Hamstermann's pond build
- Thread starter hamstermann
- Start date
That is a tight budget but you may be able to make it work. As you said the liner takes up the bulk of the cost. I just happened to look at the justliners website and they happen to be having an end of summer sale on liners. So you may want to get one now and store it until you are ready to install. When I was looking at liners I did not see them go on sale very often, but I was looking in late winter early spring. Justliners is a good company, I know @GBBUDD recommends them and I went with them when I saw the positive comments. Shipping cost is rough though. There are a few places that have end of season sales going on so just keep an eye out, will help to save some money even if you are not ready for that particular item. Every little bit will help with that budget.
I forget what you are doing for a skimmer, dont think I saw you mention that since that is an extra cost too, although I have seen some people do dyi skimmers.
While a rectangle is not ideal you may be able to soften up the corners with plantings so that it looks more rounded, just might take a few years for things to grow in and get that effect.
Will also say you have your work cut out for you if you are doing the digging by hand, even with help, and then having to haul it away in a pick up, if there was any way to rent some equipment for a couple of days and fit into the budget definitely think about it.
I forget what you are doing for a skimmer, dont think I saw you mention that since that is an extra cost too, although I have seen some people do dyi skimmers.
While a rectangle is not ideal you may be able to soften up the corners with plantings so that it looks more rounded, just might take a few years for things to grow in and get that effect.
Will also say you have your work cut out for you if you are doing the digging by hand, even with help, and then having to haul it away in a pick up, if there was any way to rent some equipment for a couple of days and fit into the budget definitely think about it.
I'll see what I can do. I have no knowledge of video editing software and it would have to be free, so maybe that's something else to research. Do any of you have recommendations? I don't want to just record on my phone and ramble. It'd be fun to put in cool music and funny clips from movies and stuff so I make it more edutainment than lecture.
I compare justpondliners.com and halfoffponds.com fairly regularly. It's interesting - one will be cheaper for a certain size and the other will be cheaper for another size. I'm giving myself such anxiety about pond liner size that I'm tempted to just start digging and see what I end up with. Maybe I'll get so sick of digging that I'll end up being okay with a smaller sized pond.
That's good to know about no sales in the spring though - I've been assuming that there's always a sale somewhere so I've been putting off buying the liner until tax return time. Maybe less of a swim pond and more of a "Sit in the cool water and watch the fish" pond.
I'm planning an intake bay with maybe a plastic garbage can with lid or something similar for the pump vault. I'd drill holes in the garbage can to let the water in and see if I could carefully stack the rocks so that there was enough water flow into the can without the rocks crushing it. Maybe foam the rocks together to help with that too.
That's a good thought. I definitely want to load it up with plants. I love gardening and I've learned from the PVC bog that the more plants, the better. And that suits me just fine.
I'm less afraid of muscle stiffness and hard work than I am of going out of budget. Someone I was picking up rocks from told me that he spent $400 for a skid bucket and $200 (or maybe it was $250?) per day for an excavator. That's SO much money and I'm hoping it will be far less than 65 trips to the dump to haul away the dirt in my pickup.
The concern for me is having the straight walls erode away before I'm done digging and then having to dig more than intended to clean things up and end up needing a bigger liner. Maybe I can deal with that by not digging clear to my full width and then squaring things up and finishing them off when I get the liner and rock cloth. Kind of like just get the depth now and 90% of the width or length, then do the final 10% at liner time.
As far as worrying about the excavation that will depend on when you plan on doing the digging. As @GBBUDD mentions in his showcase the first mistake he made was to start the excavation in the middle of winter in CT. Of course there is never any guarantees with weather, I was dealing with a ridiculous amount of rain this summer during the build, the last few summers were drought. I had the digging done before the deluge happened, the liner went in and then the rains came, so it was a constant pumping out the rainwater so I could work on placing the stones. Before that I did find when the soil was very dry it was tough to work with because it would crumble easily, I had a ridiculous amount of stones in my excavation, so the soil was loose. You know the weather in your area so plan around that but know you may have to deal with some issues during excavation, we all do. Might be that you have to get a tarp to cover the area.
Have you checked to see if there are any setback requirements in your area? Probably just the lawyer in me but it looks like you are very close to the fence line, maybe your property line goes beyond that. Just concerned that if you ever had a leak from the bog area you would be going into the neighbor's yard. But maybe the pictures are deceptive and you have plenty of room, just be careful to build in a buffer.
Have you checked to see if there are any setback requirements in your area? Probably just the lawyer in me but it looks like you are very close to the fence line, maybe your property line goes beyond that. Just concerned that if you ever had a leak from the bog area you would be going into the neighbor's yard. But maybe the pictures are deceptive and you have plenty of room, just be careful to build in a buffer.
A tarp's a good idea. the winter has been so unpredictable the past few years that it's hard to know whether to start now or in spring. But if it really will take months to dig out, I don't want to be doing it in the 100+ days in July and August, that's for sure. The tarp suggestion is a good thought - especially if I can find a good one for not much money.
I called the city and asked about pond rules. There aren't any. Structures have to be at least 1 foot from the property line and you have to make sure that runoff stays on your side, but ponds aren't structures. I have stacked 4x4s sitting against the fence and dirt piled up against them to prevent water from running under it. I'm also planning a 2-foot wide gravel path up against the fence and I'll have the gravel 5 to 7 inches deep. That should act like a French drain and keep any leaks on my side. The bog would/should direct leaking water into the pond rather than toward the fence too.
Thinking about it though, water leakage is another good reason to shrink the pond, besides the lower cost. And maybe if I don't make it so big that the bog is right up against the path, I can have room for a berm for a waterfall that could flow over the bog and into the pond. that would be cool too.
A good thread to look at is @bagsmom build. A long one, but very informative and funny. Her build is somewhat similar to yours with a pond and a bog right next to it. Some differences too as I dont think she had the tight dimensions. That was one of the first threads I read when I found this forum and I took a lot of ideas from that build. Anyway, hope your design decisions are going well. Here is the link to that thread:
www.gardenpondforum.com
Here we go -- FINALLY! A pond for wildlife...
I thought I would start a separate/new build thread. I started tearing up the backyard in August of 2019 with much more enthusiasm than money. There have been a few hiccups along the way but I'm finally back in build mode!
Thanks, Pablo! That is very kind of you!A good thread to look at is @bagsmom build. A long one, but very informative and funny. Her build is somewhat similar to yours with a pond and a bog right next to it. Some differences too as I dont think she had the tight dimensions. That was one of the first threads I read when I found this forum and I took a lot of ideas from that build. Anyway, hope your design decisions are going well. Here is the link to that thread:
Here we go -- FINALLY! A pond for wildlife...
I thought I would start a separate/new build thread. I started tearing up the backyard in August of 2019 with much more enthusiasm than money. There have been a few hiccups along the way but I'm finally back in build mode!
No problem, hope you have been enjoying your pond
Thank you very much! I believe the wall is about a foot thick at the top. It widens toward the bottom. I was very lucky to have the super solid red clay to work with. Even though it was incredibly hard to get through, especially the hardpan, it made for a very stable excavation.
GBUDD encouraged me to make a couple of notches in the wall for the waterfall overflow. It ensures that the water goes over there - the lowest point - rather than somewhere else.
(By the way - My husband had coincidentally bought a laser level to do tile work. It was very helpful in working on the pond! Of course, we had to use it in the early evening, when we could see the line. But I quickly found that when working on uneven ground, eyeballing level doesn't work! Just something to think about!)
I can't wait to see your build begin!
I got one of those from a neighbor. It's so helpful, but too bad it can only be used at night.
I was thinking of making my wall a foot thick. Good to know I'm on the right track!
I made a water level, since the laser ones are expensive and a bit of a learning curve. I was constantly using the water level through the whole project, the ancient Egyptians knew what they were doing, lol. For about $30 you can make one yourself, there are a few youtube videos on how to make one and use them.
Water in a flexible clear plastic tube - Just need a syringe or way to fill it. I'm a little more hesitant about those because if you absent-mindedly lay one (or both) end down, you have to refill it. I guess we could just crimp and melt the ends of the tube, but then there's no making the level shorter or longer.