New ponder, I know what I want, just not sure how to get there.

[Somethin' Fishy]

I'm trying to upload pictures, I'm not very tech savvy. View attachment 115470 View attachment 115471 View attachment 115472

The pictures are a great help. One thing I did when designing our ponds was I took the images over into the paint program on my computer, and I drew in my design ideas over the photos. It's even more fun if you have paint 3D or photoshop...

Observing your photos... Is that a foundation vent I see under the bay window? And I can't make out the square item on the wall to the right of the windows ?. Anyway, just throwing out an idea...as I'm not really seeing a 5' waterfall in this space... What about moving the waterfall to the space where the middle shrub is against the deck? That may give you a good place to conceal, yet still access, the waterfall spillway or filter falls unit (whatever you plan to use), and you could view the falls from the bay window. Maybe if you can't get the 5' height, a shorter falls over a couple "rapids" may give you the sound you're after... Then a pool ending before it gets in too close to your electrical service, but keeping a walkway available for meter access. I imagine your meter is probably read electronically, as ours is, but the electric company will still need access to that meter for repairs or to upgrade equipment. And I would imagine there is most likely a grounding rod, or series of rods, somewhere close to this area?

Are there any other plumbing or utilities under this space? 811 if unsure.

 

[Roughinmill]

The pictures are a great help. One thing I did when designing our ponds was I took the images over into the paint program on my computer, and I drew in my design ideas over the photos. It's even more fun if you have paint 3D or photoshop...

Observing your photos... Is that a foundation vent I see under the bay window? And I can't make out the square item on the wall to the right of the windows ?. Anyway, just throwing out an idea...as I'm not really seeing a 5' waterfall in this space... What about moving the waterfall to the space where the middle shrub is against the deck? That may give you a good place to conceal, yet still access, the waterfall spillway or filter falls unit (whatever you plan to use), and you could view the falls from the bay window. Maybe if you can't get the 5' height, a shorter falls over a couple "rapids" may give you the sound you're after... Then a pool ending before it gets in too close to your electrical service, but keeping a walkway available for meter access. I imagine your meter is probably read electronically, as ours is, but the electric company will still need access to that meter for repairs or to upgrade equipment. And I would imagine there is most likely a grounding rod, or series of rods, somewhere close to this area?

Are there any other plumbing or utilities under this space? 811 if unsure.

I do plan to call before i dig, but I'm relatively sure all utilities are in the last few feet. Yes that is a vent under the window, and the white small square just right of the window up 4 feet or so is the laundry vent, then behind the rose bush is crawl space access ( FYI not the best place for a rose bush) then electrical meter.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm just going to throw out there that your space does not really lend itself to a five foot high waterfall. I mean, you can do it, but the end result in my opinion will be out of scale with your space. You can create the sound of rushing water without creating such a high drop.

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

I do plan to call before i dig, but I'm relatively sure all utilities are in the last few feet. Yes that is a vent under the window, and the white small square just right of the window up 4 feet or so is the laundry vent, then behind the rose bush is crawl space access ( FYI not the best place for a rose bush) then electrical meter.

So you will obviously have to leave more of an access space into that area, and be prepared for heat and dryer lint blow out into your water feature... You say this space is 28' long? Anyway, another thing to be aware of, no mater what the placement or height of your waterfall, is that to create the louder flow you're looking for will also mean that there is a larger volume of water entering the pool. This will create a great deal of flow that your plants and goldfish might not appreciate. While the fish will enjoy a romp through the fast moving water, they also need a "quiet" space, and several of the more popular pond plants will not do well in a heavy current. Based on the scale of the photos, including the set backs for utilities and access spaces, I'm not seeing enough space to do that without building some sort of baffle in the pool. Unless you mean that the pond will be extending beyond what is visible in the pictures?

One last thought, if fish aren't a big priority to the feature, perhaps a pondless waterfall would suit the space?

Good luck with your project.

 

[sissy]

One thing I did notice is your electric meter and phone box do not block them and have access to them for the companies or they can fine you .Plus call dig safe because they may have codes on distance to the underground utility wires in the pipes to to be accessed .You sure don't want them digging up half the pond to access it if something happens .Not sure how you will take this but I would make it partially above ground to make it more visible ,but it won't look natural that way ,So not sure about that either .Do you want natural look

 

[Roughinmill]

I'm just going to throw out there that your space does not really lend itself to a five foot high waterfall. I mean, you can do it, but the end result in my opinion will be out of scale with your space. You can create the sound of rushing water without creating such a high drop.

you are right the more I look at it the less I think I have nearly enough room to do what I want to do, I may have to rethink everything, or scrap the idea altogether. I went to look again today ( it was raining) not sure where I came up with 28 feet? ( blame it on midnights) it's 13 feet from house to sidewalk and 20 feet from deck to drive leaving 14 feet max to work with to skip utilities. May just get a ready made fountain for deck to place next to the swing bed.

 

[Roughinmill]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments, y'all made me look at things and see things I had not thought of. My plan is at least twice the size of my space. Back to the drawing board, I'll keep looking, reading, and watching videos, to find new ideas for my space. The pondless waterfall is an idea, also I've considered a 4 or 5 foot self contained water wheel.

 

[j.w]

@Roughinmill I had a small one in an area smaller than yours. Then I decided it was not enough and moved it to the other side for more room.

Newer pond below:

 

[Roughinmill]

View attachment 115496@Roughinmill I had a small one in an area smaller than yours. Then I decided it was not enough and moved it to the other side for more room.

View attachment 115497

Newer pond below:

View attachment 115498

WOW your not kidding, you didn't go bigger you went HUGE. That looks amazing!! Great job.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments, y'all made me look at things and see things I had not thought of. My plan is at least twice the size of my space. Back to the drawing board, I'll keep looking, reading, and watching videos, to find new ideas for my space. The pondless waterfall is an idea, also I've considered a 4 or 5 foot self contained water wheel.

Hi Roughin. If you don't have enough room for a real waterfall this is a suggestion. I wanted a waterfall and my wife convinced me we needed a grassy area for our baby grandson to play instead so I made a poor man's waterfall! It's basically a hose attached to a pretty high powered pump and a rock sits on the open end where the water comes out so the water sprays and makes a lot of splashing and noise where it hits the pond. See picture with the rock in the closest corner. I'm using a 1500 GPH Laguna pump for it right now. So my wife got her grassy area and I got the water splashing and we both got pretty much what we wanted.

 

[Lisak1]

@Roughinmill - we certainly didn't intend to convince you that you couldn't have a pond in that spot! It would make a lovely place to put a pond. You just want to make sure the pond you build fits the space - nothing worse than a waterfall that looks like a big pile of rocks sprung up out of the ground.

@CometKeith - how big is the area where you built your pond just to give @Roughinmill an idea of what you can do in a space that's limited due to surrounding buildings, sidewalk, etc.

 

[CometKeith]

@Roughinmill - we certainly didn't intend to convince you that you couldn't have a pond in that spot! It would make a lovely place to put a pond. You just want to make sure the pond you build fits the space - nothing worse than a waterfall that looks like a big pile of rocks sprung up out of the ground.

@CometKeith - how big is the area where you built your pond just to give @Roughinmill an idea of what you can do in a space that's limited due to surrounding buildings, sidewalk, etc.

Hi Lisa. I just went out in the rain and measured it. Including the mulched areas which range from 1-2 ft wide my pond area is 19 long and varies from 12-17 wide because it's irregular shaped. If i measured just from the outside edge of my stepping stones the pond itself is 16 long and ranges from 9-12 wide. The actual pond calculation for volume would be about 14 x 10 and about 3 ft deep which would be around 2800-3000 gallons which makes sense because for me to add one inch to the pond water height I need to add at least 80 or so gallons of water to it. I'm attaching another picture that shows the shape and the water from my 1350 max flo laguna pump spraying into the pond. I also have a KoiAir mini aerator and 2000 gph pump/biofilter creating more water turbulence. Roughin. I hope this gives you an idea of what might work in your space. For my old pond I stacked a bunch of limestone pavers to create a small waterfall, but after having ponds for a while and seeing a lot of professionally built ponds I decided either I was going to have a really great waterfall or none at all and the none won out!

 

[Lisak1]

Ponds can definitely work in all kinds of spaces! And waterfalls don't have to be tall to be impressive - a few big rocks can make a big statement.

 

[Lisak1]

Hey and thanks for braving the rain @CometKeith ! Did you see the funnel cloud that was spotted near downtown the other day?

 

[michaelo]

With a ten gallon aquarium, a bag of rocks, some plastic aquarium plants, a small pump head and a hot glue gun, you can build model after model of your dream pond until you figure out exactly the balance of space, aesthetics and budget.

You can find all of this on Craigslist probably for free.

When you achieve your vision in miniature, you can display it to the forum for input on how to best execute in full scale with all the details that full scale requires, like maintainability and a hiding spot for the fish to hide from raccoons.

Just a thought, I wish you the best of luck achieving your vision.

Regards,
Michael O’