# Concrete or dirt?



## musicalmarie1 (Dec 8, 2010)

My husband and I were discussing building a barn, and we were wondering what would be better-- concrete or dirt? 

So, what type of "flooring" does your barn have, and why did you go that route? Benefits? Drawbacks?


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

If you have concrete you should cover horse areas with mats.
Mine is concrete. Dirt ones get uneven easily with pawing and stuff but that's ok depending on how bad,


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## musicalmarie1 (Dec 8, 2010)

churumbeque said:


> If you have concrete you should cover horse areas with mats.
> Mine is concrete. Dirt ones get uneven easily with pawing and stuff but that's ok depending on how bad,


My mom's barn has dirt floors, and I've noticed that about the stalls-- they have gotten really uneven from various ponies and other barn critters pawing and digging. Would I need to put bedding down over the mats?


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

musicalmarie1 said:


> Would I need to put bedding down over the mats?


In a stall, yes.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

Penn State has published a pretty comprehensive overview of different stall flooring options and drainage considerations: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/ub036.pdf

Either dirt or concrete, I'd recommend putting rubber mats over them- in the case of concrete to provide cushioning and in the case of dirt to reduce holes.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Mine is a mix of sand and clay. When low spots develop I just fill them with more of the same. This is natural footing. Horses aren't in 24/7 tho. They come in when the bugs are bad. I keep a bag of diatomaceous earth handy to scatter a handful on a pee spot or fresh dropping.


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## musicalmarie1 (Dec 8, 2010)

verona1016 said:


> Penn State has published a pretty comprehensive overview of different stall flooring options and drainage considerations: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/ub036.pdf



What a great article! Thanks for sharing.


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## Shosadlbrd (Nov 3, 2013)

I plan on building a barn this summer. My entire barn will have concrete floors with mats in the stalls and wash stall. and probably some small mats in the aisle. I have had it with dirt flooring from all the previous barns I have had in my life.


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## Kristyjog (Nov 11, 2013)

We built a new barn this fall. We chose to use dirt floors with stall mats and shavings or wood pellets. Its worked great for us so far. We use to have run type stalls for the horse for 10 years using dirt floor and stall mats.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## quinn (Nov 8, 2013)

We have concrete and mats...well we will  barn Reno in the works!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

From a horse owner and gardener I can tell you that dirt floors soak up everything. At some point you should be digging the dirt out and replacing it with fresh dirt. I prefer cement floors with rubber mats. I brought elderly horses with me to my horse property in 1999, and several got really old and died in the barn. I cleaned the cement with bleach--you cannot do that with dirt.
Outside garden dirt is disinfected by the sun. Your indoor barn dirt is not.
Just some things to consider. =D


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

I have rubber mats over the top of crushed stone - seems to work very well
I use shavings for bedding, scatter Stall Dry or PDZ over the top of any wet patches and spray over with disinfectant a couple of times a month in the summer


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

I've worked in barns with dirt, wood, and concrete. The dirt floors could get out of control fast and get really smelly and often very wet. I would lime them all the time, but they were still a challenge. 

When I was a kid I worked for lessons, and the BO asked me to dig out the wet spot in one stall. Well, he got more than he bargained for. I dug and dug and dug, and got down probably about three feet before he stopped me. The whole barn smelled like sulfur. Wood floors seemed easier, but in one barn where I had my horse, a board rotted right through. In another barn around here, a wooden floor gave way under a big draft horse, and they needed heavy equipment to extricate the horse - remarkably unharmed.
The first barn I build had gravel floors with mats over it, which worked really well, but I only live there for two or three years.

In our current barn, my husband insisted on concrete floors, to which I objected, due to the strain on the horses' legs. Now I love it. We put a double layer of stall mats down with staggered seams, and I bed it deep, and the horses had constant access to turnout. They are easy to clean, there are no holes where the horses dig, and they don't smell at all.


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## MysticTrev (Oct 2, 2013)

We're in the process of building our barn as we'll and the flooring we went with is dirt then we did a layer of crushed stone and will be adding stall mats on top of that. The stone was cheap so that made it even nicer


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