Make a pond presentable for selling house

[Lei Dietz]

Hi All!
My dad recently passed away, and I'very got a 6 month window to sell the family home.
I've already got my hands full with the house, but the pond... what an eyesore. I'm not able to invest more than a few hundred dollars into any fix, but it CAN'T stay like it is.

I'm pretty sure that it was part of the original house build in '52. They dug a hole and covered it with concrete. Or cement... ( the one with lots of rocks).
The sides are sloped at massively different angles, the overflow drain has rotted or collapsed years ago, it leaks something awful, and there's nowhere to hide filtration at all. And it gets green and slimy even without fish. And worst of all, the lip of the pond is BELOW ground level, so it fills with both rainwater and run-off.

I'd fill it in if I could, but it doesn't leak fast enough to do that. And the concrete is at least a foot thick, so we can't break it.
But even if we could, Im concerned that NOT having the pond would result in thousands of gallons of rainwater and run-off draining under the house and into the septic drain field. Not a good option.

So- the thing stays. Here's my assets:
1. heavy rubber liner
2. lots of good sized rocks
3. 2 submersible pumps that move an insane amount of water.
4. A large pool pump (needs to be kept dry somehow)
5. A well that's never gone dry
6. Water, water, water
7. Lots of PVC pipe (black and white)
8. A river right across the street for other water 'stuff'
9. Me.

So what do I do with this? How can I "pretty it up" so it doesn't look like a pit of death to potential buyers?

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Tula]

Condolences on the loss of your father.

It appears you'll have your work cut out for you, to make this pond a selling feature, especially with a budget of a few hundred dollars.

If water draining towards the septic field a concern, have you considered asking a professional about that issue? Your money might be better spent, putting in a few french drains and diverting the rain water.

I've been told, in my area, that ponds are not high on the list of things a buyer wants; so some fill in their ponds, when they ready their home for market.

 

[Lisak1]

Oh boy... I really don't have any great advice to give you but just wanted to say "hello!" There is bound to be someone here with some good ideas. I'm afraid with your small budget you may want to just have it filled in and deal with the water issue some other way.

So sorry about your father - it's not an easy time in life, is it?

 

[Smaug]

I would take the steps to fill it in. I don't see a good way to refurb that.

 

[Lei Dietz]

It's awful, isn't it? Sigh. I've spent 3 summers trying to make it look decent, and I just can't seem to do it. I think I may backfill part of the pond to make it smaller, toss in the liner, fill it up with rocks and add a waterfall feature.

Or, maybe I'll steal a few M-80's from my son, close my eyes, plug my ears and hope for the best.

Thanks for the help- I was pretty sure the thing was impossible, but I was hoping I had missed something.

 

[Lei Dietz]

Oh boy... I really don't have any great advice to give you but just wanted to say "hello!" There is bound to be someone here with some good ideas. I'm afraid with your small budget you may want to just have it filled in and deal with the water issue some other way.

So sorry about your father - it's not an easy time in life, is it?

It's not. I didn't think it would be as difficult as it is, tho.

 

[Tula]

It's not. I didn't think it would be as difficult as it is, tho.

I lost my Dad Feb 1st. It's so hard, my prayers go out to you.

 

[myswtsins]

Sorry for your loss.

I would have to agree that getting rid of that and just addressing the excess water issue might be the best way to go.

But just a thought that comes to mind is turning it into a wet/bog garden. I've seen it done with a liner in areas that were not naturally wet/flooded, I assume this would be fine too. I would suggest researching it but basically you fill the hole with soil and plant wetland plants. Turn an eyesore into a beautiful garden?? Don't know if that would help you with the whole overflow broken, drainage problem though.

 

[Lei Dietz]

Thanks to all for your advice- I took it! Thank God for having amazing neighbors who have 'Toys for Big Boys'... Having this decision made and acted on has made the next 10 projects about a 100x easier, and I wish I'd have done it a few years ago.

 

[Tula]

Again, condolences on the loss of your father and best of luck with the house sale.