Has anyone waterproofed a dirt stable floor?

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poiuytrewq

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My "yard" when I first took over was kind of rubble and mud. We put a thick coating of scalpings/road chippings down and put our stables on top with rubber matting. Works perfectly much of the time....well until now! Twice in two weeks one stable has flooded. Almost to my ankles.
sods law its the stable who's occupant has a dust allergy so instead of ruining free straw it wrecks my nice shavings bed and is costing me money I cant afford (not to mention time and sanity!)
I think its water running off the fields and straight under the mats then coming up through?
I am considering things like waterproof membrane or even pond liner under the mats and nailed up the wall the side facing the field.
Any ideas would be hugely appreciated as its getting depressing enough with my field underwater forget about the stable aswell!
 
At risk of sounding stupid! Is it as easy as that? Ive spoken to people about concreting but the costs and work I was told involved were not feasible as I don't own the land.
Can I lay concrete just on top of the chippings? What sort of depth would I be needing to cope with a horse weight? (quite a big horse!)
 
It is easy - if you buy the cement, sand and chips and mix it yourself. You could probably hire a baby belle mixer to speed things up a bit. We laid three stable floors in one afternoon - hubby shoveling and mixing, me wheeling the barrow and laying. I did it with rake to get a rough surface and we laid it about 1 1/2" deep.
Only problem you may have is your stable will be out of use for a few days till it hardens, but with mats over it, you wont have to wait too long - concrete can set in water, but not while being churned up with horses feet!
As long as the base of chips is sound and not squidgy it will work. If the floor is soft and there is any movement, the soil needs to be dug out, a layer of chips put in, flattened down, then concrete on top.
I cant imagine the owner will complain about getting a better floor - ask him!
 
No they wont complain! Its our stable but it does mean if we move on they have a bit more hard standing.
I will certainly look into this! The floor feels stable and certainly never soft or muddy feeling so could work.
Thanks
 
Put more scalpings down topped with 2in thick 2ft square concrete slabs which will drain where they butt up to each other. no need for a slope then.. Then put your mats down on top. Make sure no downpipes or water troughs/butts are draining around the stable area aswell. Should be ok then.
 
Thank you! will look into this idea also. Sitting here at home im wondering if height wise I actually have much room to play around with, will investigate further when I go back down to see the carnage!
 
I have a nasty feeling whatever you do (unless you raise it considerably) it will be at risk of flooding unless you put drains in.
That's providing the roof water has been taken away. Are you sure that isn't the problem?
 
Pretty sure its not roof water no. I used to think it was blowing in over the door in milder rain but for a time I switched solely to wood pellets and could see wet lines in the bed corresponding with where the mats would join underneath.
It was literally 3 or 4" deep today in there- ive left out with hay tonight as although the fields wet I just didn't want to put another new bed in and chuck it all on the muck heap again tomorrow.
 
we had this problem and ended up having to dismantle the stable, build the planings up with a timber support frame then put the stable on top so its higher than the ground level, works a treat, except I have now got a leaky roof!
 
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