Above Ground Pond

[ireland]

hmmm koikeepr u mentioned about trex decking could i just use that for the upper pond construction?

i did some research on it and it said that trex are made out of recycled wood and plastic mix together to make an alternative wood. The plastic protects from weather and insect, while the wood protects it from the UV and also gives a natural look.

it also said it doesn't contain any toxic chemicals

http://www.trex.com/whytrex/WhatIsTrex.aspx

 

[bsr8129]

if you use Trex for the upper, looking at their site the thickest they have is 2X6, which could still work, but not sure how strong it is for the floor, but i would imagine its close to regualr wood.

 

[ireland]

hmm i think i might go that route for the upper pond then

 

[jason081180]

Weight of 1 US Gallon of water = approx. 8.35 lb

with a 1066 gal pond that would weigh 8900LBS plus the wood and equipment. i bet that's more than your deck can handle. can you build it in the ground?

 

[ireland]

WOW!! that is heavy... Wonder how much it'll weight without any water in it

my yard is not level.. hmmmm except for the garden i can do it there.

i was wondering if i could still use the 4x4s for the upper pond but coat it with the Trex decking and water proof sealant to prevent run off water from touching the 4x4s?

 

[ireland]

okay due to the weight of it i decided to move it to the garden, the only place that can be dug without there being any problem.

i decided to only build 2ft above ground and dig 1 ft below ground making it a total of 3 ft still.

I've measured the garden today, it should be able to do 8ft x 6ft after rearranging some plants and still have gap between the pond and gutters.

 

[ireland]

This is what im working with

 

[koiguy1969]

why not build in the backyard.....less chance of a neighborhood kid drowning in it and /or vandalism. chances are you can build what you want

 

[koikeepr]

I agree with koiguy. There is lots of liability in building a pond in a front yard as he has mentioned. Little kids are curious and teenage kids are idiots. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the local-teenagers-thought-it-would-be-funny-to-pour-soap-in-the-pond story.

 

[ireland]

hmhm that's very true i do have a big backyard but the only problem with that is its an open yard and that's usually where our 2 kids play at. Fortunately where i live there is no teenagers in my small neighborhood its mainly just adults and newly weds and if there are any they must be more of the stay home/inside type of teenagers. The neighborhood is actually very peaceful and quiet the loudest of them all is probably us lol.

 

[koikeepr]

in your back yard you would appropriately put a barrier/fence to protect your children as well.

 

[ireland]

true true.. hmm i think i might put it in the back yard then.

but another question can i still build the upper with the same material as i have planed n then cover it with Trex and water proof sealant to avoid water from touching the inner treated 4x4s

 

[koikeepr]

The thing you need to prevent is water touching a pressure treated board from getting into the pond. Usually, the way I've seen folks do this, is that when they put their liner in, it wraps OVER the top pressure treated piece of wood. Then the Trex or whatever composite wood you are using is used as the top cap of wood wood that fully frames your pond top. It sits on the liner itself, which you wrapped around the last piece of pressure treated lumber.

That way, your water never touches a piece of the pressure treated stuff because the liner is fully covering it.

Let me know if that doesn't make sense to you and I'll try a better explanation or one of my badly drawn pictures.

 

[ireland]

yeah you make sense i know what you mean.

digging starts tomorrow :regular_waving_emot cant wait

 

[ireland]

the pond liner calculation on this page

http://www.justliners.com/rectangleponds.htm

said that i would need 16 x 18 but to cover the whole upper pond would 20 x 20 be enough or do i need something like 20 x 25 or bigger