

A cracked floor might mean there's no reinforcing (rebar) in the concrete, and with frost heaving it bends and cracks. If that's the case you'd either replace the floor or just put the bedding on top. Everybody's suggestions for filling the cracks are good.

I don't think rebar had been invented yet, when many of the old barn floors were "poured".

In the old days, "concrete" used to be mixed and poured by hand, at least on the farm. When they got tired of mixing it, or ran out, they started shoving small fleldstones, pieces of drain tile, bricks and old concrete pieces, into the mix. Whatever was laying around. that would bring up the level.

Surprising it has held up as long as it has.

[shoofly]

THanks for all of your excellent ideas so far - this is so helpful.

I don't think there is any reinforcement in the floor, as far as we can tell. It's a really old building, though still in good shape apart from the floor. I think the floor was originally made with cement mixed with ash. It least that's what my older relatives say .

In places the floor is really coming up in chunks, not just small cracks, but not enough so that an animal could twist there leg in it, I don't think. I do want to be on the safe side with that, though.