Creeping Sides (of pond wall)

[Mmathis]

I have a portion of liner pulled back while I'm working on a pond renovaion. One of the things I'm doing is building up the sides on one side, filling in with soil, making the pond actually a little narrower by a couple of feet. Hubby & I put up a temp. retaining wall to help hold in the dirt so we could compact it well.

There is one area that almost seems "alive!" It's a liquid wall of ooze. I don't know if it just refuses to dry out or what, but instead of compacting, it's just been gradually collapsing from the bottom and that whole section of wall is creeping downward.

Any advice? I was thinking of getting a section of plywood to put up there and just leave it once the liner is back in.

BTW, there is a lot of ground water that I'm constantly having to pump out while I'm working on this renovation, so this could be part of the problem.

 

[sissy]

ply wood may rot and you would end up attracting ground termites .Is it coming from the ground by the pond or from somewhere else .Wet soil down deep could be your water table or a leak in your liner .Has you pond water level gone down any if it has not then it is a raise in the water table from rain .

 

[Mmathis]

A leak is always possible, but in this case I'm 99% sure it's ground water (based on history). Also, that end of the pond is where the SKIPPY is located, so there's always more moisture around there from when I do water changes, etc.

Mainly, right now I'm on the clock as I want to get the liner spread back out ASAP -- we've had weeks of dry weather, but rain is in the future.

 

[sissy]

You may need to run a hose off you skippy so the ground does not stay soggy .I use a small pump with a hose coming out the top and a pump in the bottom with the power cord there also .I just add another piece of hose plug in the pump and clean the bottom of my filter while I run fresh water in the top of it .Would adding sand make it drain better .I know around my pond I put lots of sand and on the bottom of the pond before I put the liner in I put almost a foot of sand .

 

[Mmathis]

Sissy, a good consideration, but by spring [hopefully] SKIPPY will be history -- as soon as I'm finished with THIS pond renovation [and as long as the weather cooperates], we've going to start on the bog. So SKIPPY will be history!

I just need to come up with a way NOW to finish up where the side keeps creeping down. It's only in one section, maybe 3-4 feet wide. Anyway, I went out a little while ago with a few cans of GOOD STUFF and some cedar board to see if I could at least keep the "creep" at bay until we get where we can pull the liner back over it all. We'll see how that works. It might not do a thing, but can't hurt to try.

 

[DrCase]

I would be mixing a thick mortar mix

 

[addy1]

Go get cement board instead of plywood, that stuff won't rot.

 

[sissy]

checked on the cement board and it says if it stays wet steadly it will start to crumble after awhile and will break down faster during freeze and thaw .But they do not say how long before it starts to break down ,is it months or years that is the question

 

[Mmathis]

I would be mixing a thick mortar mix

I tried that in one little area, believe it or not, but the creeping clay still found a way out from underneath. So far, though, it looks like the GOOD STUFF is holding!

 

[addy1]

good to hear TM hope it keeps helping you

 

[Mmathis]

good to hear TM hope it keeps helping you

We'll see. Was hoping to have a couple more dry days so I could get the edges well compacted then pull the liner back over. But it started raining last night. Not a lot of rain, but enough to keep all my efforts in the mush! Actually, thought, the rain might be a good test of the holding power of the GREAT STUFF -- if the sides haven't crept or slumped after this, then all should be OK. All I'm really looking for is for the sides to stay UP until I can get the liner back in place, then hoping that the liner will do the rest.

 

[Tula]

I have a similar problem where my skimmer was installed improperly. The ground is just caving inform behind and underneath it. I may have another pond guy give his opinion, but am thinking we'll have to make some type of contrite form to stabilize the area....such a bummer....one of the few things I paid to have done...and it was done wrong

 

[Mmathis]

I have a similar problem where my skimmer was installed improperly. The ground is just caving inform behind and underneath it. I may have another pond guy give his opinion, but am thinking we'll have to make some type of contrite form to stabilize the area....such a bummer....one of the few things I paid to have done...and it was done wrong

Guess you just never know what your soil is gonna do!

 

[Mmathis]

LOL! I can laugh at the irony, but I'm crying at the situation.....

Here's what happened. I got the coping shelf done. All was looking good, except for the "creeping" section. The rest of the renovated pond wall was fine. I used GREAT STUFF to reinforce the "creeping" part.

It rained 2 days ago.

I went out to look at the pond yesterday..... Well guess what!?!? The GREAT STUFF held! What a wonderful surprise! But the rest of the wall had collapsed and was sitting in a foot of water. BWAHHH

 

[sissy]

You would think it would be easier than that .I know here they are predicting more rain.Ground is already squishy from the heavy rain .But guess it is better than snow and cold .