In over my head, building a huge waterfall. Need pointers.

[Tjsherrill]

View attachment 149330@Tjsherrill
Hope we haven't discouraged you too much. But listen to these people who have so much knowledge on this subject and it will go so much better for you in the end. I bet it will turn out so beautiful!

thanks. Not scared off. thankfully it is super helpful

 

[Lisak1]

Thanks @Lisak1. I agree. It was super helpful to post in this forum. It kicked off me doing more digging and figuring out what I wanted to do. I am going to try and add a few drops, narrow the width quite a bit and just use rocks.

Best advice I could give is watch lots and lots of video examples of pros building waterfalls. You'll see it's a formula that they all follow.

 

[GBBUDD]

Bottom up but in this case look at is as two projects and start in the middle and work up then the bottom to the middle

 

[Tjsherrill]

Bottom up but in this case look at is as two projects and start in the middle and work up then the bottom to the middle

@GBBUDD you mean related to order of operations on the waterfall?

 

[GBBUDD]

Yes, if you need to. often on something like that you probably need the extra distance to get closer to the top area. And if the bottom was built you may not be able to reach with equipment, though as a second option. you can get a LULL or all terrain fork truck to bring the rocks up the hill. it's just it is not a digger. An excavator can do more but a atf can rach much further

 

[Tjsherrill]

Yes, if you need to. often on something like that you probably need the extra distance to get closer to the top area. And if the bottom was built you may not be able to reach with equipment, though as a second option. you can get a LULL or all terrain fork truck to bring the rocks up the hill. it's just it is not a digger. An excavator can do more but a atf can rach much furtherView attachment 149778

Got it. Ya I learned how to run an excavator the last two years. The excavator I rent can do 2k lbs at like 10’ out. Last summer when we built this I had another guy running a bobcat with loader front. It only went 6’ so that sucked.

My plan at the moment is to empty the resavor pull the aqua blocks, and move that out a few feet to give more room for a few big rocks.

Basically starting over except the top 1/4.

 

[GBBUDD]

an other trick is bib liners its putting a second piece of rubber on top of an area so as to damn up or control the water

 

[Lisak1]

I was standing and staring at a negative edge drop into a underwater cistern on a pond tour once, trying to figure out how they got the water to pool at the top. A guy who knows a whole lot about pond building walked up behind me and whispered "bib liner". It's such a simple solution that's effective in so many applications where you want pooling.

 

[Tjsherrill]

Quick question on this, looks like I am gonna pull the bottom area back out in 2 weeks. How would you recommend I pull the ~400 gallons of water out of the reservior? I have the pump I will end up using and 50' of 3" hose. Or should I siphon it? thanks

 

[Tjsherrill]

I was standing and staring at a negative edge drop into a underwater cistern on a pond tour once, trying to figure out how they got the water to pool at the top. A guy who knows a whole lot about pond building walked up behind me and whispered "bib liner". It's such a simple solution that's effective in so many applications where you want pooling.

Gonna start watching videos on bib liners.

 

[YShahar]

Looking at your initial photo, it might make sense to either have the waterfall cross your slope at an angle, or zig-zag down the slope, so that none of the drops is too steep. Otherwise, you risk losing a lot of water to splashing, in addition to having a hard time making the waterfall look natural. If you create a wide-ranging zig-zag over the face of the slope, you can make larger pooling areas and more gradual drops (which means smaller boulders). Then you can use extra boulders to naturalize the whole design.

 

[Tjsherrill]

Looking at your initial photo, it might make sense to either have the waterfall cross your slope at an angle, or zig-zag down the slope, so that none of the drops is too steep. Otherwise, you risk losing a lot of water to splashing, in addition to having a hard time making the waterfall look natural. If you create a wide-ranging zig-zag over the face of the slope, you can make larger pooling areas and more gradual drops (which means smaller boulders). Then you can use extra boulders to naturalize the whole design.

thanks @YShahar that is my plan. Gonna start in about 2 weeks

 

[Lisak1]

I have the pump I will end up using and 50' of 3" hose. Or should I siphon it? thanks

If you can pump it, I'd suggest that. We have a small sump pump that is invaluable for these kinds of jobs.

 

[Tjsherrill]

If you can pump it, I'd suggest that. We have a small sump pump that is invaluable for these kinds of jobs.

Got it. I'll try that.

 

[Tjsherrill]

this video has been super helpful.