Pond expansion.

[Chrissy]

Just keep a watchful eye open for potential leaks. Most people won't even attempt a major fusing -- you are a brave girl!!!!

And yes, I totally agree about the sticker shock -- same with us. I was almost afraid to tell my husband what a liner would cost.

Lol.. I'm resourceful and a diy girl. I have been keeping an eye out for leaks. Hopefully, we won't run into an issue. But if it happens I'll have to replace it with a whole liner.

 

[sissy]

I bought 1 liner and last year and the company did tell me that there could be a factory seaming error in my liner .It was not caught fast enough and a couple of liners that were cut that day may or may not have had them .I always thought the lines I saw in the liners were reference lines .But it is how they are made by firestone .Did not really understand what they meant but they sent me a new liner and still hoping on hope that it is not a flaw in the liner or what they also called a weak spot .I think they used every description for this problem .They sure confused me .They said that if my liner was bigger than stated that it could be one of them and lucky I took pics and a video of the liner when I laid it out on the lawn with the measuring tapes on it .Getting to old for these mistakes and here I thought I was lucky because I could make the pond even bigger .What looks good is not always good .

 

[Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls]

I would recommend to get a good one piece 45 mil epdm fish safe liner to reduce future problems that could occur and try to save money elsewhere if possible. If money doesn't allow that, you have to do what you can afford to for sure. If you end up seaming pieces together, fill the pond up with water and wait 24 hours to make sure there are no leaks before you move on to the next step. For a deeper than 3 foot pond you may want to look at adding aeration on the bottom to reduce sludge and add oxygen for fish and beneficial bacteria. Be sure to post pictures for us on your progress.

 

[sissy]

My friend Tammy has a roofing liner 45 mil and no problems and my last liner was a 45 mil roofing liner I got from a retired roofer here .But sad to say moles chewed through the liner it 4 different spots and several smaller spots .i guess they were after grubs .So when i put new liner in I put lots of milky spore down and 30lb and 15lb roofing felt that builder left here and then put down the pond underlayment and then new liner .

 

[Acorn Ponds & Waterfalls]

My friend Tammy has a roofing liner 45 mil and no problems and my last liner was a 45 mil roofing liner I got from a retired roofer here .But sad to say moles chewed through the liner it 4 different spots and several smaller spots .i guess they were after grubs .So when i put new liner in I put lots of milky spore down and 30lb and 15lb roofing felt that builder left here and then put down the pond underlayment and then new liner .

Very important point made by Sissy to be sure and use a thick landscape fabric under the liner to protect it. Sorry to hear you had a run in with moles Sissy, sounds like you will be ok now. Never heard of the milky spore solution, sounds like a good idea.

 

[sissy]

It is spores that multiply and I had to put it all over my property .it does not take much of it .It was hard because it was last March and had to work through bad weather ,you can see it in the showcase

 

[Mmathis]

@sissy I'm assuming the milky spores are to control grubs, AKA, mole food?

 

[FountainMan]

Doesn't roofing liner contain toxic chemicals? I like the Firestone PondGuard liners. I'm currently using that.

Now for more questions,

Today I took an edging tool and tested the hardness of the soil. It rained several days ago. The ground is drying out. The soil was still somewhat soft.

I expect rainfall patterns this fall to be good to us and softer soil. In North Texas we have somewhat hard soil and not too deep is limestone.

I need a new shovel and am thinking about getting a pickaxe to help work at the limestone should I run into it.

I'm hoping some excavation pros here can point me in the right direction at choosing tools. Pickaxes are expensive. Home Depot has the cheapest at 40$.

They range between 18"-36" .5-5lbs. The 36" 5lbs pickaxe at Home Depot was around 70$. Is it better to go bigger on pickaxes or should I achieve what I'm trying to accomplish with the smaller cheaper ones?

The only other "cheaper" alternative to using a pickaxe is mixing water and vinegar and letting it sit overnight and eat at the limestone. The downside to this is this would acidify the soil possibly harming the trees.

So what's the best and cheapest way to go through limestone?

 

[sissy]

yep and I know lowes and home depot sell it .Grubs here were huge and I did treat about half way up the front yard and both side yards but never finished the front yard and when i pulled up the old liner i was surprised at all the grubs under it and how big they were .I talked to the extension here that you get all your questions answered from (mostly for farmers ) but they told me there were so many grubs under and around the pond because it was warmer and damper and moles just do what moles do eat .The land before i bought was all farm and guessing they loved it around here ..There were only a few houses on my dead end road at that time .Every time I dig up bananas I look to see if i see any grubs and so far none .

 

[sissy]

My other liner i had no problems with it at all and know other people who use them .I have asked firestone since they make roofing 45 mil epdm and they have never answered my question .Since good year is here I asked a friend who is a boss there and he was going to look into it for me .All he found out so far is that they seem to want to keep that a secret .The pond liner i got from the roofer he had laying around for quite a few years .The liner I have now is firestone pond guard and got it from dr foster and smith .I had to use a pick axe to get through shale and was i sore

 

[addy1]

So what's the best and cheapest way to go through limestone?

When I dug my pond in Arizona, The only thing that made it through the caliche was a bobcat.

If I was digging a hole for a tree, I would dig down to the caliche, fill the hole with water for a few days until it softened it, then continue to dig.

 

[morewater]

Very important point made by Sissy to be sure and use a thick landscape fabric under the liner to protect it. Sorry to hear you had a run in with moles Sissy, sounds like you will be ok now. Never heard of the milky spore solution, sounds like a good idea.

Cheap alternative (ie. free) is to go to your local carpet dealer and ask to remove the old carpets from their dumpster. Most of that stuff is nylon mix and can be cut to fit the excavated hole. Install prior to placing the liner. Takes forever to degrade and using it keeps it out of the landfill.

Don't cheap out on liner. That's just dumb.

Bite the bullet on cost and save your back. Rent a Kubota for the day.

 

[addy1]

I used carpet padding, that too never seems to degrade.

 

[sissy]

Around here the carpet places are forced to recycle carpets they take out ,Even padding

 

[peter hillman]

I used a rototiller to assist my digging, till till till, then dig out the loose dirt. I was on a no-money budget. For a job that size you want some kind of mechanical assistance for sure.