I am working on my first pond / water feature with a liner. (previous experience full masonry & pre-formed)
Originally we were going to do some kind of stacked / locking stone and I figured the liner could just sit underneath the top row, but we didn't like the look of those stones so much for a larger feature. So went the bricks & mortar route, but now I'm having some trouble with the final details at the top.
It is 12 ft in diameter, about 3ft at its deepest in the center of the "bowl". Dug into the soil about one and a half foot and then tapers up about a one and half foot masonry wall. It has a layer of sand and two layers of tarp as a protectant against the brick work. Couldn't get official cloth inexpensively asap when I realized I needed it and the liner & water HAD to go in
We're nowhere near summer, so the 20x20 liner did not smooth out as much as I thought it would, and I've got plenty of little lines, wrinkles, ridges and then of course some trickier bits and bigger folds going up the sidewall over the edge. I currently have the liner draping over the edge and trimmed off the biggest excess so that it is about touching the ground. Plenty long.
Should I cut the liner flush with the outer edge of the brick work? Shorter?
Or leave it longer and see about folding some back under, by making some cuts and folding flaps in?
Then should I trim it back an inch or so from the edge and just embed it in the mortar, and put the cap stones?
I still need to find the natural stone to serve as caps, and may finish the edge in the spring if it stays wet out given the other fall chores around the house.
How worried should one be about wrinkles and fold lines in the liner?
I plan to empty it before winter as it would freeze solid and likely damage the masonry wall. So I do have the option to fidget with the liner some more next year. Though starting it up in the spring, it will likely be similarly cool out.
I would grab a fresh picture, but it is raining out.
Thank you
Originally we were going to do some kind of stacked / locking stone and I figured the liner could just sit underneath the top row, but we didn't like the look of those stones so much for a larger feature. So went the bricks & mortar route, but now I'm having some trouble with the final details at the top.
It is 12 ft in diameter, about 3ft at its deepest in the center of the "bowl". Dug into the soil about one and a half foot and then tapers up about a one and half foot masonry wall. It has a layer of sand and two layers of tarp as a protectant against the brick work. Couldn't get official cloth inexpensively asap when I realized I needed it and the liner & water HAD to go in
We're nowhere near summer, so the 20x20 liner did not smooth out as much as I thought it would, and I've got plenty of little lines, wrinkles, ridges and then of course some trickier bits and bigger folds going up the sidewall over the edge. I currently have the liner draping over the edge and trimmed off the biggest excess so that it is about touching the ground. Plenty long.
Should I cut the liner flush with the outer edge of the brick work? Shorter?
Or leave it longer and see about folding some back under, by making some cuts and folding flaps in?
Then should I trim it back an inch or so from the edge and just embed it in the mortar, and put the cap stones?
I still need to find the natural stone to serve as caps, and may finish the edge in the spring if it stays wet out given the other fall chores around the house.
How worried should one be about wrinkles and fold lines in the liner?
I plan to empty it before winter as it would freeze solid and likely damage the masonry wall. So I do have the option to fidget with the liner some more next year. Though starting it up in the spring, it will likely be similarly cool out.
I would grab a fresh picture, but it is raining out.
Thank you