Horse Mat In Shed
davidiliyn
| Posted in General Questions on
Hi, my wife and I bought a house last year in Salem oregon, in the back yard there is a nicely built 14×10 shed enclosed. The floor is a compacted gravel. They put roofing shingles over it to control moisture. But after living here for a year all the shingles are breaking from walking on them. I would like to replace them with 4×8 3/4 rubber stall mats. My question is, should I lay a 6mil plastic vapor barrier below the mats? Last winter I ran a dehumidifier in the shed to make sure our stuff didn’t develop mold.
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My experience with stall mats is that it's very helpful when liquid from above can drain through the joints into clean gravel below. But maybe you will never have liquid above.
I like dehumidification for tools. With good air and vapor sealing, cost to run is minimal.
Yeah that’s true, even from cleaning them.
David,
Rubber horse mats are probably a pretty effective vapour-barrier on their own.
That’s what I was wondering as well, thanks!
Except for the joints, where a little air movement could make it ineffective. But no idea how much air would naturally move through clean, on grade gravel that is exposed to outside air at the edges. If you are going to dehumidify (vs vent), then fully air sealed (ie, taped) wall-to-wall poly might be the best option.
Poly wouldn't do any harm. If there was any water split the mats make the poly are easily assessable.
In a similar climate, I keep all my tools in an unconditioned, well ventilated shed, and don't see any rust. I do get the odd bit of mold on my tool belt.