pond estimate high?

[nibor]

Hello

Last year I, with the help of two willing kind people, built a pond about 6 x 9 and 3 deep. I want to expand the pond, install better equipment and have a very small patio installed beside it. I received an estimate from a landscaper to make the pond 20 x 13 x 3 1/2 deep + patio. The estimate came to $15000. Does this seem high to anyone else ?

nibor

 

[hockeyref88]

I am a General Contractor in So. California. If you are talking demo of old pond and building a new one, equipment and concrete included it sounds right in the ballpark to me.

Rick

 

[nibor]

No concrete involved just liner and not really a demo of old pond but an enlargement. Still in the right ballpark you think?

 

[hockeyref88]

I have a couple of questions then. Where do you live? When you say patio, what do you mean? A covered area with no hardscape?? If you are enlarging your pond that much, you must be installing new equipment- pump/filter ect. Right??? Is that included?? If not that sounds a bit high. Where I live, my guys could dig that area out in a day. I'd have the pond up and running by the next day. That would not include planting and such but plumbing and liner in place and ready with water running. I would need more info on the patio to know if the price is right.

Rick

 

[nibor]

North Carolina. Patio = flagstones with soil between. Size approx. no more than 7 x 9 feet. Just enough for a wrought iron table and chairs. New equipment is necessary for sure. The landscaper said it would take a week. I thought that was a lot with the crew that he said he was assembling. In that it took my two pals and myself three days to dig the 6 x 9 pond and add water + plants in 3 days. And it was dug out with shovels, also in clay soil. By the way - I very much appreciate your take on this. There are other people to call in... but they have varied expertises... one stonescaping, one a plumber, but I want to do this right and not have to correct it later. I called some other pondscapers... but they did not show when they said they would... thus I get the feeling they are not very professional. Maybe I should just get out the shovels !!!

 

[hockeyref88]

Have you got any pic's of your existing setup?? If it was me ( and I was not a contractor) I would maybe think about just hiring someone to either bring a backhoe or a crew of guy's over to do the dig, and then do the rest myself. Flagstone is cheap for your patio. Your liner probably about 4-6 hundred bucks for a 30'x25' min size. By your measurements I'm coming up with about 5600 gallons. You can buy the rest of the stuff online at good prices. Are you going with a sumerged pump? any kind of waterfall?? What is your filter setup going to be?? Just curious. I love this stuff:icon_smile:

 

[DrCase]

tell me they are going to bring in a truck load of rocks , build a big waterfall nice stone around the pond , no liner showing, new eq. it sounds high in arkansas .

 

[DrDave]

I think Rick has hit it on the head. A picture is worth a thousand words and so far we have not seen more than a hundred.

I'm not a contractor, but I have done a lot of estimating. There are a lot of variables that cause the contractor time. You did your original build in 3 days but you had done a lot of research ahead of time. Time is money to them...

Any contractor will have to invest some time to get up to speed on your specific requirements. So while it may seem high, remember he has a family to feed and people to pay who also have families.

I would contract out only what you cannot do yourself. That may be just the digging and disposal of dirt if you are not going use it for a waterfall or surround.

Got Photos???

 

[nibor]

I dug around and found some photos that were made last year just after the pond was finished. It is very much the same now minus the plants - as the garden is just coming back. Finally heard from the stonescaper - so I may get a different estimate. I looked into the prices of the pump and UV sterilizer and found them online for a third of estimate price. Curious.

http://www.flickr.com/people/19856045@N03/

 

[nibor]

Here is a link to photos that were made last summer.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19856045@N03/

I posted this earlier - but it didn't show up. Must have his a wrong button.

 

[DrCase]

the pics, look good ,you would save a lot of cash if you hire a backhoe and operator to dig the hole ,and move the dirt, just like rick & the DrDave said. Get your friends together , with food and beer ,to put in linner and move your rocks, you did well on your old pond.

 

[nibor]

thanks all for your suggestions. the stonescaper finally got in touch and is coming to have a look this week. if his estimate seems high - then i'll do the heavy lifting myself. I checked prices from the estimate in hand for pump and UV sterilizer and found them online for about a third the price. we had fun with the first pond. the part i don't know how to do is hide the aerator, inground filter, electrical outlet etc. thanks again !!
Cheers!

 

[DrDave]

Go to the link on my signature and play the video. Do you see filters, pumps, pipes or electrical anywhere?

Use your imagination, a nice waterfall can hide all this stuff.

 

[nibor]

Hurray I've found someone to help with the pond who has equipment (as suggested) - but I have to order all the parts, which I'm thinking I will do online. What are the best places to order pumps, skimmers, drains, filters ? I have a good aerator. I want to have a bottom drain with aeration. Should I have both a skimmer with a filter and a UV filter too ? I saw a bottom drain with aerator - called a koi toilet . Is that what I should get ? The pond will be approx. 12 x 18 x 3 with simple waterfall. I'm guessing I will be ordering the liner and underliner too. Is there a company that calculates the sizes and waterflow that you can recommend? Also, any suggestions for online construction diagrams ? I'm thinking it would be nice to have a couple of "jets" too - does that make sense ? Thanks again !!!

 

[DrCase]

thats a hard ?.. i buy stuff at pondliner.com ...LaBrakes garden path & pond...look around and check prices