Moisture on my pole barn concrete floor

[adamant118]

Inside my pole barn the concrete floor always feels damp. When we poured the floor years ago poured it over gravel. Someone said to me that I should have put a vapor barrier down like a sheet of plastic then poured over top of that. Well it's too late and I am in the process of making a little office inside my building and I don't want to have moisture issues in that room. What are some of my options? Thank you Anthony

 

[Dr.Faustus]

You have to first determine if the damp is from water wicking up from the ground, or condensation from moist air hitting the concrete. I believe you do this by taking a piece of plastic and taping it to a small section of the floor. say 12"x12". then wait a few days and pull up the plastic. If its wet then the moisture came from underneath. if its dry then the problem is condensation.

 

[peakbagger]

If its coming up from under the slab, don't try to coat it with epoxy as the epoxy will eventually fail. Your best option is to install a DRIcore subfloor

 

[Trktrd]

I've poured hundreds of barn floors. Sorry to say but you should have put down a moisture barrier. The gravel helps, but not much.

 

[Highbeam]

I've poured hundreds of barn floors. Sorry to say but you should have put down a moisture barrier. The gravel helps, but not much.

Yes, gravel below and then plastic and 2" of foam on bottom and sides of slab.

Cold slabs feel wet. Tape plastic down as described above to test.

Then just plan on a bare concrete floor. Office furniture and finish materials not moisture sensitive and don't put boxes or stuff on the floor.

 

[DougA]

http://www.homedepot.com/p/DRIcore-...core-Subfloor-Panel-CDGNUS750024024/202268752

There are a few similar products to this but it will solve your problem cheaply for an area like an office.

 

[adamant118]

I've poured hundreds of barn floors. Sorry to say but you should have put down a moisture barrier. The gravel helps, but not much.

So what's my options

 

[adamant118]

Yes, gravel below and then plastic and 2" of foam on bottom and sides of slab.

Cold slabs feel wet. Tape plastic down as described above to test.

Then just plan on a bare concrete floor. Office furniture and finish materials not moisture sensitive and don't put boxes or stuff on the floor.

Ok.. so if I have moisture under the plastic text sheet I have to put down the dricore but is not then what?

 

[Highbeam]

Ok.. so if I have moisture under the plastic text sheet I have to put down the dricore but is not then what?

If not, then you don't have a water problem you have a humidity problem.

 

[peakbagger]

If you have a lot of humidity in the air and a cold slab, the water will condense on the slab. If the slab doesn't have perimeter insulation, cold temps on the outside will pull a lot of heat out of the slab keeping it fairly cold especially near the outer walls of the building. Add in a source of humidity in the air, like washing a car or just parking a snow covered car or truck in the building and using hot air heating, including a wood stove will tend to put a lot of water vapor in the air which will condense on the cold slab. This will be more noticeable in a "tight" building then a typical garage as a typical garage will be pulling in a lot of dry air so the humidity will not get as high.