# concrete - remove or cover?



## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts and/or experience on this!

My property at one time was a large scale dairy operation. All the work that needs done to the property is extensive and since I'm working on a grant/donation budget, I need to trim costs as much as I reasonably can.

I have two spots I'd like to get more usage out of, but both are currently causing difficulty due to concrete. (bleh)

The whole central part of my barn was the original dairy cow/milking area. It's a sunken concrete floored with a 2 foot raised center walkway, and 8 inch deep, 8 inch wide gutters. The area is not usable to be right now and is just being used for storage, but it's a very large section of my barn and I'd like to be able to put it to work in terms of putting some stalls in there. Currently all my stalls are in the rear section of my barn, (4 normal stalls and one double foaling stall) also on concrete floors, I keep them matted and well bedded, not ideal but at least the concrete back there is level. There is room in the center section of the barn where I could put in 4-6 additional stalls with a 10 foot aisle. But the problem is this uneven floor. I've had contractors tell me two different things - either rip all the old concrete out, or bring in gravel and sand and build up footing on top of the concrete. There is head clearance enough to still have decent height if the whole level of the barn was brought up to the raised central walkway (which would become part of the center aisle) and that would make the level of the floor the same throughout all the sections of the barn. 

Same goes for the area that would be best suited for my enclosed arena. On the east side of the barn is what I am assuming was at one time the cattle feedlot - it's a concrete yard about 100 ft wide by 200 ft long. It would save me a lot in costs by being able to attach my arena to my barn rather than having a completely separate stand along structure. But again there is this vast amount of concrete that I am looking at an absolute fortune for removal and disposal. The same contractor also suggested bringing in large amounts of sand and rubberized arena footing to build up over the concrete rather than remove it. I'm highly skeptical about going over the concrete in the arena in particular. This contractor was sent out by the grant foundation, and I don't think he knows a whole lot about horse facilities and the need for shock absorbtion/footing that gives, so I wonder about the wisdom of his advice. I do already have a half-sized arena going in on the other side of the barn, no concrete there at least! But this enclosed arena will be important to be able to continue therapies during the winter months. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated, and sorry this is so long!


----------



## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Im a DIYer so what I would do would be to rent a jackhammer and tear it up myself and lay down gravel and sand and such... but what I would definitely NOT do would be to just lay gravel and such over it and build it up, it sounds really unsafe and a waste of space to me. I think you will be happier in the long run if you either tear it up or have it torn up.


----------



## Strange (Jan 11, 2009)

Ahh, I would've said rubber mats but then I read that it's uneven. 

I think tearing it up would be the best idea. Building up sand and gravel over it doesn't sound very safe to me.


----------



## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Honeysuga said:


> Im a DIYer so what I would do would be to rent a jackhammer and tear it up myself and lay down gravel and sand and such... but what I would definitely NOT do would be to just lay gravel and such over it and build it up, it sounds really unsafe and a waste of space to me. I think you will be happier in the long run if you either tear it up or have it torn up.



Haha, I'm a big DIYer myself so I wouldn't hesitate to take a jackhammer to it all. But the problem, with that extensive an amount of concrete, isn't so much getting it up, as disposing of it once you do - I mean, were talking about many, many tons here.

I agree though, I'm really uncomfortable with the thought of building up and riding on it, it just seems unsafe, and since I will be working with children/adults with disabilities, safety needs to be a HUGE #1 concern.

Thanks for your input!


----------



## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

Call your local trash company. We did extensive renovations on a house that included removing tons of concrete so we could pour new footings and slab, our trash company gave us a dumpster to put the concrete in for a pretty reasonable price.


----------



## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

There are places that recycle concrete now. Maybe if you found one they would take it away for less. (Most people don't know this, but concrete production is _very_ bad for the environment).


----------



## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

what were the cost differences? I don't see anything wrong with covering it as I had done the same to steps leading into the barn and it has worked very well and you would never know steps were under there. But how much was each proposal? It could take alot of fill at approx 100.00 a load around here. If costs were close I would rip it out.


----------



## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

churumbeque said:


> what were the cost differences? I don't see anything wrong with covering it as I had done the same to steps leading into the barn and it has worked very well and you would never know steps were under there. But how much was each proposal? It could take alot of fill at approx 100.00 a load around here. If costs were close I would rip it out.


There was a cost difference of $4,500.00 to have all the concrete removed. Total cost for concrete removal is $5,700, but about $1,200 of that is for the removal of an old 30 ft tall, 12 ft diameter concrete silo that will have to go either way. 

Ponyboy, that's a good thought, I might look into recycling, because a substantial part of the cost is disposal of the concrete, and I'm all about green solutions anyways. I thin it's easy to underestimate the sheer vastness of how much concrete I'm talking about removing - not counting the interior section of the barn at all, just the feedlot section is 100 feet wide, 200 feet long, and probably around 4 inches thick at least (and likely more in some spots).


----------



## ididasku (Mar 15, 2010)

check with demalition company and ,or gravel company that has concrete crusher that will make the concrete into crush run gravel thats packs hard ,since you have to fill or lower ereas . and ive herd of people getting tax breaks for recycleing garbage [ its garbage if its piled up] and what left over makes great for parking


----------



## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Indyhorse said:


> Haha, I'm a big DIYer myself so I wouldn't hesitate to take a jackhammer to it all. But the problem, with that extensive an amount of concrete, isn't so much getting it up, as disposing of it once you do - I mean, were talking about many, many tons here.
> 
> I agree though, I'm really uncomfortable with the thought of building up and riding on it, it just seems unsafe, and since I will be working with children/adults with disabilities, safety needs to be a HUGE #1 concern.
> 
> Thanks for your input!


Not really a problem, just tear it up yourself over a course of a few days/weeks whatever and hire someone to haul it away for you, much cheaper than hiring a contractor.


----------



## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

We tore a large concrete slab out at our house as part of a renovation and went the rented jackhamers roiute. Depending on the thickness of the original pour, this can be a *brutal* job, and one for young people with good backs. We threw the used concrete directly into the bucket of our front end loader, and it was still a two day job. $4500. seems like a very reasonable price for the size of the job on me, especially if it includes any kind of disposal.


----------



## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

maura said:


> We tore a large concrete slab out at our house as part of a renovation and went the rented jackhamers roiute. Depending on the thickness of the original pour, this can be a *brutal* job, and one for young people with good backs. We threw the used concrete directly into the bucket of our front end loader, and it was still a two day job. $4500. seems like a very reasonable price for the size of the job on me, especially if it includes any kind of disposal.


Agreed. That is alot of work and it sounds thick. Keep in mind once it is dug out I am guessing it will need some kind of fill.


----------



## Baron Pinto (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't understand the concern w/ covering the concrete. I'm aware that rubber mats and a decent amount of bedding is still not the best w/ concrete underneath it. But what you are proposing is covering the concrete w/ a minimum of eight inches of whatever medium you choose. At that point I have to imagine that the ill effects of the concrete have been negated. Plus you save a ton of money and effort.


----------



## ididasku (Mar 15, 2010)

im not quite clear if you can cover the concrete , cover up with clay and compact it but be aware of pushing on outside walls ,gravel is even worse it keeps moving, and good clay is alot cheeper than gravel , u can french drain in the dirt and still save money


----------

