Old/ new concrete pond - what to do.

[Nepen]

Hi y'all,
I'm closing on another house in a week, super excited, and there is an existing concrete pond in the front.

It's circular, 9.5 feet and 16 inches deep. It has leaves and plants and cracks in it. there is one little tree(cut) growing on the edge of the pond, I don't know I'll take it out too.

What I heard is that once I clean it all up I could seal the concrete with the concrete and then seal it with boat sealant (cheaper than pond /swimming pool sealant) is this the right way to go?

There is no sign of filtration so I'm thinking a large tub on one side, make it my plants bog then water fall back to the pond, then have some type of vertical /stacking type filter on one side. But still couldn't figure how to make this set up look match up to the pond. The pond is fully shade.

Any suggestion?

The house is nasty so it's going to take us about 6 months to renovate it so won't be moving in until next year. I'll probably leave my fish in the pond until spring to move them to the new pond... Is that a good or bad idea?

Here what the pond looks like

 

[Dave 54]

I'm sorry but it isnt that simple Nepen you dont kow exactly what damage the roots of the tree havedone for one nd I'm sure you've read it before that people with leaking concrete ponds would be better off starting again as your not going to get the seal you want sorry

Dave

 

[dieselplower]

16"... I would dig deeper...

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Dave. Right now I'll have to wait to see how big of a mess it is after I close on the house. Just want to get on planning since I'm way too excited. We are going to live here probably about 2-3 years so it's not a perminant pond for me.

Diesel, I'm not sure I could dig any deeper from the concrete bottom. Unless I have a big machine I'll have to settle for that. My now pond is about the same depth so I don't think it'll be too much if a problem. I could move the overflow hole higher to get the pond to have more water closer to 2 feet.

 

[dieselplower]

Thanks Dave. Right now I'll have to wait to see how big of a mess it is after I close on the house. Just want to get on planning since I'm way too excited. We are going to live here probably about 2-3 years so it's not a perminant pond for me.

Diesel, I'm not sure I could dig any deeper from the concrete bottom. Unless I have a big machine I'll have to settle for that. My now pond is about the same depth so I don't think it'll be too much if a problem. I could move the overflow hole higher to get the pond to have more water closer to 2 feet.

If it were my pond I would try to break up the concrete on the bottom with a sledge hammer and then remove it. Dig a bit deeper and throw in a liner. I would also need a large skimmer or a net over the pond to catch what looks like a lot of leaves and other debris that will drop from those trees.

 

[steve/gridnot]

My first pond started like that. It is very close in size to the one you have. I sealed the bottom twice before I added four feet of native rock the walls being about a foot thick. I sealed it again the next year and added the sides from an old fish tank, so I could look. In all five feet is above ground and about 20 inches below ground. Its now 35 years old and I let it leak to water the 30 foot elm that stands next to it.

 

[sissy]

yep cheaper to put in a liner as you really don;t want to spend a lot of money trying to fix it up and then another root breaks through the bottom .Check out builders discount center they sell rubber roofing fairly cheap .12x25 cost my neighbor just under 150 dollars

 

[JohnHuff]

You generally want at least 2.5ft to be safe from freezing, maybe you can built up from that. I think your first step is to clear the vegetation before making any decisions but I think the recommendations to get a liner is a good one. That tree root could be problematic.

 

[Dave 54]

If it were my pond I would try to break up the concrete on the bottom with a sledge hammer and then remove it. Dig a bit deeper and throw in a liner. I would also need a large skimmer or a net over the pond to catch what looks like a lot of leaves and other debris that will drop from those trees.

You generally want at least 2.5ft to be safe from freezing, maybe you can built up from that. I think your first step is to clear the vegetation before making any decisions but I think the recommendations to get a liner is a good one. That tree root could be problematic.

As a pond this is a total wreck your best bet is to forget re-sealing it and start again as such I'm totally in agreement with desilplower on this Nepen dig it all out and drop a liner using the old pond as a template for the new one and as John has rightly pointed out your going to have to drop the depth down to round about 4.5 ft minimum to be safe from freezing and I know you guys get far worse ones than we have on your side of the pond .
Dont go daft Nepen plan this out first before doing anything else
Listen to what Steve said about having to repetedly re-seal his concrete pond on numerous occaisions, everyone sissy included says liner.
In the mean time whats going to happen to the fish you already have, have you thought of that yet as the next owner of your home may not want to buy it with a pond so you would have to take them with you .
Another thing you've totally ignored and I've just noticed in your photo's is the amount of mature trees near this pond as such your going to have to think about roots , they will actively seek out water which would mean the liner would be in danger of puncture should they track towards the pond
In your second photo look just how close the nearest tree is meaning its roots will be directly under the pond


Dave

 

[Nepen]

Thanks all. I do think the liner is the way to go then. I really want to keep the pretty crystal rocks that they use on the edge of the pond so I'll have to take all those our and re build. I might go up instead of going down deeper. In the 10 years that I live here we only have freezing last year so I think I'll be ok about 2.5 -3 feet deep.

Dave, my husband refuse to cut all the mature trees in that area, we can thin out one of two but he wants them to shade the house. I'll have to gamble on that.

We will rent out the house we have now and I'll be taking all my fish with me to the new house. But the time when I move will be during winter so I'll have to leave my fish here until spring, or I'll have to move them to the new house in early fall but then I won't be able to monitor the pond as often... I still have to think about this.

My first pond started like that. It is very close in size to the one you have. I sealed the bottom twice before I added four feet of native rock the walls being about a foot thick. I sealed it again the next year and added the sides from an old fish tank, so I could look. In all five feet is above ground and about 20 inches below ground. Its now 35 years old and I let it leak to water the 30 foot elm that stands next to it.View attachment 74515 View attachment 74515

Steve, how fast does it leak? I really like the rocks they used on that pond so I'll be trying to save them but I don't know how to get them out before I build up

That's why I thought about sealing it instead of the liner, I don't want to cover the rocks and I have no clue how to save them....

 

[Nepen]

@Dave 54 when is the safest time to move the fish? I'm hoping after winter but then what temperature the water should be to move them. Or better in fall but how long do I need to give before it become winter ...

 

[sissy]

where nepen lives it does not get that cold so she is safe and since it is shaded heat should be no problem .Just get a pool net to remove leaves and make sure you remove any dead branches from the trees around the pond .those rocks may break away easy if the concrete is old .I have those rocks here .Actually when they were doing my basement they dumped the left over cement and mortar every day at the back of my property and when I got to cleaning up the mess a year later I found those rocks in the mess and just broke them loose piece by piece ,of course i lost some of the rocks but it had to be done .You may find a lot more pretty rocks on your property .

 

[steve/gridnot]

Nothing wrong with a liner. I have just relined this thirty five year old pond. I used butyl rubber 45 mil. with a felt underliner. I put that on top of the old dough boy liner that had been overgrown by a willow tree and black locust. Could no longer get a back hoe in there and it took my worker bee four days to dig and saw the roots out. It still was leak free after all the years, but the banks closed in.

I have another lined with carpet and 4 layers of 4mil poly that is over 20 and also leak free. ' So quick and dirty also works,

I like the cement ones to leak as they water the plants and trees that surround them, making for very little maintenance. Brings back my boyhood love of the Ramar of the Jungle TV show.

 

[Dave 54]

@Dave 54 when is the safest time to move the fish? I'm hoping after winter but then what temperature the water should be to move them. Or better in fall but how long do I need to give before it become winter ...

I would move them late spring when the temperature is on the up but if you got the pond up and running prior to winter you ccould move them then but you have lots of work to do prior to that .

Dave

 

[steve/gridnot]

Thanks all. I do think the liner is the way to go then. I really want to keep the pretty crystal rocks that they use on the edge of the pond so I'll have to take all those our and re build. I might go up instead of going down deeper. In the 10 years that I live here we only have freezing last year so I think I'll be ok about 2.5 -3 feet deep.

Dave, my husband refuse to cut all the mature trees in that area, we can thin out one of two but he wants them to shade the house. I'll have to gamble on that.

We will rent out the house we have now and I'll be taking all my fish with me to the new house. But the time when I move will be during winter so I'll have to leave my fish here until spring, or I'll have to move them to the new house in early fall but then I won't be able to monitor the pond as often... I still have to think about this.



Steve, how fast does it leak? I really like the rocks they used on that pond so I'll be trying to save them but I don't know how to get them out before I build up

That's why I thought about sealing it instead of the liner, I don't want to cover the rocks and I have no clue how to save them....

I have a trick you can use to seal it. By some rubber based pool paint. Pretty spendy but it seals so well that I have not drained that rock pond in all those years. Just use cement patch and seal it with the pool paint. Mine leaks at about 20 gallons a day as do the cement bottomed ones.