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Wood floors for a Morton pole building?

workalone | Posted in General Discussion on September 9, 2009 09:25am

I live in central Pennsylvania.

Morton Buildings has given me a quote for a 24’x 60′ metal-clad pole building. The shell of the structure is held up by posts buried in concrete, and the floor is a concrete slab.

I’m satisfied with the engineering of the structure, but I would prefer a wood floor instead of a concrete slab.

The posts are 7.5′ apart. In addition to the perimeter posts, my thought is for Morton to set a line of posts running down the center, each post just high enough to support a central floor beam that runs down the center. I would then use 12′ joists to span the floor. The central beam would probably be a double or triple 2×12 or 2×10.

My question is this: how would the center beam be attached to the posts – sitting on top or bolted to the sides?

Also, the beams at the perimeter would HAVE to be bolted to the posts, as they run straight up to the roof line.

Is such a wood floor possible? Also, the crawl space would probably be not more than 12″ off the ground. Is that ok?

Thanks

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  1. [email protected] | Sep 09, 2009 10:03pm | #1

    There are a lot of options on doing a wooden shop floor over a concrete slab. 

    The quick simple one would be to just put down pt lumber as sleepers directly on the concrete, and then just build your floor on those.  This is probably the most material and cost efficient method.  With 2X4 sleepers laid on their sides, you only raise the floor about 2-1/4-inches, if you use 3/4-inch plywood as the floor.  This would leave enough depth to run power feeds to tools. 

    If you want dust collection ducting in the floor, you will either have have it installed before the slab, or go with a higher floor system.  Bit again, it will be easiest to just let it rest on the slab. 

    I'm guessing that you don't want the hard floor in your shop.  The solution I came up with is well cushioned work boots.  I just had a pair resoled, and it's like walking on a rubber mat all the time. 

    1. workalone | Sep 09, 2009 10:13pm | #2

      I didn't explain myself well. I want a wood floor INSTEAD of a concrete floor, not over it. The concrete floor is very expensive...Thanks

  2. 6bag | Sep 09, 2009 10:51pm | #3

    i've done a few concrete floors in pole buildings.  if morton's price is to much, you should try to fine another bid for the slab.  seems to me that a concrete slab shouldn't be that much more expensive then building a wooden floor.  i think you open yourself to trouble with a wood floor, like door hight issues, water problems under the floor, animals living under floor ect..  good luck.

    1. workalone | Sep 09, 2009 11:10pm | #4

      Thanks for your observation, 6bag.
      Question: If my concrete floor doesn't have a perimeter below frost, what's to prevent the floor heaving?

      1. 6bag | Sep 09, 2009 11:41pm | #5

        the slab will move with frost, thats the nature of a pole building.  they are cheap to build because there isn't a countinuous foundation.  make sure the subase is free of organics and very hard.  use 2" to 3" of crusher stone or gravel with out fines.  this will allow water to drain and when it freezes it won't heave as much.  use expantion material around the walls and post (box out the post with sono tube cut in half, this will lessen the chance of randon cracks).  don't pour under the threshold of man door (install a door that swings out that way even if slab lifts the door won't bind).  slab stops at the front of the post so sliding doors are not effected if slab lifts.

        1. workalone | Sep 09, 2009 11:51pm | #6

          6bag, you wrote: "the slab will move with frost, thats the nature of a pole building."I want to have a bath and kitchen. If the slab moves, how do I avoid damage to my incoming well-water line and my waste pipe? I guess I could make sure that the openings in the slab are wider than needed, then fill the gap with some kind of caulking compound.Over 40 years, I've collected more than a hundred books on house buildings. And yet, I do not have a single book that shows how to plumb a slab house in a cold climate. After 40 years, it's still a mystery.Thanks

          1. [email protected] | Sep 10, 2009 03:40am | #7

            If I were going to run plumbing into a slab on grade in a cold climate, this is what I would do. Be sure the inlet line and waste lines are well below frost level where they leave the building footprint. Bring them up in the center of the building, and for the water line use pex bedded in sand with a slack loop in it to allow for movement. The waste lines for the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, etc. should be buried below slab prior to the pour, but try to keep them on interior walls to protect them from the cold.

          2. DanH | Sep 10, 2009 05:06am | #9

            The plumbed area should probably be on its own slab, with a foundation.
            As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz

  3. DanH | Sep 10, 2009 05:04am | #8

    You don't say how much load your floor must support. That is a significant factor.

    There is a building code minimum for clear crawlspace height -- something like 12 or 18 inches. May vary with locality.

    If cost isn't the controlling factor (and maybe if it is) a concrete slab covered by wood on sleepers is probably a better option.

    As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz

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