Pond failure/rebuild

[HickoryKoi]

We’ll if not for bad luck I’d have no luck. Purchased a home and two days before move in date a tree fell on it. Have been fighting that battle with insurance and rebuilding the inside. The home has several large ponds in the front of the property and while not perfect they were operational and just needed some cleaning and tlc. Pumps have been failing and replacing them as the do.

We’ll lower pond second pump failed sometime this week and replaced it yesterday. Luckily went by today to check on other progress and found a cracked line behind liner that pumped virtually all water behind the liner. Luckily was able to save all the fish for now and emergency transfer to secondary ponds. But the bottom pond is shot. Had to cut a good bit of liner to allow for pump to pump out the water as I did not want it to seep out and go into home.

So I guess the rebuild will commence much sooner than anticipated. Will have to do a majority of the work myself, as last quote to redo the pond was $20-25k.

Any suggestions on alternative to a liner? Just trying to get some ideas and stay positive during this time.

 

[combatwombat]

Well crap. Sorry about the bad luck.

Any suggestions on alternative to a liner?

All man made ponds require a liner, but there are several different material options for liner type: synthetic, concrete, clay, fiberglass. From the look of your construction type, I’d say clay is not viable, but the other 3 are.

 

[Lisak1]

Oh my goodness! When it rains it pours!

Why an alternative to a liner? Maybe I missed that part...

 

[addy1]

What a mess. So sorry.

I would just get a new liner.

 

[HickoryKoi]

Oh my goodness! When it rains it pours!

Why an alternative to a liner? Maybe I missed that part...

Mainly because the current layout doesn’t lend to a liner looking very nice, It bunches up in many places and almost impossible to get smooth. Also the pond is fairly narrow but about 50-75 feet long so the liner will already by 1200-1500 so was just looking for possible other options.

 

[HickoryKoi]

Also due to the way it’s constructed the entire top cap has to be chipped to remove the old liner so I’m tempted to do a little redesign.

 

[Steiner]

We’ll if not for bad luck I’d have no luck. Purchased a home and two days before move in date a tree fell on it. Have been fighting that battle with insurance and rebuilding the inside. The home has several large ponds in the front of the property and while not perfect they were operational and just needed some cleaning and tlc. Pumps have been failing and replacing them as the do.

We’ll lower pond second pump failed sometime this week and replaced it yesterday. Luckily went by today to check on other progress and found a cracked line behind liner that pumped virtually all water behind the liner. Luckily was able to save all the fish for now and emergency transfer to secondary ponds. But the bottom pond is shot. Had to cut a good bit of liner to allow for pump to pump out the water as I did not want it to seep out and go into home.

So I guess the rebuild will commence much sooner than anticipated. Will have to do a majority of the work myself, as last quote to redo the pond was $20-25k.

Any suggestions on alternative to a liner? Just trying to get some ideas and stay positive during this time.

Hello HickoryKoi,
I have two ponds one is cement and the other diy fiberglass. After 25 years each developed leaks - the fiberglass developing pin holes and the cement spider cracks. We gave up on patch repairs and got a professional to spray fiberglass then gel coat; one pond at a time to keep the water and koi healthy. It cost several thousand $$$$$ but saved us money in water wastage and frustration.

 

[HickoryKoi]

Hello HickoryKoi,
I have two ponds one is cement and the other diy fiberglass. After 25 years each developed leaks - the fiberglass developing pin holes and the cement spider cracks. We gave up on patch repairs and got a professional to spray fiberglass then gel coat; one pond at a time to keep the water and koi healthy. It cost several thousand $$$$$ but saved us money in water wastage and frustration.

How large are the ponds, if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[Lisak1]

You won't find a single pond here with a smooth liner - that's really never the goal. The folds in the liner will either be covered by rock (in a rocked pond) or will eventually disappear under a layer of carpet algae.

But a liner that size would be pricey. Maybe a bentonite clay liner?

 

[SarahT]

Sorry to hear of your ponds' pumps and liner woes. I think redesign and liner is the best way to go, though I understand the effort in removing top caps, rocks, and old liners.
Perhaps think of pond liner wrinkles as being fishy "laugh lines"? (Obviously, I've done a great job of rationalizing all the folds and wrinkles here in my pond.)

 

[GBBUDD]

For a change i'll be the optimist of the group. When a pond with EPDM which is what that picture is showing. The hard part is finding the leak. Well it sounds like you have done that , try a repair if you use seam tape over the cut you may just get lucky , and its the only one.

Seaming EPDM liner

Seaming is not difficult but it does require some foresight and thought. Hopefully this list will help you to create a seam that will last for many, many years, issue free. If you can seam your liners in a driveway or somewhere flat that is by far your best option. The method below is how I...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[HickoryKoi]

For a change i'll be the optimist of the group. When a pond with EPDM which is what that picture is showing. The hard part is finding the leak. Well it sounds like you have done that , try a repair if you use seam tape over the cut you may just get lucky , and its the only one.

Seaming EPDM liner

Seaming is not difficult but it does require some foresight and thought. Hopefully this list will help you to create a seam that will last for many, many years, issue free. If you can seam your liners in a driveway or somewhere flat that is by far your best option. The method below is how I...

www.gardenpondforum.com

We’ll ya see what had happened was. A literal hold my beer I’ve had enough. Took the razor and the scissors to it after saving the fish to drain it because I couldn’t deal with having it seep through the wall into the house. Long story short there ain’t no repairing what I cut out haha.