I am buying a property that has a steal building on it. Well, four walls and a roof, no floor. The floor is dirt. I would like a concrete slab, instead of a dirt floor. Are there any concrete gurus out there that can tell me if a slab can be poured inside an existing building? without moving, or tearing down and rebuilding over a foundation? The building will be used as a workshop and is on rural land so it doesn't have to be to code.
Rebel1
Favorite Answer
Should not see a problem however some excavation may need to be done in order to lay your bed of crushed stone or hardcore for the concrete to rest on you don't give the sq footage of the building that would give me an idea as to the amount you might need and as for the depth of the slab I would recommend 4" of re-inforced concrete and a 4" hardcore base depending on the size you might manage it yourself but hiring a contractor is also an option you should look into.
headlee
Pouring A Concrete Slab
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1
Anonymous
Yes you can do that. Generally a 2 stage process as different concrete is used on the floor than on the foundation.
What you got to do is dig a ditch alongside the outer wall(more or less getting under the walls - or at least partially under) and down a couple of feet. Code is 4ft, so basically what you are doing is building the foundation wall (after the fact). You probably can dig out all four sides that way. And anywhere else there is a support wall.
That is the "grunt work". Once that is dug out lay in re-bar and tie it together. Then the concrete can be poured in there to build the walls. Not quite up to top of floor height, just to fill in the ditch you dug..
After that hardens you can prep the floor surface. If it is just a large steel barn, then lay re bar on the floor in a criss cross pattern and tie together and support up the air with stones.. This is so the cement will get under the rebar and be in the cement.
Now get a big cement truck in there to pour the entire floor. Smooth. Job done.
mark
Pouring a slab in an existing building is no challenge for a good contractor. The prep work before the pour is what makes all the difference. The dirt floor needs to be excavated and vapor barriers, rebar, gravel, etc. needs to be installed. Proper compaction of soil is necessary before pouring. In some cases a drain system may need to be added.