pond edge finishing.

[litteche]

Hi. I just registered to the this forum. It seems very usefull and good to share things here.
I have 1500g pond its half raised with retaning wall blocks. Right.now on the edge i hold it down the liner and run one line of reating blocks. But i am going to redo the pond make it little bit deeper and use less blocks and wanna finish the edges with flagstonenes.?
My question is can i cement mortals The edges and with flagtones hold the liner under the flagstones?
Ponds gonna be like 20" high above the ground.

 

[addy1]

to our group! I have not done block ponds, but a lot here have and will help you out.

 

[dieselplower]

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question, due to what may be a typing error. Are you saying you want to cement a ring of flagstone to the tarp in the pond, around the top of the pond at a shallow depth? And then hope the weight of a ring of flagstone around the perimeter will hold the tarp up?

 

[morewater]

Find an interlock dealer, ask to see Unilock Pisa II coping. Once you see the product, you'll understand why I suggested it for your application.

 

[sissy]

I know waterbug did a L shaped cap stone for ponds out of cement and saw on youtube someone making one and not sure if it was waterbug or not .But that may work .It would be easy and not to expensive to do .You can now buy additives to make the cement cap stones sturdier I used wood for my top

 

[sissy]

video was by dperry 428 making faux rock pond edging

 

[litteche]

Ok i add a picture now. U guys see edge of the pond finished with blocks. Instead of the i fanna finish it with much thinner flagstone but flagstone will be less weight. So can i bond it with cement mortar so it can hold the liner in place?

 

[dieselplower]

OK so you want to get rid of the large red blocks and put flagstone in their place? That should work find without any mortar. The liner is already being held down to the bottom and sides by the water. It can't go down any further than it already is.

 

[Waterbug]

Mortaring the flagstone to the liner won't hold. But what you can do is attach the liner to the top of the wall near the inside edge. That allows you to cut the liner (after pond is filled) back so the liner doesn't cover the entire top of the wall. As long as you can get like 1/2 to 3/4 of the wall top free of liner you'll get a good bond. You do mortar over the remaining liner, but that's just to fill the space.

Planning how the top of the wall is formed is a huge help. I like using bond beam blocks and then only fill the top course with maybe 1/4 to 1/2 full. When you lay the liner you can tuck it into the void and then fill with concrete. That will leave you with about 1-2' of exposed liner on the top and 6-7" of bare concrete that the flagstone can be mortared to. There are other ways, but that's the easiest imo.

Loose rock ends up in the pond or moves around too much for my taste.

 

[Waterbug]

Here's a pic. The bad pic the liner keeps the mortared cap rock from bonding to the wall.

The 4 pics on the right show the progression I like. When building the wall don't fill the top course all the way. Then when you lay the liner you can tuck it into the void and then fill with concrete. Then when you mortar the rock you get good bonding to the concrete wall.

Resist laying the rock directly into the concrete. Let the concrete cure a few days and then use mortar. That way should you every have to make a repair or want to change the cap rock you can bust out the mortar pretty easy and have a nice level surface to work with. Otherwise the rock will come away from the concrete and you'll have a bumpy top = no fun.

Here are some other options I like even more. These hides the liner better.

Blender board isn't required, but you can get a more curved top. You can offset the top course, use 4" block for the top course or whatever.

I don't like any exposed liner so I do something like the following.

 

[litteche]

Thank you waterbug it helps alot. Now i knoe wht to do.

 

[dfx]

Hi, I have raised blocks like this, but they are old rose colored sandstone and so I don't want to hide them. Have you any idea how I could do this?
Thanks

Here's a pic. The bad pic the liner keeps the mortared cap rock from bonding to the wall.

The 4 pics on the right show the progression I like. When building the wall don't fill the top course all the way. Then when you lay the liner you can tuck it into the void and then fill with concrete. Then when you mortar the rock you get good bonding to the concrete wall.

Resist laying the rock directly into the concrete. Let the concrete cure a few days and then use mortar. That way should you every have to make a repair or want to change the cap rock you can bust out the mortar pretty easy and have a nice level surface to work with. Otherwise the rock will come away from the concrete and you'll have a bumpy top = no fun.

Here are some other options I like even more. These hides the liner better.

Blender board isn't required, but you can get a more curved top. You can offset the top course, use 4" block for the top course or whatever.

I don't like any exposed liner so I do something like the following.

 

[Waterbug]

Either of the second 2 pictures but use your sandstone instead of the stone veneer.