gah! it's not level!!!

[chilligirl]

Don't need any advice, just want to rant...

I've been working hard on building my upper pond/bog/waterfall. It's completely above ground, 3" shy of 3 feet tall, and 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. Butts up against the existing pond.

Anyway, I was so careful during the build, checking, checking, and rechecking things were level.

Yet somehow, now that the frame is all done, it's not level.

So. I have to shim up one corner an inch. Then, the board that the waterfall is going into has to have a big notch cut out of it for the large flat stone I've got for the fall. The notch has to be 3/4" deeper on one side, to make it level.

Of course I figured all this out AFTER I've already sledged everything together with these 8" long twisty nails, and I'm simply not strong enough to pry the board that needs notching back off without a crowbar, and I don't have a crowbar.

My cousin's husband is somewhat handy and has many tools, so he's going to come by tomorrow morning and help me out.

I'd really hoped to get the liner in last night and fill the thing today, but guess it's not going to happen....

 

[DrCase]

Dont rush to finish take your time....
A level pond looks so much better,, just do what you gota do.

 

[poodles-ponds and gardens]

I know it's frustrating, but take your time to do it right. My pond was delayed by weeks for one reason or another and I had to rebuild my lower spillway 3 times, but it was worth the wait when I finished it, knowing that it was the way it was meant to be.

 

[Buck]

Thats my biggest fear too this being my first pond and all but you go and get it the way you want it. Otherwise you will always say "what if"...

Dont forget some pics ! We all love 'em !

 

[chilligirl]

I'll definitely post pics when it's done!

Honestly, I'm not *thrilled* with my build of the upper pond. For the main pond, which is square, I used a log-cabin style build. Since it was square, there was no cutting necessary. So everything looks nice and tidy there.

For the upper pond, it's rectangular, and I had to cut some of my landscaping ties. My saw wouldn't go through the tie, so it would take two cuts, one on each side. No matter how carefully I measured, it wasn't perfect, so there's some rough ends. Further, because cutting was such a PITA, and the saw kicks back which totally freaks me out (I'm quite handy, but don't like power tools), I decided to minimize the number of cuts and amount of measuring needed and NOT build it log-cabin style. I used long nails/spikes to sledge the walls together, plus there's rebar going through the face of each wall and a foot into the ground. I'm going to put some v-brackets in the corners for added strength.

The thing will be solid and definitely hold the water, but doesn't look as tidy/nice as the main pond. I'm thinking I'll plant some sort of climbing plant on the corners to hide it a bit. Here's a pic of it that gives you an idea of what I mean:

You can see the main pond (on the left) is much tidier looking than the upper pond (right). Please ignore the excess liner which still needs to be trimmed off...

different angle of the upper pond-in-progress

And a couple token shots of my pond and fish

 

[Buck]

It sounds to me like you need a chainsaw there chilligirl, those timbers are not exactly circular saw friendly...LOL

I have to admit that I would have preferred to see you stick with the original cabin look but it still looks good none the less and once its all landscaped and planted you probably wont even notice anymore.
Are you tying them together or are they separate from each other? That one picture looks like you are going to do a spiller from the new upper pond into the lower...that would be awesome.

Looking great ... :banana:

 

[ZmanArt007]

Whoa, That looks like a satisfying pond! I love your aquatic plant arangement! How big are those fish?

 

[poodles-ponds and gardens]

Even without plants, had you not said so, I doubt we would have noticed. Looks good.

 

[chilligirl]

It sounds to me like you need a chainsaw there chilligirl, those timbers are not exactly circular saw friendly...LOL

I have to admit that I would have preferred to see you stick with the original cabin look but it still looks good none the less and once its all landscaped and planted you probably wont even notice anymore.
Are you tying them together or are they separate from each other? That one picture looks like you are going to do a spiller from the new upper pond into the lower...that would be awesome.

Looking great ... :banana:

That's exactly what I'm going to do IF I ever get it finished that is

Thanks for the comments folks!

The fish vary in size. The smallest is probably my oranda, who is about 2" long without his tail. The biggest is my big ugly koi fish (was so pretty when I bought him, and has had a colour change I'm not loving), who is around 8" long.

 

[D&RW]

It's so ironic to read your post today. I can definitely relate and share your frustration.

I've nearly completed 45 ft of oval wall built out of 65 pound landscaping stones. I used a laser level most of the way. At the back, there is a slab from the previous pond building last year, so I had to cut down each of the stones that rest on this slab to make the stones on the slab level with the back wall stones. Talk about power tool hell. Cutting cement is awful and really hard on the saw.

In any case, the resulting 5 stones are reasonably level and match the wall next to the fence. But guess what? They don't match the other side:banghead3: Gah!!! indeed.

BTW, you probably know this already, but kickback with a circular saw is usually because of a bind. I'm no expert, but check your blade to be sure it spins true. And if it does, don't force the cut--if it starts to bind, back off and check your alignment. I agree with the chainsaw idea. Or a reciprocating saw. But I agree, kickbacks are way scary.

 

[D&RW]

Point of clarification. from the pictures it looks like the stone on the left will sit on the stone on the right. It will, but it is a 4" cut stone so there's a 2 inch difference on the next level.

What I think I'm going to do is build up the other wall, i.e. the one on the slab, to it's proper height. Then I'm going to build a form and pour a fast setting concrete to fill the final gap and taper the top so that it minimizes the visual effect of the difference. I'm lucky because all of this side of the wall will be behind/under the new waterfall so it doesn't really matter. Just frustrating.

BTW, my humble opinion is you've done a fine job with the new pond structure. I think it looks great.

 

[chilligirl]

stone - nice! My original pond build plan was stone, but then I found out I'd have to cut it, and chickened out. I'm comfortable working with wood, but not at all comfortable cutting stone, cement, or metal. My "handy" skills stop and end at very basic woodworking.

I think what happened with my pond is that I checked level as I went around, and it was probably only very slightly off each time. However, the end result was those tiny increments it was off at each wall added up to it being off by an inch by the end.

Oh well, I'll make it work.

Thanks for the info on the circular saw. I don't even know how to tell if it is spinning true or not - it's a borrowed saw. The only power tools I own are a chop saw (not big enough to go through the landscaping ties) and a drill.

I'm going to finish up the build with it how it is. I'll probably wind up ripping that part down in a couple years and redoing it, but that's okay. I want my pond to keep me busy for years :beerchug:

 

[ZmanArt007]

You may have already explained this, but will there be some sort of waterfall connecting the "Upper" to the main pond?

 

[chilligirl]

yep :beerchug: