2" Flexible PVC, underlayment, liner questions

[scumfrog_millionaire]

So I planned on finally finishing my 3500 gallonish pond and bog by this weekend (started digging last Fall). Winter took a toll on the hole that I originally dug so I spent a great deal of time fixing it and re-tampering the shelves. Well I strained my intercostal muscle a couple of days ago shoveling dirt so I'm pretty much useless at this point. Good time to get some questions out of the way:
1. How on earth do people straighten 2" flexible PVC? It comes in a coil and I cannot route it from my skimmer to the bog since it will not stay straight?
2. Once I get the underlayment and liner on, do I start rocking right away or begin filling it with water to get wrinkles out first?
3. I have a lot of rock going into this pond, how do people recommend rinsing it off?
4. Any preferred methods on laying the liner down? It's 30' x 30' and the pond is 4 ft deep. Do I just unfold it all and drag it over the top? Won't that mess up my underlayment?
Thanks

 

[jmajid]

Regarding the flexible PVC, i came across this guy from flexpvc.com on YouTube after someone here linked to it.
The channel has some old videos but they are VERY informative. In there you will find info about how to straighten the larger OD flexible PVC lines. The guy still does the occasional videos and actually the flexpvc.com site also has some good info on it also.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-TSTi6FZgyKP0-Trni5PRw

 

[scumfrog_millionaire]

Warming 25 feet of flex pvc with a hair dryer seems like an impossible task but I guess I'll give it a go.
Also, how do people fill their ponds? Mine is 3000 gallons + which would completely drain my water well..

 

[Mmathis]

This is my take on unfolding the liner: have it folded into quarters and place what would be the “center” fold at about the 1/2 way point of the pond. Then, it’s just a matter of unfolding it in all directions. Think of putting a folded flat sheet on a bed (instead of picking it up and shaking it out). That’s how we were taught to make occupied patient beds in nursing (IOW, make a bed with the paint in it). You just have to think about how to fold it ahead of time.

 

[brokensword]

1. How on earth do people straighten 2" flexible PVC? It comes in a coil and I cannot route it from my skimmer to the bog since it will not stay straight?

you can use a heat gun; it's faster, or wait until you get a nice hot day and let Nature take care of it!

2. Once I get the underlayment and liner on, do I start rocking right away or begin filling it with water to get wrinkles out first?

you can put water in and begin working wrinkles out AS IT FILLs; so you'll want to be in the pond. You can have the water get so high and then rock out as it fills. Though, I've heard of others waiting until the water is all in and then rocking after the water has pulled the liner somewhat.

3. I have a lot of rock going into this pond, how do people recommend rinsing it off?

there's a special tool we ponders use; it's called a 'hose'.


4. Any preferred methods on laying the liner down? It's 30' x 30' and the pond is 4 ft deep. Do I just unfold it all and drag it over the top? Won't that mess up my underlayment?
Thanks

as stated above; fold as if you're unwrapping from the center out. Which means you'll fold it on dry land, then move it to the center of your pond, then unfold.

Now, I did it differently simply because I had to incorporate a new liner into an old pond and had fish going in one half while I fixed the old half. I more or less unrolled mine, filled the new portion, filled with old pond water, transferred the fish, then fixed the old portion, and finished unrolling. It wasn't as much fun as I remember it being...

 

[EricV]

So I planned on finally finishing my 3500 gallonish pond and bog by this weekend (started digging last Fall). Winter took a toll on the hole that I originally dug so I spent a great deal of time fixing it and re-tampering the shelves. Well I strained my intercostal muscle a couple of days ago shoveling dirt so I'm pretty much useless at this point. Good time to get some questions out of the way:
1. How on earth do people straighten 2" flexible PVC? It comes in a coil and I cannot route it from my skimmer to the bog since it will not stay straight?
2. Once I get the underlayment and liner on, do I start rocking right away or begin filling it with water to get wrinkles out first?
3. I have a lot of rock going into this pond, how do people recommend rinsing it off?
4. Any preferred methods on laying the liner down? It's 30' x 30' and the pond is 4 ft deep. Do I just unfold it all and drag it over the top? Won't that mess up my underlayment?
Thanks

1. As others said, a warm day helps. So does having a trench to put it in and working with the natural curve if you have one in where you want to route it.

4. Another thing you can do is wet down the underlayment with a hose. That will make it less likely to come up.

 

[GBBUDD]

1. How on earth do people straighten 2" flexible PVC? It comes in a coil and I cannot route it from my skimmer to the bog since it will not stay straight?
Lay it out in the sun. A HEAT GUN BUT BE CAREFUL YOU CAN BURN IT .
2. Once I get the underlayment and liner on, do I start rocking right away or begin filling it with water to get wrinkles out first? Do the best you can with the wrinkles. If your rocking they don't mean a whole lot but the lessthe better.. filling with water can help aid in this but I don't see it as a must.
3. I have a lot of rock going into this pond, how do people recommend rinsing it off?. I took a pressure washer to the rocks as they were cradled by the excavator before they went in the hole.
4. Any preferred methods on laying the liner down? It's 30' x 30' and the pond is 4 ft deep. Do I just unfold it all and drag it over the top? Won't that mess up my underlayment?. GORILLA TAPE THE UNDERLAYMENT A WEIGH IT DOWN REAL GOOD ALONG THE EDGES BEFORE YOU START SPREADING THE LINER. IF YOU HAVENT READ MY BUILD IT HAS plenty of pictures and details as I have retaining walls liner under and over the liner as well as placing large boulders.
Thanks

1. How on earth do people straighten 2" flexible PVC? It comes in a coil and I cannot route it from my skimmer to the bog since it will not stay straight?
Lay it out in the sun. A HEAT GUN BUT BE CAREFUL YOU CAN BURN IT .
2. Once I get the underlayment and liner on, do I start rocking right away or begin filling it with water to get wrinkles out first? Do the best you can with the wrinkles. If your rocking they don't mean a whole lot but the lessthe better.. filling with water can help aid in this but I don't see it as a must.
3. I have a lot of rock going into this pond, how do people recommend rinsing it off?. I took a pressure washer to the rocks as they were cradled by the excavator before they went in the hole.
4. Any preferred methods on laying the liner down? It's 30' x 30' and the pond is 4 ft deep. Do I just unfold it all and drag it over the top? Won't that mess up my underlayment?. GORILLA TAPE THE UNDERLAYMENT A WEIGH IT DOWN REAL GOOD ALONG THE EDGES BEFORE YOU START SPREADING THE LINER. IF YOU HAVENT READ MY BUILD IT HAS plenty of pictures and details as I have retaining walls liner under and over the liner as well as placing large boulders.
Thanks

 

[GBBUDD]

I would also advice a tarp draped in the excavation to keep your soils from getting over saturated and failing . As I had those issues as well

 

[scumfrog_millionaire]

Thank you all for the input. I'll do my best once my torn muscle is healed. Anybody ever pull an intercostal muscle? Wow. Feels like a cracked rib.

I also have a well (i believe around 1500-2000 gallons). I should probably only fill my pond up a little at a time, correct? I don't want to overwhelm my well pump..

 

[mgmine]

When putting the liner down be sure that the side facing up doesn't have the brand name stamped all over it. As for laying it down, I unfolded it and with two people dragged it over the hole and let it settle in. I also let it lay on the ground at the edges and covered it put rocks on top of the berm. Is your pond level? If not then you will have to do something with the higher edges. You might not know this until you fill the pond.

 

[scumfrog_millionaire]

I took a line level and marked the approximate water level all around the edge of my pond with spray paint. We should be good but I guess we'll find out when I start filling. I am leaving a lot of extra liner around the edges in case i have to raise some spots or raise/lower the skimmer.

 

[Mmathis]

Thank you all for the input. I'll do my best once my torn muscle is healed. Anybody ever pull an intercostal muscle? Wow. Feels like a cracked rib.

We were fortunate that our son was home, so we bribed him and a couple of friends to help (pizza). The hardest part was getting the liner moved from point A to point B, but I borrowed a trick from the Egyptians. I already had some 2” PVC, so we put the folded liner on a pallet, and used the PVC pipe as rollers, replacing the rollers as we moved it across the yard.

Hope you are better, soon. I was kicked in the chest/abdomen by a horse about 30 years ago. Nothing broken and no internal injuries, but I really, really, really can appreciate those intercostal muscles! I call FOUL every time I watch a movie/TV fight scene and next day the person is walking around like nothing is wrong!

 

[scumfrog_millionaire]

I swear I'll never take these intercostal muscles for granted again.
The liner is on a pallet so i can easily drag it over to the pond site with my ATV. My idea is to get it as close to the edge as possible and un-roll it down into the pond. Then hopefully it just unfolds out to the sides, and all i have to do is pull it one way or another a couple feet to center it. Sounds easy but I know it won't be.......

 

[GBBUDD]

I would also advice a tarp draped in the excavation to keep your soils from getting over saturated and failing . As I had those issues as well

 

[Mmathis]

@scumfrog_millionaire I highly recommend the use of teenage/young adult labor! See if there are a few young guys in the neighborhood would would like to earn a few bucks (or a free meal). Our neighborhood has a FaceBook page and we always have lots of high schoolers and college age guys who are looking for odd jobs!

 

[mrsclem]

10x10x5.5 pond, 25x25 liner. Hubby tore his shoulder just after we finished digging out bottom as much as we could so he was done with the build. Liner was about 200lbs. dropped into hole and unboxed. Centered it as much as possible and started unfolding. I used large clamps to hold it to the top of the walls and then started filling. Took me a few days but was able to get corners folded and walls smooth. Wish I would have thought to seal seams in corners but it worked out. Only thing was the Firestone label was showing! Still was 6 years later but koi didn't seem to mind. It can be done but don't recommend doing that liner with less than 2-3 people!

 

[Mmathis]

@mrsclem I ended up with the words showing on my liner as well, but I always figured that the fish appreciated seeing “fish safe” as they swam around, LOL!

 

[poconojoe]

I highly recommend renting a machine to dig pond holes.
I rented a mini backhoe called a Terramite. It cost me $300 for the weekend.

 

[GBBUDD]

Just keep in mind termites can't lift very large boulders 4 men boulders would be my guess. But agreed you can get far more creative with equipment.

 

[brokensword]

Just keep in mind termites can't lift very large boulders 4 men boulders would be my guess. But agreed you can get far more creative with equipment.

not to mention you'll feel bette the next day...