Tyler, Texas · Smith County

Barndominium & Shop Slabs Tyler TX - Barn, Addition & Outbuilding Slabs

Out past Loop 323 and across Smith County, a lot of new building starts with a slab: a barndominium, a metal shop, a horse barn, a room addition, a detached garage. We pour those slabs to the foundation plan, and we pour floors inside barns and sheds that are still sitting on dirt or gravel.

Request a Quote Call (903) 587-4111

Large finished concrete slab for a barndominium with plumbing stub-ups and anchor bolts, set in a pasture with a pine and oak tree line

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Built to the Plan

A slab that holds up a house or a shop is a foundation, so the engineer's or builder's plan sets the thickness, the grade beams and footings, the reinforcing and the anchor bolt layout. Inside the city limits the 2021 International Residential Code applies with Tyler's amendments. That means a 3½-inch minimum slab and, under the City's amendment, a vapor retarder of at least 6 mil meeting ASTM E1745 Class A under the concrete. The City's fee schedule bills new residential construction at $0.47 per square foot of building area with a $50 minimum, plus a plan check fee of 20 percent of the permit fee. Not sure if the site is inside the city? The City's FAQ points to SmithCountyMapSite.org for city limits.

Slab foundation ready to pour, with rebar cages in grade beam trenches, plastic vapor barrier and plumbing stub-ups inside wood forms on red clay

East Texas Ground

The Handbook of Texas describes Smith County soils as sandy prairie loams in the northwest and loam-covered clay through most of the rest of the county, and the City's design guidelines say ground water is prevalent in and around Tyler. On a building pad, that means stripping topsoil and roots, cutting out anything soft, and compacting fill in lifts before the forms go in. The City's paving notes reject standing water, muddy subgrade, sugar sand and unstable material under public concrete. We hold building pads to the same standard.

Compacted building pad of select fill on a wooded lot, its cut edge showing sandy soil over red clay, with a roller compactor parked beside it

Barn and Outbuilding Floors

For an existing pole barn or equipment shed, we plan access first: whether a ready-mix truck can reach the doors or a pump is needed, where the slab should step down at the big doors, and whether a wash-down area needs a drain. If an accessory building is going onto an existing slab inside the city, the City's FAQ says perimeter or bearing footings must be added under Chapter 4 of the 2021 IRC if there aren't any.

Open-sided pole barn with a dirt floor and stacked hay bales as an unmarked concrete mixer truck backs up the gravel drive, with pasture and pines behind

National Price Context

HomeGuide says most slabs are 4 to 6 inches thick, with thicker slabs and more steel for heavier loads, and lists a vapor barrier at $0.50 to $1.00 or more per square foot. A building slab is priced from its plan, so we quote it line by line once we've seen the drawings.

Smaller slabs for sheds and equipment are on our concrete pads page. Garage floor tear-outs are on garage floor replacement.

Finished concrete floor with saw-cut joints inside a new metal shop building, two roll-up doors open to pasture and pines

Get a Slab Quote

Send the plan or a sketch with the building size, the site address and how trucks get in. Call (903) 587-4111 anytime or use the quote form.

Back to Tyler Superior Concrete for every concrete service we offer in Tyler.

Forms, gravel base and rebar laid out for a room addition slab against the back wall of a red brick house, with dowels set in the old foundation

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Would you rather talk it through? Call (903) 587-4111 anytime.