Here we go -- FINALLY! A pond for wildlife...

[bagsmom]

@Lisak1 - overthinking - I am the QUEEN of overthinking! I mentioned before that I really love Aquascape - truly - but they are a business and part of that business is selling products, including concrete cloth. Not that I think they would ever be misleading - they are a company with a lot of integrity. But maybe chipmunks aren't quite the big threat to the liner that I'm thinking they are.
We did buy a bag of crack-resistant Quikrete yesterday. We are going to play around with it and experiment. Even if I just smear a thick coating under the waterfall area, that might be worth doing. I will take pictures and share the fun!
Thanks to all of you for the brainstorming!

 

[Lisak1]

but they are a business and part of that business is selling products,

100% agree with that. I remind myself that when I see them selling algaecide or their auto dosing systems. If customers want it and they don't sell it they will just go buy it somewhere else.

 

[addy1]

I have chipmunks,have 6 ponds in ground with liners zero issues in 12 years

 

[YShahar]

Well I don't have anything to add regarding chipmunks, as we don't have them here (nor squirrels, nor raccoons), but I sure am loving your pond build!

 

[GBBUDD]

I am the QUEEN of overthinking! I

Not a thing wrong with that until it just stops production all together

 

[bagsmom]

I got outside and cleaned out the bog excavation today! I think underlay will go in tomorrow!

 

[bagsmom]

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's out to work I go! I worked some yesterday, refining the edges and such. I also worked on the intake bay - for better and for worse. I needed to make a good base for the pump vault and aqua blocks. (Trying to level something makes me crazy and involves a lot of muttering and a few spicy words.) Eventually, I got the bottom nice and solid and level. But I made the ill-advised decision to begin a little backfilling, since the original back part of the hole was way too big. I thought boards would help hold stuff back - and they did - for a while. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Gravity always wins.
Now today's work includes pulling some of that dirt OUT, since there was a mini landslide in there. Fortunately, it is all behind the boards, so I can hopefully clean it up without ruining the work I did on the bottom.
After that, I will put down underlayment!
Tonight, we plan to seam the liner on the nice flat driveway. That may be interesting. We will need to do some thinking in order to seam the liner correctly. Ideally, we would both be body-builders so we could easily place the liner for fitting, and then remove for seaming. But since we are both 55 and not super strong, we will have to make do with the measuring tape and logic. I predict we might get a little snippy with each other before it is all done!
FYI - why isn't the liner all one piece? If you go way back in this pond story, I had the big problem of how to afford liner and move it. The shipping cost on one huge piece was astronomical, and that only included dumping it at the curb. It would have been so heavy, I'd have needed to rent equipment to move it around. Instead, I got two liners for the main pond (the ones we will seam tonight) and one for the bog. That one will just overlap. I'm crossing my fingers it all works without a hitch - or a hernia!

 

[YShahar]

Looks great! I sure do envy you that wonderful soil! Looking forward to more pics as you go along. And yeah, I can imagine seaming the liner is going to be all kinds of fun. I hope it goes well!

 

[bagsmom]

Thank you! Well - soil is a word I use loosely down here. It is really 80% sandstone/hard clay deposits that you have to chisel and pry out. There are a few areas of very solid, nice orange clay. I used a lot of that to blop on top of the jagged stuff, in an effort to smooth it out. It is horrible to work with but on the plus side, it is SOLID! We have had that big hole open as is for over two years. The intake bay is pretty close to the driveway and my husband has been driving his big truck close to it as he turns in. It's very strong, so that's a good thing!
This is an example of what I've been working with. It is actually very little digging and a lot of chiseling, sledgehammering, and prying.
Any black dirt you see in the other pictures is stuff I added over the years to try to improve the soil. Over time, the black stuff (Miracle Gro Garden Soil) has mixed with the clay to make a nice planting medium.

 

[bagsmom]

Looking again at my excavation, I am really tempted to round out some of those more square shapes. I'm hesitant to do it until I see how that liner is going to fit. I may end up shooting myself in the foot if I dig any more. I can always disguise the square shapes with rocks.

 

[GBBUDD]

we plan to seam the liner on the nice flat driveway.

Get place to seam and thinking ahead I still recommend slipping a piece of plywood under it so your working abd rolling on the wood and not on a driveway where one large granual of rock can puncture the liner.

Is this for the pond to the bog seam ?
Are you going to seam over the seam to protect it?

 

[GBBUDD]

I'm crossing my fingers it all works without a hitch - or a hernia!

Practice on a small piece first get to know how the steps work before you go for it. It will be fine make sure you stir the primer well and stir it occasionally to keep it from separating the low viscosity stuff it more finicky to work with

 

[bagsmom]

Get place to seam and thinking ahead I still recommend slipping a piece of plywood under it so your working abd rolling on the wood and not on a driveway where one large granual of rock can puncture the liner.

Is this for the pond to the bog seam ?
Are you going to seam over the seam to protect it?

No - this is a seam for the main body of the pond. It will probably run horizontally across one of the shallow zones. The liner coming from the bog into the pond will just overlap.

 

[bagsmom]

Practice on a small piece first get to know how the steps work before you go for it. It will be fine make sure you stir the primer well and stir it occasionally to keep it from separating the low viscosity stuff it more finicky to work with

I have a spray primer. I got it from Webb's. I hope it works OK.

I do have all the tape - double sided and also the wide cover tape. The PL caulk stuff is on the way!

 

[combatwombat]

Looking good @bagsmom. Enjoying watching the progress ramp up.

A couple thoughts if you’re open to them:

1. Might be better to slope your bottoms just a bit rather than make them perfectly flat. Will make draining/cleaning if necessary much easier as you can stick your pump in the one low spot. Applies to the pond and the intake.

2. It’s easier to form a liner to curves than sharp corners, so I would round off square areas if you can. If not, and you don’t love the look of the square edges, rocks will round them off when you add them, like you noted.

Also curious why you chose to seam 2 EPDM liners vs using a lighter material like RPE. Was that a consideration?