Stone pond

[Steven]

Hi guys, I've been planning to build a pond for a while next to our entertaining area. I want it to be raised to about 50cm above the ground to stop kids falling in (don't need the legal hassles and I am planning on building it out of stone (aquired for free!). I have a couple of questions for you on the execution of this though. The plan at the moment is to have a concrete footing under the stone walls with dirt/sand in the centre, build the wall up to a certain height (about 40-45cm), then use pond liner on the inside overlapped at the top before capping the wall to cover the liner.

The second option is to pour a slab of concrete, build the walls up on the slab, render the inside and then use paint on sealant to seal the pond.

Has anybody tried either of these two options? I am a bit nervous as I haven't worked with stone before (or bricks either) and for the first option I am not sure about getting the top layer level as all the rocks are different sizes. Basically I think I am looking for reassurance that I'm not going to screw it up - can anybody provide that?!!

 

[ididntdoit99]

Im sure which ever way you do it, you can find a way to screw it up, lol

I would say liner, but it also kind of depends on your climate, a concrete pond will last a lot longer in Florida than it will in Iowa......soil type, temperature, lots of things are going to affect how long concrete lasts. But in my opinion, liner would be th way to go.

 

[DrCase]

When i built my raised pond i used concrete blocks set in mortar.and used a liner
Then faced it with rock

 

[taherrmann4]

Welcome to the forum. I would go with option 1.

 

[adavisus]

Well, if you do end up with some regrets, you can always plonk a big perty plant in front so its out of sight



Regards, andy

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard. Both will work, if planned properly. Personally if it was me I think I would go second option but being a first time build, liner is probably more forgiving. What are your plans with the pond, Koi, water garden, goldfish, you want a natural look or a more formal look? If you decide to use the block method and going to seal look for all the information you can on Zypex, (I think that's how it is spelled, it's a additive you add to the final mix for coating and sealing) I have been doing some research on this method as well and many that have used it with there block wall pond builds really recommend it, It's not cheap but in proven cases it can and does out last the wall itself, Meaning a crack formed yet it didn't crack enough to cause the pond to leak, IMO, that's a proven product that needs to be considered. Post pics and put as much detail in as possible, the more you show different eyes the more information you'll gain from those with more experience. Believe me doing a first pond can be overwhelming when your by yourself, getting multiple experienced views will help lower the chances of major iussues and possibly find ways to improve the overall project and save $$ at the same time. Good luck, look forward to following your build. BTW, be sure and post your build in the showcase area. You will have a blog type album of your pond as it goes from bare ground through the build to the finished project.....Well maybe the finished product, most of us never really finish out our ponds, we continue to add and tweek over the years. LOL

 

[sissy]

welcome steven and I just used retaining wall block and put a liner in and it was not really that expensive to do .You could even build a retaining wall block wall around a large stock tank .Tractor supply sells stock tanks at 110 gallons for 64 dollars .

 

[j.w]

Steven

 

[SE18]

you could simply use stone and concrete and seal with something, Loktite at the minimum, but you'd have to keep the water flowing throughout winter or it might have expansion freeze cracks.

If you end up getting cracks you could seal it with something more expensive (many products out there) or put in a liner.

Another option would be to sandwich the liner between layers of concrete.

I'd go with just concrete and stone and Loctite and see how it works. No harm done if it doesn't. Concrete should be about 6" thick at least all the way around. If you like there are some concretes with reinforcing fibers in it and some with epoxies that will allow some flexibility and strength, but these cost more of course

 

[Steven]

Thanks for all the replies everyone - some good advice and other ideas there. I think I'll go with the liner as it's a bit more forgiving as fishin4cars says. The use of concrete with various additives has also occured to me, but the liner offers flexibility and ease of use for about the same amount if not less.

Some more info if your interested - I live in Adelaide, South Australia. We don't get any snow here over winter (or any other time either) but it does get hot in the summer - about 45C (about 113F). The spot I have for my pond is shaded by a tree and the veranda, so it shouldn't be too hot for the fish. Speaking of which, I'm only planning a water garden/goldfish setup. Koi seem a bit too much work for me at the moment, plus seem to need extra expense - still, I might get far too into it for my own good and expand my setup down the track.

Thanks again for all your replies! I'll be sure to take some pics and post them here!

Cheers,

Steve

 

[taherrmann4]

Since it gets hot where you are the deeper the pond the cooler it will keep the water, even though you do have it shaded.

 

[addy1]

I made my pond in arizona 5 foot deep, it stayed around 85 degrees F even with 115 avg temp in the summer.