Crazy question #2 - hiding the liner

[Alisonvalley]

The new pond will be contained by an approximately 2 foot high wall. I want some sort of coping stone on top of the wall that would be pleasant to sit on, anchor the top of the liner, and hang out over the water by an inch or two.

I don't want to see black liner as the water evaporates. Options seem to be (a) rock on a roll laying over the epdm, and (b) building in a ledge below minimum water level, and stacking something on the ledge up to the maximum water level. I'm thinking of a ledge, 3 inches wide, about 12 to 16 inches under max water level. I'd use brick-shaped pavers, mortared onto the ledge, standing upright ("portrait", not "landscape"). Is mortar strong enough to hold them to the liner, or do I need to lean them back a bit (meaning the ledge would have to be wider than 3").... Comments and suggestions welcome!

 

[Lisak1]

You don't want to mortar anything to your liner - the concern would be that the weight would pull the liner down. I understand that you plan to have a shelf to stand this edging on - I still wouldn't recommend it. If one or more of those pavers were to put pressure on your liner, you could find yourself with some real issues. ]

I would suggest using a shelf/paver size that matches very precisely so they are almost wedged under that coping stone. I think I missed the part about what you plan to mortar the coping stone to - is the whole pond going to be built of block?

 

[addy1]

I hid my liner with rocks, have your edge leaning slightly backwards, the liner is slick when wet. I would dry stack them, no mortar, they will sit fine with the slight backwards tilt.

I have around 3-4 inches of rocks 1/2 under water 1/2 above then rocks on land above them.

 

[addy1]

This is J.w's pond her rocks are above and below the water, no liner seen.

 

[Alisonvalley]

Lisak1 and Addy: Good advice and beautiful pond! I'm still in "maybe this, maybe that" design phase ... but the pond rectangle will be built of some kind of block, with front side about 2 foot out of the ground. I'd mortar the capstone to the block. To incorporate your ideas -- if, for example, I find a 9" tall paver brick, I'd make the shelf 11" under max water level then shim under the liner (with strips of rigid pink foamboard, maybe) until each paver tilts back a little and just kisses the underside of the capstone. I like that idea. If I do in fact go with pavers set "portrait" style around the edge, I wonder if I should have them touching, or perhaps leave a small space between them. I want to hide and protect the liner, not draw anyone's eye to my execution imperfections.

This pond is more frustrating than the informal one I built at the old house. There, I just dug a hole, realized I needed a "collar" so threw in a row of cinderblocks, laid the liner, necklaced it with bigger rocks, and voila! Well, not quite. But still, now with that one experience under my belt, I can see the virtue of advance planning. It'll all come together in the next little while, I hope!

 

[Waterbug]

Mortar doesn't stick to liner so no worries.

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

This was my project for today..... As you can see if you put a 45 my edpm liner in a circular pond or rectangle.... You are going to to have wrinkles.... So I installed Rock on a Roll on my pond today.... Can't say I am totally satisfied with it, but it does look better than the wrinkled black liner.... Also if you are applying it to a vertical wall have lots of patience help because it will slide right off the wall until the glue sets some

 

[Alisonvalley]

Okay, so I could maybe mortar the pavers to stick them together, and/or to get them to the desired height. I just can't use mortar to "glue" the paver to the sides.

Jimmy, your pond is beautiful. I'm going to show my husband your rock on a roll picture ... that looks so much better than flat (wrinkled) black already! I'm glad they have color options to harmonize with most stones. Question -- how puncture resistant do you think it is? My old pond once had a leak that I think was caused by a critter scrambling up the side. At least, it seemed like a something a claw would have made as it jabbed in for a hold.

Incidentally, Waterbug, thanks for getting me over the myth about cement products being poison to fish.

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Okay, so I could maybe mortar the pavers to stick them together, and/or to get them to the desired height. I just can't use mortar to "glue" the paver to the sides.

Jimmy, your pond is beautiful. I'm going to show my husband your rock on a roll picture ... that looks so much better than flat (wrinkled) black already! I'm glad they have color options to harmonize with most stones. Question -- how puncture resistant do you think it is? My old pond once had a leak that I think was caused by a critter scrambling up the side. At least, it seemed like a something a claw would have made as it jabbed in for a hold.

Incidentally, Waterbug, thanks for getting me over the myth about cement products being poison to fish.

It must be pretty tough..... I ruined a good pair of Sarah's scissors cutting it today ..... I am refilling the pond Now so the higher the water gets the better it seems to look..... Lol

 

[sissy]

Waterbug has cement stones he makes over a box that are L shape .My neighbor and I made them for her pond

 

[Waterbug]

Making rock can be an option, and kind of fun. Instructions:
http://www.waterbugdesign.com/pond/rock_making.html
http://www.waterbugdesign.com/pond/rock_making.html
This wall was straight so no liner wrinkles and cap rocks were enough...kind of.

I generally prefer rocking the whole wall.

In general I do prefer real rock. 2nd best option and works well is a mix of real and fake rock.

Here's river rock on the bottom and some large flag on the walls with fake in between which I like better than a regular mortar joint so it doesn't look like a patio. Looks better when underwater.

Texture is more important than color for underwater. You lose color a bit but the texture comes through.

 

[Waterbug]

Waterbug has cement stones he makes over a box that are L shape .My neighbor and I made them for her pond

Would love to see some pics.