I know that on page 1 of this thread it shows that. are you seeing that on this page also?
Construction of The Hawkins' Family Pond
- Thread starter randythawkins
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I know that on page 1 of this thread it shows that. are you seeing that on this page also?
taherrmann4
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I can see all the pics.
sissy
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me too just can't see the old ones
the old ones I had somehow uploaded to this forum and linked to them from there....some Gallery section. The ones that are showing I uploaded to Photobucket and link to those (with the exception of the last 2 which show the arbor - those I used the "Upload a File' button and attached them that way. I guess with the forum's new user interface the Gallery got dumped. I have not had the chance yet, as it will take quite some time, to determine which photos (on the first page) I need to reattach *and* the best way to do that. Any suggestions/ideas on how to best resolve those missing images?
sissy
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you may want to back up your photo's on photo bucket because after so many pics they want to charge you and if you don't pay they hold your pics hostage .I have photoshop on my puter and use that because it is easier and i back up all of my pics to a dvd and cd and pic stick .I have been repairing and fix up the old pics of my mom and dad and family with photo shop .
At the time I started this thread I also was working on a correspond blog and, I believe, most of what was on the first page of this thread is also on that blog. I need to go check but, until I do, you are welcome to go see also - http://thehawkinsfamilypond.blogspot.com/
To pick up where I left off with building the first of 2 block retaining walls...
Before the wall got too tall and difficult to lift dirt over I decided to start filling the cavities with dirt.
Exciting pictures, huh?
Along with attaching this wall to the internal block wall I wanted to attach it to the waterfall structure. I did that by screwing a metal strap to the wood and placing it between the rows of block.
As I built the wall I finally reached the point where the top of a row would align with the top of the pond's wall - or at least I hoped it would. When I poured the foundation I measured down from the top of the pond wall with the goal of having a row of block run straight on the pond wall and, for this side, I pretty much nailed it. The stone on the pond wall had some unevenness so I shimmed those low spots with washers.
Then it was back to more rows of more block and more fill dirt.
That makes that side done with the exception of the very last row. I will do that row after I get the liner in place (as the liner's edge will be tucked under the top row).
I cut a notch for the pipes (which will make more sense later in subsequent postings).
Here is another picture of the inside of the completed side.
Then I started over again laying the retaining wall block on the second side.
Which brings us to the end of this segment. Thanks for following along.
Before the wall got too tall and difficult to lift dirt over I decided to start filling the cavities with dirt.
Exciting pictures, huh?
Along with attaching this wall to the internal block wall I wanted to attach it to the waterfall structure. I did that by screwing a metal strap to the wood and placing it between the rows of block.
As I built the wall I finally reached the point where the top of a row would align with the top of the pond's wall - or at least I hoped it would. When I poured the foundation I measured down from the top of the pond wall with the goal of having a row of block run straight on the pond wall and, for this side, I pretty much nailed it. The stone on the pond wall had some unevenness so I shimmed those low spots with washers.
Then it was back to more rows of more block and more fill dirt.
That makes that side done with the exception of the very last row. I will do that row after I get the liner in place (as the liner's edge will be tucked under the top row).
I cut a notch for the pipes (which will make more sense later in subsequent postings).
Here is another picture of the inside of the completed side.
Then I started over again laying the retaining wall block on the second side.
Which brings us to the end of this segment. Thanks for following along.
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Nice neat work!
Couple of weeks of work to catch up on...
I finished building up the second retaining block wall.
I mentioned earlier that, on this side, where the blocks run on top of the pond wall I miscalculated my footer depth and wound up with an undesirable gap. When placing the blocks I supported them with a stack of nuts and washers. I came back and filled in the gap with some mortar.
Not ideal but it will do. With filling more gaps, I had a significant amount of space between the retaining block walls and the concrete blocks on the inside. I did not want my liner to press down in these gaps so I got handy with some scrap wood.
Time to start with the liner (WOOHOO!!!). First was to protect the liner so I placed some underlayment.
I followed that up with the liner. As I placed the liner and fought with many difficult folds I filled areas with water hoping that it would help by forcing the liner into the corners and keep it from moving on one side as I worked with folds on the other.
I did a test run just to see how the water was going to flow.
It was time for the final routing of the pipes. In the following picture you can see where I disconnected my temporary pipe returns and removed all the support structure needed to keep it in place.
In the above picture you can see 2 pipes sticking out from under the lip of the plastic waterfall basin at the top. This is where my connections will be made and will run down to the pond as the following pictures show.
Remember the notch I cut in the concrete block earlier? Above you can see why - I needed it so that I could run the pipes over that wall without altering the levelness (is that even a word?) of the top of that wall.
And here is my leak test.
No leaks means moving forward. I made one of these -
...and one of these -
...and put them on the ends of the pipes -
These were paint black so that would be less obvious and are not glued on to the other pipes. They are pressed on tightly and can be removed later if need be.
I finished building up the second retaining block wall.
I mentioned earlier that, on this side, where the blocks run on top of the pond wall I miscalculated my footer depth and wound up with an undesirable gap. When placing the blocks I supported them with a stack of nuts and washers. I came back and filled in the gap with some mortar.
Not ideal but it will do. With filling more gaps, I had a significant amount of space between the retaining block walls and the concrete blocks on the inside. I did not want my liner to press down in these gaps so I got handy with some scrap wood.
Time to start with the liner (WOOHOO!!!). First was to protect the liner so I placed some underlayment.
I followed that up with the liner. As I placed the liner and fought with many difficult folds I filled areas with water hoping that it would help by forcing the liner into the corners and keep it from moving on one side as I worked with folds on the other.
I did a test run just to see how the water was going to flow.
It was time for the final routing of the pipes. In the following picture you can see where I disconnected my temporary pipe returns and removed all the support structure needed to keep it in place.
In the above picture you can see 2 pipes sticking out from under the lip of the plastic waterfall basin at the top. This is where my connections will be made and will run down to the pond as the following pictures show.
Remember the notch I cut in the concrete block earlier? Above you can see why - I needed it so that I could run the pipes over that wall without altering the levelness (is that even a word?) of the top of that wall.
And here is my leak test.
No leaks means moving forward. I made one of these -
...and one of these -
...and put them on the ends of the pipes -
These were paint black so that would be less obvious and are not glued on to the other pipes. They are pressed on tightly and can be removed later if need be.
Back to the top where the pipes sit in that notch. I do not want water flowing through the notch so I filled it with foam making sure to get the foam around all sides of the pipes.
Once it dried I trimmed it flush with a small hand saw.
This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, was kinda symbolic for me with regards to my pond - it was last year, the same weekend, when I first stuck shovel to dirt digging out what was a flowerbed and, as a result, was the beginnings of a large pile of dirt. A year later I moved that dirt pile to the back of the yard and was surprised at how much of an area that pile took up.
Now that that was done I could get back to fun stuff. With scrap pieces of liner I covered the white pipes.
Why did I cover those pipes instead of painting them? Good question. Because I plan on filling the area with rocks and the paint will easily scratch off. I did not want to be worried with white scratch lines showing.
When I built the 2 outside retaining walls I stopped short of the final blocks on the top. This was so that I could trim and tuck the liner under the final top pieces. So, with the liner where I wanted it I proceeded to trim and tuck and glue the final top blocks on the wall.
A final parting shot of the entire area...
Once it dried I trimmed it flush with a small hand saw.
This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, was kinda symbolic for me with regards to my pond - it was last year, the same weekend, when I first stuck shovel to dirt digging out what was a flowerbed and, as a result, was the beginnings of a large pile of dirt. A year later I moved that dirt pile to the back of the yard and was surprised at how much of an area that pile took up.
Now that that was done I could get back to fun stuff. With scrap pieces of liner I covered the white pipes.
Why did I cover those pipes instead of painting them? Good question. Because I plan on filling the area with rocks and the paint will easily scratch off. I did not want to be worried with white scratch lines showing.
When I built the 2 outside retaining walls I stopped short of the final blocks on the top. This was so that I could trim and tuck the liner under the final top pieces. So, with the liner where I wanted it I proceeded to trim and tuck and glue the final top blocks on the wall.
A final parting shot of the entire area...
j.w
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You are getting there and you put a lot of effort into this physically and mentally! Looks good 
You are getting there and you put a lot of effort into this physically and mentally! Looks good
Thanks. I know I am telling more than most people do in their construction posts - details like how I am gluing blocks together and why I painted some pipe but not others - but I am hoping that by doing so I can help remove some of the fog that may exist between the dream and the implementation in other people. I don't want to just share my work but also provide a source of learning for someone who might be struggling with the thought, "How do I do this ____ thing?" Maybe people who are apprehensive about starting similar tasks because they just don't know how to do it might learn a few of the in-between steps, along with the reasons and considerations, and will tackle something that could otherwise be too scary. I am by no means a construction expert and I have learned most of what I know by making mistakes (like what I don't show in my posts are all the PVC pipe gluings I have to throw away because I got an angle wrong or the firewood-sized pile of wood that I have cut too short). I could just post 2 or 3 progress pics but I have decided to provide details along with my thoughts so that, hopefully, I might spark an idea, solve a problem, or inspire someone to do something that might not otherwise happen. Case in point, my net frame that sits over the pond. From feedback on that topic I learned that it inspired some people to tackle their netting ideas differently. That was cool and made me feel good - I was able to give something back to this community which has fed me quite a lot over the past 2 years.
j.w
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And a very nice thing for you to do explaining it all like that for the benefit of others
Most of the liner I was able to hold in place by tucking it between blocks. This worked fine on horizontal places but I had one vertical rise which did not provide me the same convenience. I was not worried about anything in the actual workings of the waterfall. It was more of a visual aesthetics concern - I did not want to see the liner laying away from the wall. I remedied this by spraying some foam between the blocks and liner and held the liner in place with a clamped board.
After letting it sit most of the day I removed the clamps and board and found that it was staying where I wanted it (and, hopefully, will for a long time).
I will place some rocks against it which will also help to hold everything and will help hide the liner.
Next up was the fun and creative process of placing rocks. I started out by placing the rocks that will provide the 'step' for each fall (is 'step' the correct term?) and foam-gluing them in place. I placed foam both under and around the rocks. The foam that was "under" was to prevent water from going under the rocks. I quickly found that foam under the rocks would cause the rocks to rise and tilt. To help hold them down I placed heavier rocks and top and, for the most part, it helped. I did have some that will need to be redone.
After that foam had dried I removed my hold-down-rocks and did a test run of the water
I realized I had company who was curious as to what I thought I was doing...
He hung around for most of the day and, at some point, decided to go do something else. Meanwhile I started adding more rocks...
(The round rocks on the stack of flat rocks was, as before, to hold the flat ones in place while the foam set up.)
In this corner -
I want a place where I can set/remove plants in with little effort. My plan is to have some rocks under the water which will support this pot -
and, if done well, the pot will be almost invisible and I can simply drop in whatever plants I desire. Here is that pot set in place...
I will stabilize it and add some rocks around it making it a, more or less, permanent item.
How about a few more videos?
After letting it sit most of the day I removed the clamps and board and found that it was staying where I wanted it (and, hopefully, will for a long time).
I will place some rocks against it which will also help to hold everything and will help hide the liner.
Next up was the fun and creative process of placing rocks. I started out by placing the rocks that will provide the 'step' for each fall (is 'step' the correct term?) and foam-gluing them in place. I placed foam both under and around the rocks. The foam that was "under" was to prevent water from going under the rocks. I quickly found that foam under the rocks would cause the rocks to rise and tilt. To help hold them down I placed heavier rocks and top and, for the most part, it helped. I did have some that will need to be redone.
After that foam had dried I removed my hold-down-rocks and did a test run of the water
I realized I had company who was curious as to what I thought I was doing...
He hung around for most of the day and, at some point, decided to go do something else. Meanwhile I started adding more rocks...
(The round rocks on the stack of flat rocks was, as before, to hold the flat ones in place while the foam set up.)
In this corner -
I want a place where I can set/remove plants in with little effort. My plan is to have some rocks under the water which will support this pot -
and, if done well, the pot will be almost invisible and I can simply drop in whatever plants I desire. Here is that pot set in place...
I will stabilize it and add some rocks around it making it a, more or less, permanent item.
How about a few more videos?
j.w
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Nice flow over the falls. No water can get out between those bricks on the right side down at the last tier I hope. Hard to see but looks like it comes quite close to the top of the liner there. You are just gonna leave the bricks stacked but no mortar or anything right?