# Barn with flooded stalls?!



## RZstoney98 (Jan 1, 2017)

I am very excited to say that my family just bought a new home with 3 acres pasture, a round pen, and a 6 stall barn! The barn itself is my question though, the barn is concrete floored with dirt stalls. 4 of the stalls have at least 8 inches of water sitting in them. I am unsure about the state of the other two. The building itself is a tin building with a wooden frame (of course I'll be checking for rotting and any other issues that could have popped up, too). I doubt that the flooding is a terrain related drainage issue as we do live in Southeast TX, which is completely flat land. When I was out to look at it had rained a lot the days before but the yard had no where near that amount of water sitting in it. I did forget to take photos though. Anyway, how would you go about "saving" the stalls so to speak? How can I get them dried out and prevent further flooding? I had the thought of digging out then concreting with rubber mats, and I have seen sand mentioned here on the forum, but I am really not entirely sure. Thank you! If this thread is still running in may when the house closes I will get photos then. Overall I am very excited about this as it means I may be able to have my boy at home in the near future


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

That's a LOT of water and it could be expensive to fix a drainage issue, so proceed with caution! And unless you know what caused the flooding, don't waste time or money digging out the stalls, as they could flood again and ruin your work. 


Definitely consider how much structural damage standing water could be causing, much of which might not be visible because it's underground. Consider how long the water has been there; is there a chance you will be putting your and your horses' health in danger from mold?


The obvious first step is to make sure there isn't a water pipe leak somewhere. And is there a chance someone left a hose running over the weekend or something? Did an automatic waterer get tripped up and overflow for a few days? 


Carefully examine the interior & exterior to see if you find a source for how/where the water got in. Is there a gutter/gulley/path leading under a wall? Is there a rusty spot on the building where water pools or dark/damp spots on the inside walls? Is the barn in a low spot on the property and just gathering water from all around? Since you can't build up the ground of an existing building, you'll need to install drainage around the barn to redirect excess water, and that's NOT going to be cheap.


If I were to actually tackle this project (highly unlikely,) I'd probably rent a pump/siphon to help drain the stalls and direct the hose as far away from the barn as possible. The stalls would be dug out at least 12-18 inches deep and be filled with something that drains well, before adding dirt and mats...


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## RZstoney98 (Jan 1, 2017)

Cynical25 said:


> That's a LOT of water and it could be expensive to fix a drainage issue, so proceed with caution! And unless you know what caused the flooding, don't waste time or money digging out the stalls, as they could flood again and ruin your work.
> 
> 
> Definitely consider how much structural damage standing water could be causing, much of which might not be visible because it's underground. Consider how long the water has been there; is there a chance you will be putting your and your horses' health in danger from mold?
> ...


Of course, thank you. I'm well aware it could become quite an undertaking. The good news is I don't have to move horses in at any point, it's just something I would really love to be able to do with it. I am on no schedule at all thankfully.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I can't figure out how there could be 8 inches of water in stalls on flat land. Are they sunk into the ground? What is preventing the water from draining away? Regardless, as Cynical says, first you need to determine where the water is coming from, then assess the damage. You might get a sump pump - we have one in our basement because we are prone to flash floods (which is why my barn is several feet above ground level! They had to bring in a lot of fill, but I'm grateful now that my stalls are always high and dry!). Let it run until the water is all gone, then walk around to see if you can spot where water might be coming in. Then you can assess the damage and bring in a contractor to figure out how to prevent it from flooding again, and to see what needs repairing. Unless it was a made-made flood, it's likely you're going to have to dig out and raise the stalls substantially.


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## RZstoney98 (Jan 1, 2017)

Acadianartist said:


> I can't figure out how there could be 8 inches of water in stalls on flat land. Are they sunk into the ground? What is preventing the water from draining away? Regardless, as Cynical says, first you need to determine where the water is coming from, then assess the damage. You might get a sump pump - we have one in our basement because we are prone to flash floods (which is why my barn is several feet above ground level! They had to bring in a lot of fill, but I'm grateful now that my stalls are always high and dry!). Let it run until the water is all gone, then walk around to see if you can spot where water might be coming in. Then you can assess the damage and bring in a contractor to figure out how to prevent it from flooding again, and to see what needs repairing. Unless it was a made-made flood, it's likely you're going to have to dig out and raise the stalls substantially.


Awesome thank you! I am thinking they are sunk into the ground. I'm looking forward to being there in daylight to look closer and take some photos.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Yes, pictures would help! Post them here for ideas if you like. Once the water is drained away, you will have a better idea of what you're dealing with.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

You need a survey map of th elay of the land...aka a elevation map.
You can try to google your area and see if your county/state or federal has done a elelvation mapping and go from there...
Pretty accurate and you can pinpoint a lot of information.
Try { googleEarth } and see what appears when you put in that exact address.

Now my knee-jerk reaction is someone badly graded your land around your barn to do what you claim is happening.
A bigger reaction though is if this is happening to the barn what might be happening to the home structure! 
I have no idea how to go about "fixing" the issue except a professional grading done and a build up of stall base but that then has questions of structure height inside.

Good luck.
:runninghorse2:....


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

I used to live in West Palm beach. Basically swamp land that they decided to develop. Everyone lived on ant hills. Almost every property had a pond dug and the excess dirt was used for the house to be built on. 

Despite this it flooded. A lot. It was not uncommon to have 6-12 inches of water in the pasture. 

Depending on your zoning, you could probably build a pond, or buy some sand by the truckload. Build up your stalls. You may want to add gutters to the barn to make sure the runoff does not end up in the barn.

Totally fixable and probably not a big deal if it is addressed quickly. Make sure to check your boards for rot. That much water will rot out your wood eventually. 

You want your pastures to be high and dry. My horse became sound immediately after moving out of the swamp. Wet ground causes thrush, stone bruises and abscesses.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Our stalls used to flood every spring, during spring run off, esp in years with lots of snow.
Of course, that was right when we needed to stalls for mares and foals.
We thus build all the stalls up, behind a cement footing,with crushed gravel and clay, then put rubber matts over.
We also put weeping tiles around the barn
We still at times get a bit of water in the isle, for a day or so, when snow melts very suddenly, and runs off the neighbour's crop field, but the stalls remain dry.
Hardly use them now though!


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## RZstoney98 (Jan 1, 2017)

Thank you all! The house is completely fine as the property itself is not in a flood zone and the house is entirely on a slab foundation. It has passed examination. It is also worth noting that this is the wettest time of the year here. I think someone just chose a poor place to put a barn. The rest of the floor aside from the stalls is raised and bone dry, so that is a good thing.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

RZstoney98 said:


> Thank you all! The house is completely fine as the property itself is not in a flood zone and the house is entirely on a slab foundation. It has passed examination. It is also worth noting that this is the wettest time of the year here. I think someone just chose a poor place to put a barn. The rest of the floor aside from the stalls is raised and bone dry, so that is a good thing.


Sounds like you just have to raise the stalls. Assuming the structure is sound and worth saving. Of course that will entail digging down and installing proper drainage so the barn is not sitting on water. And then you'll have to make sure the ceiling is still high enough for horses once you've raised the floor. 

Our house is on a hill. Shouldn't flood. Yet, somehow, water gets in our basement if it rains too much, too quickly, and the ground cannot absorb it fast enough. Not often - only once every few years, but it only takes once to ruin a lot of stuff so the sump pump kicks in automatically if needed, and we have a generator in case the power goes out. 

The lay of the land is one thing, but you also have to figure out the path of the water above, and below ground. Where our barn sits, there is a very large, flat, wet area, so we built it up quite a bit (as much as 6 feet on one end). It's not like there are several inches of water sitting above ground, but if you walk around there in the spring, you can hear and feel the squishiness. So we knew we'd need a really good plan to keep the barn dry. We dug down, brought in 37 loads of fill, built a 4 foot concrete frost wall and raised the barn up from ground level. Not a drop of water in the barn or at the entrance of the stalls, though the paddock is pretty muddy right now. Since I have dutch doors, they can come into their stalls whenever they want. Judging by the amount of manure in the stalls, they spent pretty much all day in there yesterday (it's also raining).


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## RZstoney98 (Jan 1, 2017)

Acadianartist said:


> Sounds like you just have to raise the stalls. Assuming the structure is sound and worth saving. Of course that will entail digging down and installing proper drainage so the barn is not sitting on water. And then you'll have to make sure the ceiling is still high enough for horses once you've raised the floor.
> 
> Our house is on a hill. Shouldn't flood. Yet, somehow, water gets in our basement if it rains too much, too quickly, and the ground cannot absorb it fast enough. Not often - only once every few years, but it only takes once to ruin a lot of stuff so the sump pump kicks in automatically if needed, and we have a generator in case the power goes out.
> 
> The lay of the land is one thing, but you also have to figure out the path of the water above, and below ground. Where our barn sits, there is a very large, flat, wet area, so we built it up quite a bit (as much as 6 feet on one end). It's not like there are several inches of water sitting above ground, but if you walk around there in the spring, you can hear and feel the squishiness. So we knew we'd need a really good plan to keep the barn dry. We dug down, brought in 37 loads of fill, built a 4 foot concrete frost wall and raised the barn up from ground level. Not a drop of water in the barn or at the entrance of the stalls, though the paddock is pretty muddy right now. Since I have dutch doors, they can come into their stalls whenever they want. Judging by the amount of manure in the stalls, they spent pretty much all day in there yesterday (it's also raining).


Thank you! I'm almost entirely sure that's what's happening.. of course I will check the structure first. The ground itself is squishy with a couple watery spots but overall it's not sitting water. I will update in may when I'm there next!


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## COWCHICK77 (Jun 21, 2010)

I have the same issue.
Metal barn built on lower ground and stalls that have been dug out over the years. Mine flooded when we had our first big thaw. 
Unfortunately the barn was not put on a built up level pad. Although it looks like flat ground it becomes quite obvious when the water runs, it runs down the driveway and right into the barn door. I had to sand bag the door to keep it flooding even worse than it was.

Also the stalls are dirt floors and from being cleaned and dug out over the years they are lower than the outside ground level. Even when the water isn't running in through the door the water will sub up into the stalls. It has nowhere else to go. Plus it has a cement isle/breezeway locking the water in the stalls between the isle and walls. This late spring will be dedicated to hauling material in to fill and level the stalls. As money permits stall mats will go in to keep the horses who dig or pace from tearing up the floor. (Plus save money on shavings) Outside the barn work will be done to divert water. It will not completely eliminate the flooding issue obviously but at least it won't be as severe. 

Good luck!!!


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

These photos give you an idea of how high up we built our barn. The second photo is what it looks like now, so if we hadn't raised the barn so much, we'd have a lot of water! Our sump pump in the basement even kicked in last night because of all the water in the soil. Ran all night.


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