Mucky,
Please Dan, tell us what you see as being so sub-standard in regards to this particular stream and pond.
1. It's a necklace pond.
2. Distance from the top of the rock edge to the water surface is great. Not sure why but that's an amature feature.
3. Poor rock work. It's meant to look natural and it isn't. Mostly due to the choice of rock. We call it rip-rap here.
4. No landscaping. A professtional would include some landscape only because it's a cheap quick way to wow the client. The later pictures with landscaping do look better. I hadn't seen those pictures yet. Doesn't change my opinion.
As I said, this wasn't meant as an insult, just as a way to evaluate the pond builder and whether to keep pouring money into this builder or find another. It's a find looking pond if that's what the customer wants and the customer seems really happy with the look, so super. But in evaluating the professionalism and experience level when I see a pond like this my guess...and it's only a guess...is this builder has no license and has built fewer than 10 ponds. I could be completely wrong. Maybe he's built hundreds of ponds. Maybe he's the best pond builder ever. I'm going by a single picture (originally).
If djoliver built this pond himself I'd say it was a great pond. If a $10/hr dude was hired I'd say great pond. To me, when someone charges $55/hr I expect a professional. I assume the pond wasn't built by the hour, but still, had to be in the $3000 to $5000 range. I'd expect a well made pond.
But hey, it's a free world and I say charge whatever the market will pay. I felt like giving dj my opinion on whether to keep paying this person. My guess is he's a big boy and can make up his own mind. Sure isn't my time, money or stress.
djoliver, I understand now. You just want to enjoy the pond.
Back in the day when I hired myself out I fixed ponds like these. For a pond like yours I would charge $300-500 to clean a pond, payable only when the pond was clear which was defined by being able to see the bottom. I provided no guarantee the pond would stay clear, this was a one time cleaning. Normally took about a week and 3 trips on site. I didn't explain what I was going to do unless asked and then I gave a very simple answer because most clients (99%) didn't really want the details. They just wanted a sentence they could repeat to friends and family. That was totally OK with me, I understood.
For ponds I built and maintained I would guarantee clear for as long as I maintained it. I charged a lot. Most jobs went to other, cheaper, people, which was OK with me. I'm a software engineer, which I enjoy just as much and it pays better. Ponds are a hobby. When my yard was filled I had to build in other people's yards.
From this I learned there's 2 kinds of pond owners. Those into the DIY, learning aspect and those wanting to pay for a water feature to enjoy. Both are fine people and there's nothing wrong with either group. Just like some people like to build their own houses while most people would rather buy one already built.
IMO you hired a poor builder. Now you're looking for that easy to do fix. Trying to straddle both worlds is difficult and frustrating.
My suggestion is to spend your time looking for another pond builder / maintainer. That's a lot of work in and of itself. Cut your losses. You now know a lot more of what to look for. Licensed? Good references? Years building ponds? Guarantee work?
I know you still want to find the easy fix and hopefully someone here will provide one. Skippy filter, bog, barley straw, magnets,more plants, less plants, etc. There are hundreds of pond "solutions" around the net. Or you could sit back and one day next week the pond will suddenly be clear...they can do that and it isn't uncommon.
On a different subject... I want to thank you. I've always been puzzled by the dynamic of why people post questions, the kinds of answers they get, and how they pick which answers to try. The other day, thanks to this thread and many others across many forums on different subjects over many years, I finally gained an understanding of the social dynamics of forums. I also had just watched
The Social Network, which helped too. The details are boring but I did want to say thank you, even if you're only the proxy for all those other posts over the years. This has been very valuable to me. Good luck with your pond.
