Hi, i would like to know if i can plaster the walls of a fishpond with sharp sand and concrete or must it be fine sand and concrete

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Hi, i would like to know if i can plaster the walls of a fishpond with sharp sand and concrete or must it be fine sand and concrete since the sharp sand and concrete ight be porous and water may leak through? (i have sharp sand i want to know if it would work so i dont have to buy fine sand)
 

Mmathis

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Hello and welcome! Where do you live?

What is your pond lined with at the moment?

I can’t answer your question, but I will mention that you don’t want the sides of your pond to be course — it can injure the fish. But wouldn’t expect it to have an effect of being too porous. Will wait and see what others have to say.
 
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Sharp sand is less expensive then is mortar /round sand it's not a polishing material. and that what plaster is it's a dense and very smooth product Course sand will be harder and will never be as smooth . Contrary to what most believe rocks /sand do absorb moisture the finer the better the job at stopping the penetration of water . I am by no means an old Italian plaster master. yes its a stereo type and in my experience it is a well deserved art designation. Would i be willing to bet you could use sharp/ street sand i'd say yes. but the thickness would probably need to be thicker to do the same job as your fines
 

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@Gazzapigeon
No clue on what to do.
 
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you don't use fine sand, you always use coarse. My dad was a bricklayer and I absobred a few things, that being one of them. The idea though is you don't use mortar, either, you use cement. There's a difference. When you plaster, unless you have a lot of noticeable cracks, you're going to use only a cement slurry. That is, as long as your surface is smooth already, you take the cement and make a heavy paint from it, then slap that on. The cement will waterproof it. Mortar is NOT waterproof.

If you go this route, acidify (muriatic acid; be careful, use gloves, etc) the area to clean, then apply your coating of cement and sand, let it cure, then apply the cement slurry after. My dad brushed it on, so its more or less like painting.

Had this out with Waterbug once, he didn't think I knew what I was talking about, but I grew up with (4) 200+ gallon cement aquariums and that's how my dad waterproofed them from the inside. Of course, you have to have a stable structure with re-rod etc to begin with.

All the above said with this caveat; if you're trying to fix a cement pond, it'll work but not forever. As long as nature can get at it, the ground and seasons will work to make your pond crack again. I'd seriously consider saving heartache and time and just install a liner inside your cement pond.

But, the above advice will do ya.
 
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Sounds like your talking parking and post is talking plaster two different animals
 
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jus' talkin' how my dad built and waterproofed large cement aquariums...except for the outdoors part, theory is the same.
 
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sorry PARGING spell check made it to parking sorry about that
 

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