Digging done

[phomlish]

The digging is done. I'm so ready to start dumping 800 gallons a day from the natural spring in my basement into this hole.

Two feet deep with a three foot deep trench along the back for plants and fish shelters. The concrete blocks are for two waterfalls- the crash & the gentle pools. Steps so I can get in there for a swim until I'm 80. The shallowest is 7" at the viewing edge so the fish have to let me see them. We had some issues with extracting huge rocks, construction debris, and patches of gravel. We found clay while digging and used it to smooth some walls from where we had to dig things out.

I have 600 pounds of 1 to 3 inch polished black pebbles for the 2' deep bottom and steps. I have two pallets of river rock with mica flakes that look great when wet. Those are for the pond edges and waterfalls. I have some rock on a roll for the step drops and concrete blocks. I have pumps and a couple of spitters. I have those EMT scissors someone recommended.

Tomorrow the underlayment and liner are going in.

 

[Lisak1]

Sounds like it's go time! This is one of the more interesting situations I've heard of - a spring in a basement!

 

[phomlish]

Sounds like it's go time! This is one of the more interesting situations I've heard of - a spring in a basement!

What do you do when God gives you lemons (a spring in the basement)? Make lemonade of course (a pond in the backyard).

 

[GBBUDD]

is there to be a liner?

is there going to be fabrics? above and below the liner?
You have some sharp rocks there.\

the walls are pretty steep is there rock only on the bottom of the pond?

If it was my pond i would dig an additional 1 foot deep shelf all the way around the pond a foot wide and with your rock probably only 4 to 6 inches deep this way you can hide the liner with rock and not have them stacked and always falling over.

you mentioned rock on a roll for the cinder blocks is there going to be a liner?

 

[phomlish]

is there to be a liner?

is there going to be fabrics? above and below the liner?
You have some sharp rocks there.\

the walls are pretty steep is there rock only on the bottom of the pond?

If it was my pond i would dig an additional 1 foot deep shelf all the way around the pond a foot wide and with your rock probably only 4 to 6 inches deep this way you can hide the liner with rock and not have them stacked and always falling over.

you mentioned rock on a roll for the cinder blocks is there going to be a liner?

Some answers: yes there will be underlayment and liner covering everything and the lower cinder blocks.

It's my first pond. Now that I remember the pictures I've seen of the liner showing I completely understand your concerns. A little shelf around the edge would really help. I really wanted to stay 2' away from the trees that you don't see in this picture but I can probably get away with 18". Question- how does rock on a roll look under the water level? Is it needed? IE: is the liner visible under the water level an ugly thing?

 

[GBBUDD]

You really want to keep anything going under water simple and cheap you don't want to spend a lot of money on nice rock or even rock on a roll under water as 99% of ponds develop a coating of algae over everything and they will all look the same. Though rock on a roll is a heck of a lot less slippery when wet and algae get on it
example