Advice on new pond build

[Nathan Derry]

Hi guys and girls,

Me and the wife have decided to have a new pond built. We live in the West Midlands in the UK, and already have a 2500 litre pond, which once the new one is built will be dug out and sold/scrapped.

We've marked the pond footprint at 16' x 12' x 5' (inside dimensions). The back and right hand wall will be underground to a height of 4 feet with an extra foot raised above ground, the front wall (the 16' length) will be 2' under ground and 3' above ground. The left hand wall will be underground from a max of 4' to a minimum of 2'. We know we want it a solid square shape and at the sides it will be about 4 feet deep on a rolling slope to 5 foot in the middle for the bottom drain.

As we want to do it right the first time around we're going to hire a professional to build it for us, but in order to make sure he/she knows what they're on about we have a few questions.

1) With the dimensions and shape given, would it be better to have it build from concrete or block?
2) What sort of wall thickness would be at a minimum for the pressure? (We will be doing more than the minimum but need to know what the minimum would likely be before we can over engineer it)
3) How thick would the foundations need to be (1' in depth, 2'…)?
4) Would you use liner or the concrete sealant?
5) If Buzz Lightyear doesn't know he's a toy, why doesn't he move and talk when humans are around?

Thanks again all, any more info needed please shout up.

Nathe and Er In Doors

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome Nathan

 

[tbendl]

Welcome Nathan,
In order...
1) Don't know
2) Don't know
3) Don't know
4) Liner but that just my preference since you can always change the shape of the pond but I am a newbie myself.
5) Probably the same reason I don't talk or move around when I see bears or idiots, I'm afraid to draw their attention. LOL
Can't wait to see some pictures as you progress.

 

[Nathan Derry]

Thanks peoples for the welcomes

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome to yet another member from the UK!

I guess the question about concrete vs block is a personal one and with my limited [very limited] experience, I would think that cost would be the biggest factor -- that's the first thing I would look into. I have fears of concrete, even coated, not holding up [cracking & leaking], but there are a lot of people who do that -- wonder what their long-term results/issues are? A lot might depend on your soil type. Anyway, I am a fan of liner ponds for that reason [where I live, I would think concrete block would work out better than solid concrete]. And if I ever have another pond, while the design will be mine, I WILL have it dug, plumbed, and lined by a professional. My current pond is a liner pond in clay soil with a lot of ground water issues.....totally DIY. I love my pond, but..... [we've spent the past year reinforcing walls and adding a block collar to the perimeter in an attempt to stabilize shifting].

Being a fan of Buzz, I can't answer that question, either. Maybe he's just succumbing to peer pressure from Woody and the gang. My Buzz "toys" are occasionally in different positions and locations, but I attribute that to the actions and motives of our cats. They never move while I'm watching.

 

[Nathan Derry]

Not too sure what our soil is like. When i dug down for the last pond a good few years ago, it seemed like a clay bed after about the first 3 feet down. That will be something I will be finding out in the next few weeks as I start to do some real preparations. As to cost, We've not really got a budget as such, it costs as much as it cost kind of thing. Would rather wait a 6 months a pay £5000 and know its done the best way it can be than do it for £2500 tomorrow and spend the next 10-20 years getting frustrated with repairs, bowing walls and the such. I'm a firm believer that if a 3" screw will fix it i'll use a 5" screw. On the flip side I don't want to be ripped off.

 

[tbendl]

I would bet that if you could do a mix of both. Hire a pond builder and pick and choose what you can/want to do for cost or just giggles. I had looked into hiring a pond guy and in order to keep costs down, I was going to do most of the grunt work, decorating, etc, and we were going to work out a plan with that in mind. He was going to help with what to plant and I was going to purchase and do the planting, etc... I think it depends on how involved you want to be.
I ended up doing it all myself though, he moved to Alabama. I'll either thank him or blame him later.
The big thing I wanted is for it to be fun, I like a project. For others, they like the finished result. Either way keep it fun
The other option is to put Buzz out there and bury Woody 3 feet deep and see if he rescues him while you aren't watching.

 

[Nathan Derry]

Will be digging the hole myself, but as for brick work the most I've done is a very small wall (if memory serves, 10' by 1') and a brick BBQ. So with that sort of inexperience I don't want to risk doing inadequate brick work knowing that the amount of pressure on the walls will be so high. Never touched anything like rebar work either so would rather a man in a hi viz jacket, hard hat and builders bum come and do the job properly

As for Buzz, he's probably getting on in years now so might not be up to the task of digging Woody out.

 

[sissy]

welcome so is it going to half below and have above ground .Mine is half and half on 3 sides and 1 side is below grade as there is a side walk there

 

[j.w]

Nathan

 

[tbendl]

@j.w you have the best welcomes!!

 

[j.w]

@tbendl Thanks and feel free to grab any if you want some. Unless you have an iPad cuz Apple does not allow Adobe flash.

 

[tbendl]

No that's kind of your signature move. I just like how you roll.

 

[j.w]

Ha Ha ok thanks and I'll just keep on rolling

 

[tbendl]

Hahahaha, see what I mean... That's my favorite right there.