New Pond build, At the Log Cabin

[fishin4cars]

Oh forgot to post some updates of the pond.

 

[fishin4cars]

got the feeding deck finally started, had to precut each piece and test fit, then remove stain and water seal eack piece fit again and start screwing down. Still needs some staining and sealing on the steps and have to finish screwing all the boards down.

 

[fishin4cars]

Finally got some protective covering put over the pond. Not the most attractive but at least it should help keep any unwanted birds out. Then for my Birthday after coming home from Charlotte I finally got to pick up Shamu! 21" female 4 year old Kumonryu. and Kojak, 4 year old or older, male Kujaku Butterfly 20". I've watched these two grow from about 12" long for the last three years and told my dealer if I could ever get a pond I felt comfortable with being large enough that I wanted Shamu. Charlie has held here for me now since Christmas of last year when I put the first deposit on her. Proven breeder female she's already one of the friendliest koi in the pond.

 

[fishin4cars]

Not much to report this week as far as the pond, been so bust building the barn that I haven't had much time do do anything but my maintance. Need to finish the barn so we can get started on the patio and retainer walls for the koi pond. That's the next project. Got the surface grass removed just before the rain came in but didn't get a chance to get pics.

 

[fishin4cars]

Finally starting the koi pond build. Never thought it would take this long!

 

[fishin4cars]

Day two and not much more done. Several set backs today but still gone some things accomplished. Oh and got a pic of my kids aand grand kids, well at least some of them. lol

 

[fishin4cars]

Well we finally got the barn completed. Got most of the equipment in and finished all the contracted work. Two stables 10x12 and a 10x12 tack room/Garden tool room. The under cover size ended up being 56' x 34' Slightly smaller than wanted but stayed in budget.

 

[fishin4cars]

Oh boy, what a day, finally got some of the retainer walls poured. The contractor didn't put enough support on the turns and the weight of the cement started bowing the forms. So we got some places in the wall that were thicker than planned. Maybe not a bad thing..???.. That we will have to see, he guarantees it will hold so we will see. During the pouring the dirt gave way under the water fall and the cement fell out. So we will have to repair this area. At least it will be under the water fall so Even it it doesn't seal as planned I can work around this as long as we can get it leveled out for the water fall rock. This wall was built primarily to tie the outside two wall together and we did get enough cement to bite the vertical rebarb. Going to reform that area and repour during the patio pour. Of course I was a nerveous wreck all day, Am I happy with the way it came out? No, Do I think it will work out ok, I'm still waiting to find out. Now hopging it won't rain this weekend.

 

[fishin4cars]

Here are some updated pics of the project. The last few days it's been 14-16 hours a day. Finally got the liner seamed and ready Saturday night

 

[fishin4cars]

Sunday spent the day with the grandson.
Can you tell he likes Chocolate cake? I love being a Granddad. I got him to play peekaboo, rub his belly, and then got him to run his fingers through his hair. I thought my daughter was going to kill me and him both but it's been a while since I laughed that hard. Had a great day with my kids before they all went home. Oh and a special thanks to my son in law for the three days of hard help.

 

[fishin4cars]

Monday started working on the retaining wall. After reading about all the mistakes and listening to Waterbug and others on the forum we decided to build a block wall. Built footers then drystacked the block. filled them with cement and rebard. Thank goodness Waterbug posted just after we got the footings poured so we only ran the rebarb from the footings up through the wall. hopefully avoided any rusting of the rebarb as we didn't allow any to come in contact with the soil.

 

[fishin4cars]

Today we poured the patio. AGAIN the cement arrived like soup. Started off easy to pump and the pump truck got clogged. Spent two and a half hours clearing the lines the had to order a new truck of cement as the first load was starting to get to hard to pump. Luckily the cement co. had a truck already there so they loaded it up at no charge and sent it straight out. Still a little issue where the two batches sealed together but overall it looks pretty good. The finisher finished washing down at about 5pm and is suppose to finish grinding and staining the cement later this week. Then they will seal it and he says he can remove 90% of the flaws. If that's the case I'll be super happy, as I like the way it's looking already.

 

[fishin4cars]

The gazebo is having to be stained before it's assembled. My daughter and her fiance' stayed up until midnight staining all the decking boards. It's a slow process but hopefully will be worth all the extra effort in the end.

 

[fishin4cars]

Been working on getting the Bottom Drain assembly finished. Got the Koi toilet installed and the liner installed to it. Had to cut the stand pipe for the cover to allow 7/8" gap between the bottom of the pond and the bottom of the dome. It started out almost 3 1/2" gap and I was seriously scared that a fish would get caught in the drain.

 

[fishin4cars]

Rainy weekend pretty much put the project to a halt for the last couple of days. We did go by and pic up a few new guys and put in the QT tank. Then moved a few from the QT tank to the pond. We didn't buy any new Koi. Just some odd goldfish. Never really like telescope and celestrial eye goldfish but have started liking them more the last few months. figured since the older of the two ponds will end up being a Lily goldfish pond for the most part we would pic up a few new guys to add Once the big koi are moved to there new home.
Here are a few pics of the guys we picked up today and put in the 75 gallon tank in the office.