Demo'ed and Re-Built the Waterfall from the Ground Up

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Hello GPF Friends!

I started working on the waterfall in January with our unusually warm weather. I completely demo-ed the old falls down to the ground and re-built it. The sole purpose was to make things a bit easier on me.

Some issues I wanted to solve:

- The rim of the upper pool and waterfall would dip down in spots and I was always adjusting rocks and the liner edge to prevent leaks.
- The water that come into the old small bog above the falls entered above the gravel.
- I wanted valves to adjust the water flow and clean out valves on the skippy tanks.
- The skippy tanks had a lot of debris and algae since the tops were open I was always cleaning the tops out.

So now the bog at the top of the falls is larger with plumbing under the gravel, easy disconnects and a valve to adjust the flow.
There are now valves going into the skippy's to adjust the flow and clean out valves.
There are easy disconnects to the pumps that can be accessed from the edge of the pond in the fall, rather than having to get in the water.
The skippy tanks are covered by a deck keeping the water crystal clear and preventing derbis and algae. I also piped air pumps to the bottom of the skippies.

There are two access panels on the top of the deck to get to the skippies and three access panels on the sides for drain outs and to access all the valves.

When I do water changes now, I simply hook a hose to one of the skippy drain out valves and run it to wherever in the yard I want the water, and put the garden hose with fresh water going directly to the bog. Easy peasy

Here are some pictures about half way through after the water fall and plumbing was done but before the deck.

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And here is the finished project
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tbendl

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Pecan your pond has been an inspiration. I can't believe the transformation between what you started with and where you're at now. It is just stunning.
 

sissy

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I set blocks on there sides and something made nests in them .I think it was mice so .I stood them up and filled them with dirt .They had actually chewed some of the liner so had to replace it for the filter fall
 
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I set blocks on there sides and something made nests in them .I think it was mice so .I stood them up and filled them with dirt .They had actually chewed some of the liner so had to replace it for the filter fall

Interesting. I hope that doesn't happen here. We have had lots of garder snakes this year that like to hang out in and near the pond, plus many many cats that hang out in our yard to try and catch the birds that are attracted to the water. Hopefully between the snakes and cats we are ok.

I lined the inside of the bog including the walls with insulation foam sheets and then carpet padding and then the liner.
 
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Pecan, you have an amazing eye for planting and naturalizing your yard! I have always loved your pond, and now I love it even more! Beautiful!!!!!!

Are the cinder blocks rebarred in or somehow secured to each other and the ground? Wondering if I can adapt a similar idea to the back berm of my pond to lessen the amount of dirt I have to pile.
 
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The pond has been a real joy this year. First year that our new bedroom addition looking out over the pond has been complete. (we finished it in December)

I can't even express how nice it has been to lay in bed and look at the pond when I fall asleep and wake up in the morning. I now have coffee in bed while looking at the pond. It has been wonderful!

Here is the view from bed at night. I took this picture back in April I think so the deck behind the falls was not complete yet.

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Pecan, you have an amazing eye for planting and naturalizing your yard! I have always loved your pond, and now I love it even more! Beautiful!!!!!!

Are the cinder blocks rebarred in or somehow secured to each other and the ground? Wondering if I can adapt a similar idea to the back berm of my pond to lessen the amount of dirt I have to pile.

Thank you!

The cinder blocks are just stacked but I used some liquid nails between layers and back filled dirt over the bottom layer so there are only two above ground. I left it like the first pictures I posted for several months to see how settling was going to impact it and to see if they moved at all before moving forward with the deck. Then I set the posts for the deck up against the block so I doubt they will move at all.
 
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Thank you everyone I really appreciate the kind comments. I love how it turned out but especially love how it made things a little easier for me in the long run :)
 

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