Modern styled koi pond and pondless waterfall plans

[bagsmom]

You are going to be so sore when you are done!!!!! I'm still recovering from the dig and I was done in October!

 

[Usman]

Thanks for that. About the pics, you are suggesting to filter the water through a series of separate planter boxes right? I suppose by running a water supply line between each in a series? Or are you suggesting the boxes would be placed over the mexican beach stones as they appear in the illustration in the first post?

i was suggesting that ... u will add plants for filter process in that gravel filter , so u can add them in boxes , can b placed anywhere in the gravel where the water will run thru , they will take nutrients from water and give it stylish look . box can have border and it shud b open below to be nourished from running water .

You are going to be so sore when you are done!!!!! I'm still recovering from the dig and I was done in October!

lol i admire ur hardwork , hope u recover soon , u shud do bit by bit , if u do it alot in one day , the muscles will not be used to that burden .

 

[Usman]

Oh wow! It looks like your soil composition is a bit different than mine.
When I ran into the boulders, I did a combo of shooting them with the hose on "jet" setting, and wedging out with a crowbar. The squelch noise it made when the boulders loosened was the sound of victory. Then I filled the hole in as needed with more red clay and smoothed it out. It was almost like making a giant clay pot or sculpture, at times!View attachment 98960

ur soil is so red! are u on mars ? looks like alot of iron

 

[Usman]

Thanks! I was relieved when the pond pro told me it would be ok without support blocks under the liner. The time I saved with that was ate up demo'ing one of those boulders you mention - mine was a huge sandstone boulder about 2 foot tall that is right in the corner of the pond.

ur house is on a mountain? hey this looks like marble ?

 

[bagsmom]

ur soil is so red! are u on mars ? looks like alot of iron

MARS!!!!!! That's funny!

 

[vestaviascott]

I'm at a bit of a crossroads for my pond design. The local pond pro that I've been consulting with on this project has been trying to convince me to go with a single pond liner for the main pond as well as the fountain basin. His main point with this is that it would reduce the possibility of leaks.

However, from my perspective, trying to engineer what I consider to be two separate features with one continuous liner is a very complicated engineering task. In particular with the fact that my pond design is so formal in terms of the folds that would have to be made to shape a single liner to accommodate two rectangular voids on two separate levels.

So, I'm about convinced that I'm going to treat these as two distinct projects and the engineering will be what works best for each feature in order to ultimately work as a unit (ie, the fountain basin supplies water to the main pond, whether by spillway overflow or by passive spitters)

The main pond is a simple rectangle (4Lx10Wx2D) so I will be using a single EPDM liner for that. The pond shop uses Firestone 45mil PondGuard priced at $1.16 per sf.

For the fountain basin, which will only be a few inches deep, I'm planning on one of two options:

1) A pond liner. The edges where it meets the pond will be folded overlapping the main pond liner to form a spillway.

or

2) Plastic catch basins below each end of the aluminum water rill. The basins would flow water into the main pond via a tube (spitter style) or via a tube connected to a plastic spillway.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of this. Great to be able to have a sounding board for ideas.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

You are going to encounter some problems in using liner for this type of project. Due to the formal nature, you are looking for clean well-defined lines which will be difficult to achieve with liner especially in the upper portion of this water feature. I would strongly suggest that rendered and sealed concrete block construction be used for at least the upper feature. This will allow you to preserve the aesthetics that you have imagined and avoid any loss of water (leaks).

 

[vestaviascott]

Thanks for your feedback Meyer. The upper feature will use 4 inch concrete cap blocks to define the shape. There will be no poured concrete however. I will be using steel angle to define the inside borders and hold the stone in place while providing for water flow below the steel and into the main pond.

Here's an updated pic of the finished design concept >

 

[sissy]

I know there are company's out there that make ponds preformed to your custom size and they have a few video's on youtube Oh and forgot there is one on there that makes custom stainless steel ones

 

[vestaviascott]

I know there are company's out there that make ponds preformed to your custom size and they have a few video's on youtube Oh and forgot there is one on there that makes custom stainless steel ones

Thanks, I've seen a few companies that make custom butyl liners in box and rectangular shapes based on customer dimensions.

They are mostly out of budget for this project. I'm fine with using EPDM for the main pond since it should easily fold in the corners to create the rectangular shape I will need.

 

[Usman]

I'm at a bit of a crossroads for my pond design. The local pond pro that I've been consulting with on this project has been trying to convince me to go with a single pond liner for the main pond as well as the fountain basin. His main point with this is that it would reduce the possibility of leaks.

However, from my perspective, trying to engineer what I consider to be two separate features with one continuous liner is a very complicated engineering task. In particular with the fact that my pond design is so formal in terms of the folds that would have to be made to shape a single liner to accommodate two rectangular voids on two separate levels.

So, I'm about convinced that I'm going to treat these as two distinct projects and the engineering will be what works best for each feature in order to ultimately work as a unit (ie, the fountain basin supplies water to the main pond, whether by spillway overflow or by passive spitters)

The main pond is a simple rectangle (4Lx10Wx2D) so I will be using a single EPDM liner for that. The pond shop uses Firestone 45mil PondGuard priced at $1.16 per sf.

For the fountain basin, which will only be a few inches deep, I'm planning on one of two options:

1) A pond liner. The edges where it meets the pond will be folded overlapping the main pond liner to form a spillway.

or

2) Plastic catch basins below each end of the aluminum water rill. The basins would flow water into the main pond via a tube (spitter style) or via a tube connected to a plastic spillway.

I welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of this. Great to be able to have a sounding board for ideas.

IMO if u use same liner u will not have any structural problems , it will be same just uil need to fight with some wrinkles but eventually they wil b hiden from stones and steelrail , why ur thinking uil have any issues if same? i think u can go either way , if u buy large liner with some extra that covers both and install it on ur lower ponds then if u have any issues u can cut it and make it separate .

the deciding factor will b the border of lower pond , it shud b perfect like a concrete border u can place bricks over liner and built cement plaster border too , a concrete border will give this pond best look like bricks and coat of cement plaster(polished , tiled) over it as border over liner , that gives smooth look i dono how steel rail gives result , how wil ur border look like after steel rail do u have any example?

have u thought about making the borders prolonged hanging over water few inches like a shed that can hide any defect and to hide the liner between border and water surface

see the border is prolonged

 

[vestaviascott]

have u thought about making the borders prolonged hanging over water few inches like a shed that can hide any defect and to hide the liner between border and water surface

Yes, The border will be built to overhang as in your pics. On two sides (back and part of right side), the overhang will be created by 2" x 6" aluminum angle bracket ("L" shaped). On the front and right side towards front of pond, the overhang will be contructed of either wooden decking or 16 inch square concrete pavers (as you can see already exist on the courtyard).

There will be a base all around the pond rim consisting of 4x8 inch cap blocks (essentially a structural footer band). The aluminum L brackets (appx 2 inch by 6 inch profile angle brackets) lay on top of this are held in place by the weight of the mexican beach stones - they may also be epoxied to the cap blocks.

For the remaining surface material, If I go with 16x16 square pavers with 1.5 inch spacing betwen adjacent pavers, they will be epoxied to the cap blocks and have small mexican beach pebble between them.

 

[vestaviascott]

I'm making slow and steady progress on my pond build. Working nights and weekends around day job, but enjoying the process and anticipating the final product is keeping it interesting.

We had a very heavy rain yesterday - the local pond pro I'm consulting with, who's quite a character, called it a "Frog Choker". It rained and rained and rained.

Anyway, so much rain that even with tarps covering the pond dig, it filled with about 6 inches of water. Since I have clay soil, the water would not drain out. I'm actually happy this happened because I now realize I will need a drain under the liner to provide a means for water to drain away if it gets under the liner or just to release water table pressure or gas under the liner.

So, I've decided to install a drain using 4" corrugated drain pipe under the pond and down to daylight about a foot lower than the pond bottom. I'll dig a 6 inch hole at the bottom of the pond to lay the drain pipe in, covered in drainage rock and extending out 20 foot down the slope of the yard with a pop up drain at the end.

Here are a few updated pics of progress thus far in preparation for liner install:

 

[vestaviascott]

The drain will be laid along the line I have strung between the pond and the shovel. The line is level, so you can see that the drain daylight end will be significantly lower than the 2 foot deep pond.

 

[Usman]

I'm making slow and steady progress on my pond build. Working nights and weekends around day job, but enjoying the process and anticipating the final product is keeping it interesting.

We had a very heavy rain yesterday - the local pond pro I'm consulting with, who's quite a character, called it a "Frog Choker". It rained and rained and rained.

Anyway, so much rain that even with tarps covering the pond dig, it filled with about 6 inches of water. Since I have clay soil, the water would not drain out. I'm actually happy this happened because I now realize I will need a drain under the liner to provide a means for water to drain away if it gets under the liner or just to release water table pressure or gas under the liner.

So, I've decided to install a drain using 4" corrugated drain pipe under the pond and down to daylight about a foot lower than the pond bottom. I'll dig a 6 inch hole at the bottom of the pond to lay the drain pipe in, covered in drainage rock and extending out 20 foot down the slope of the yard with a pop up drain at the end.

Here are a few updated pics of progress thus far in preparation for liner install:

looking good , i love ur house design and location as well