Waterfall design help

[camikazi]

Hi there, new to this forum, from connecticut.
will be reading a lot and learning, always wanted a waterfall in the backyard.
we have this big rock in the house with stairs to the top.

Just trying to see if this is a possible diy project, stock at home due to covid, figured i will research and make dream come true

the rock is about 7ft high. was thinking of
3 big fall
2 medium fall
1 smaller fall

those all were built planters, about 1 to 2ft deep each, and on the bottom will be the pond, or pondless fall not sure.

any recommendations help, what should i look for and do to tackle the project.

thank you

 

[sissy]

Question is how will you make it waterproof at the bottom of the rock .The water will just be absorbed into the ground .I can see it is a great looking rock but not sure hown you would make it into a pondless waterfall rock

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

That is a cool rock. Like sissy says not sure how you would make the rock to pond connection water proof. @GBBUDD did a lot of rock work, maybe he will have a idea

 

[j.w]

@camikazi
Will be neat looking if you can figure it out. Seems like you would have to dig way under the rock to lay the liner so that the water would be able to recirculate and not disappear into the ground. Sounds like a big job to me but heck what do I know about this...............nothing

 

[camikazi]

Question is how will you make it waterproof at the bottom of the rock .The water will just be absorbed into the ground .I can see it is a great looking rock but not sure hown you would make it into a pondless waterfall rock

again never done this before, but the plan is to dig in about 2ft to 4ft down , and then put underlayment and fill it with rocks, and lights shinning up on the fall

 

[sissy]

The water will still seek out where ever it can escape and also roots from plants around the rock will thrive and the roots from them will go into the liner .The only way you can do a pondless feature is to lift the rock and put a liner all around it or build in front of it and use the rock as a focal point and not a waterfall .My neighbor had a big rock and wanted to do it but it failed terribly every time .He gave up after he had a loader come in to try and lift the rock and found out it was ledge rock

 

[camikazi]

The water will still seek out where ever it can escape and also roots from plants around the rock will thrive and the roots from them will go into the liner .The only way you can do a pondless feature is to lift the rock and put a liner all around it or build in front of it and use the rock as a focal point and not a waterfall .My neighbor had a big rock and wanted to do it but it failed terribly every time .He gave up after he had a loader come in to try and lift the rock and found out it was ledge rock

oh destroying my dreams now

so if i dug lets say 3ft down and put cement down will that solve it all

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @camikazi !

I think you have to have a basic understanding of what water will do when given the chance. In one word, it's "escape".

For this to work, your rock would need to be sitting ON TOP of your basin. So if you can move the rock, dig the basin, line it, install a pump and plumbing, put in some rock and/or gravel and THEN put your giant rock back, you'd have a good start. But then you have to ask yourself - how will the water get back to the top of the rock... do you want a hose just running up the back? Kind of unsightly. I guess you could bury the back of the rock with a berm to conceal the plumbing line... but that's going to make this a one sided viewing experience. Or you could drill a hole through the entire center of it and turn it into a bubbling boulder, but you'd need one massive drill bit...

Just a few details to work out!

 

[GBBUDD]

A rock that size appears possible to move how ever it will not be cheap. To do it right as mentioned above is to dig a pit 2 to 3 feet deep place a foot of sand compact the hell out of it . place your liner dump another foot of sand onto of the liner and even then I would still throw some 3/4 ply on the sand probably two layers so when you go to place the Boulder back ."as it won't be gentle unless you get lucky . the liner should be safe and holding water. then you can think about the chipping of the granite "not an easy task" to make your water fall. OK there's your dream and the 25 grand to start the project on time and material .. orrrrrrr you can make other seals that are time consuming and require patience.
if you were to smooth a 4" Wide section of the rock toward the base. using a scarifier. A diamond grinding wheel make the flat spot in excess of four feet from the water coming down the rock. you use this to apply an epoxy a caulking to the rock place the rubber and then apply whats called a termination strip drilling tampons into the rock swearing the termination strip squeezing the rubber to row rock. Now wait thats only step one then if you want it to work I would repeat with the scarifier above the finished job you just completed but this time I would add cutting a narrow but 1 to 2 inch deep cut into the stone put a rubber or maybe even some copper as a flashing into the cut that drapes down over the lower termination strip. silicone or epoxy in place. so you now have two "waterproof" seals so if one starts to leak you bave a second that hopefully won't be leaking below into same spot I have done similar for a chimney I never got a call back .
but if it was me your always going to see the pipe that does not fly with me I would build a new pile of Liken covered boulders to the side and there you can build what ever your heart desires or can afford. this would be by far the easiest option but won't be cheap if its to match that Boulder either. your idea of three waterfalls looks like your not working with the contoure of the rock if you dumped 5 gallons of water over the rock in different spots on the top does it follow once path it looks like there's a natural channel in the middle. a small drop / stream to a falls or coven just water bouncing down the rock can look better then a fall touching nothing.

 

[poconojoe]

Nice idea, but I don't think it can be done without major bucks. Water will always seep through any transition you attempt to make between the rock and a liner or basin.

 

[GBBUDD]

Nice idea, but I don't think it can be done without major bucks. Water will always seep through any transition you attempt to make between the rock and a liner or basin.

I'm polish id make it work but yes it would not be cheap. I have seen many a home on the shore line try to build swimming pools around boulders now there's a bad idea.

 

[camikazi]

Welcome @camikazi !

I think you have to have a basic understanding of what water will do when given the chance. In one word, it's "escape".

For this to work, your rock would need to be sitting ON TOP of your basin. So if you can move the rock, dig the basin, line it, install a pump and plumbing, put in some rock and/or gravel and THEN put your giant rock back, you'd have a good start. But then you have to ask yourself - how will the water get back to the top of the rock... do you want a hose just running up the back? Kind of unsightly. I guess you could bury the back of the rock with a berm to conceal the plumbing line... but that's going to make this a one sided viewing experience. Or you could drill a hole through the entire center of it and turn it into a bubbling boulder, but you'd need one massive drill bit...

Just a few details to work out!

Idea was to bring the pipe up through the channel in the rock and cement it and cover it with rocks

 

[sissy]

in pic of rock it looks like brick in some spots .So very strange rock .

 

[GBBUDD]

Idea was to bring the pipe up through the channel in the rock and cement it and cover it with rocks

like it has been mentioned its a difficult task and if the rock has fissures/ deep cracks. I would give up on the idea. where in CT are you looks coastal

 

[camikazi]

like it has been mentioned its a difficult task and if the rock has fissures/ deep cracks. I would give up on the idea. where in CT are you looks coastal

Naugatuck