If you had to do it over again...

[Fishfinder]

what would you do and not do when building a new pond? What would you ask or require a pond builder to do?

We found a new pond builder by personal referral and the photos of ponds this guy has built look good.

This is the last time we are re-building this money pit. I am so beyond fed up.

I just want a pond that functions and that I don't have to worry about. A pond is supposed to be a pleasure - not an expensive constant source of worry.

I would really appreciate some advice so I don't make more expensive mistakes. I apparently can't trust anyone to do it correctly on his own.

I want to keep both waterfalls and I am thankful we've had two, since we shut down the one in the foreground last fall and put in 2 bubblers to compensate.

The pond today. That far waterfall leaks.



The worst leak is in the waterfall in the foreground. Neither waterfall has any lining. Please click to see text.




Please advise. I would so appreciate it.

 

[sissy]

you forgot to say don't buy koi .no one told me .Also I would go pondless

 

[Tula]

Like @sissy , I would forgo the koi and stick with Comets and Shubunkin. My pond would not be so deep ( which is harder to get in and out of, as I get older ), would incorporate shelves for marginal plants and possibly a stream.....but not if I thought it would leak, or be hard to maintain!

Hey, this sounds pretty much like what I started out with, till the koi bug bit - LOL.

 

[Nepen]

My old pond I didn't really know what I was doing so my waterfall leaked too. I just took them out, put a liner underneath the waterfall and re-build. make sure the liner slope in to the pond.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If you are going to contract to have your new pond built, The prime thing that you need to establish is how much knowledge of fresh water biology and limnology does this person possess. They can not begin to build you a properly functioning pond if they do not know what makes it work.

 

[sissy]

yep sure would ask for references and to many see there work .To many so called pond builders out there

 

[Lisak1]

If you are paying for someone's expertise, then you should be able to trust them. ASK TO SPEAK TO THE OWNERS OF PONDS THEY HAVE BUILT! And not just one or two - talk to a dozen of them. Ask what problems they've had. Ask about maintenance. Go see their ponds. Ask. More. Questions. But if you have to tell someone HOW to build your pond... Find another pond builder.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

There is really a very simple design technique for building a waterfall that doesn't leak. You simply make sure the pond liner extends up and beyond the area where you will be building the waterfall, then fold the liner up again so it becomes a catch-all for any water that might leak through or over the falls. Just make sure the liner under the falls area slopes lightly (it doesn't take much) back towards the pond. Yes this requires a few more feet of liner, but it's well worth it.

BTW, I did have to do it over again, rebuilt my pond that is. Not because I had real issues with my old pond, but because I moved and built a new pond at our new house. I had several years with no pond and a lot of time to think about how I would build the my new pond and I've been very happy with the end results.

Beside the size and aesthetic, these are the 3 main things I did differently:
* I enclosed my pond in a courtyard to help prevent predators from accessing the pond, and prevent my turtles and frogs from wandering off.
* I installed a bottom drain with gravity feed to my filter system, with a separate smaller line for the skimmer.
* I built an enclosed,insulated pump/filter system room with an over sized filter system that I could change around and try different types filters and experiment in.

Thankfully, I'm a builder/contractor myself because no pond builder I know would have built, or suggested building, my pond with those features. And of course I saved a ton of money by doing it myself, or more correctly "ourselves", because my wife and two young boys did much of the work.

 

[Tula]

Wow @Mucky_Waters , that is a gorgeous pond / court yard, and I love the mountains in the back ground

 

[mgmine]

As Mucky_waters said one continuous liner. So what if it costs $100 more for a liner that you will cut a huge amount off. You can use the scrap for something else (I used mine for a living roof on a shed). In a few years you will have forgotten what the liner cost but you will see the benefits of it.

 

[MitchM]

I would use bentonite clay instead of a rubber liner if I had to do it again.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

As Mucky_waters said one continuous liner. So what if it costs $100 more for a liner that you will cut a huge amount off. You can use the scrap for something else (I used mine for a living roof on a shed). In a few years you will have forgotten what the liner cost but you will see the benefits of it.

Hmmm? you're right, I forgot what my liner cost.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I would use bentonite clay instead of a rubber liner if I had to do it again.

I'd be staying away from liners too if moose were hanging out in my pond.

 

[MitchM]

I'd be staying away from liners too if moose were hanging out in my pond.

I haven't seen those moose since that picture. Probably it's because of that deer repellant I keep spraying things with.

I am so ready to yank out that liner. It's preventing me from planting native willows and such. I wonder how periphyton does with bentonite?

My wife and I were at a water well maintenance course the other week and one of the slides was titled "Dangers of Biofilm"...
A little different take from what we talk about here.

.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I wonder how periphyton does with bentonite?

It does fine, but I wouldn't be planting any Willows if you want to maintain the integrity of the Bentonite seal.