- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,957
- Reaction score
- 29,985
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
Very nice, we still have construction areas waiting for final clean up ............ That is beautiful what you are doing.
Wisconsin Pond Build
- Thread starter herzausstahl
- Start date
Please consider the reason for why overlapping liners can cause leaks. Once it is understood you will never have a problem. It has nothing to due with water pressure. It's capillary action. It's how trees move water vertically more than 100'. Bricks, cement, sandstone, etc can also "wick" water out of a pond.
In the case of liners it is the closeness of the two pieces that causes the problem. Adding goops only makes the problem worst. It holds the liners a bit further apart but still close enough for a capillary action to occur only with much more volume. And using roof tars and goops not made to fuse with the liner means they just sit on the liner. Water can still get between the goop and the liner.
Sealing two liners together using manufacturer approved products does fix the problem because the bond fuses the two liners into a single piece. Expensive and not easy to get right.
There's an easier choice when the two pieces are above the water line. Do the opposite of instinct and make a larger gap between the liners. That breaks the capillary action and you'll have no problem. And it is very easy to do. It can be as simple as running a bead of silicone horizontally on the bottom liner and waiting a day or so for the caulk to dry or at lease firm up. Now the top liner can be laid over the top over lapping the caulk by at least a couple of inches.
A faster way is to attach a piece of wood horizontally to the bottom liner and over lapping the top liner.
The picture unfortunately doesn't show the top liner overlapping very much. It can. It can run right down into the pond. The capillary action will occur but stop at the gap and not continue out into the soil. Remember, it isn't the wood or caulk stopping the water, it's the gap. The water never gets to the caulk or wood.
Without a gap some place you can overlap liners for 6 miles and you will still get a capillary action if one end is in water or wet.
Pretty simple fix once you know the problem.
Plant shelves, I think are the worst idea in ponds. Herons aren't the issue since they have no problem hovering over a pond and grabbing fish. And Great Blues can stand in the middle of many ponds. Raccoons may gain a bit more access, but again, in 3' deep ponds they'll go in shelves or not. However, raccoons will go after the potted plants, knocking them all over looking for food under the pots. It's what they do for a living. And its never a question of if but when. It's no fun at all fixing that mess. And after you do, you get to do it all over again when the raccoons come back. And if you live on planet earth...you have raccoons.
The shelve by themselves are messy. Stuff will come out of pots and into the pond. The soil beneath will often crumble over time and make the shelves uneven and normally sloping into the pond. Cleaning the pond becomes much harder. Koi and pots...yeah, that doesn't work.
And my number one issue with plant shelves...you can see the pots and they look like crap.
I think a better solution is to make a U channel instead of a shelf.
Along the top is a collar made using bond beam concrete block. Because the inside of the block is open the liner can be pushed inside the block and covered with soil. The result is an edge that will never cave in and you'll have about 2" of liner exposed. You can cover with rock or plant right up to the edge and plants will cover it. Or better yet a combination of rock and plants. Many more options.
The second level uses regular concrete block filled with soil. A pressure treated board can be bolted to a few blocks to create a lip. However lots of stuff can be used to create the lip. Right now there are tons of political signs everywhere you can get for free. These are made out of corrugated plastic. Strong stuff and won't rot. Even pressure treated wood will rot someday. You can bunch the corrugated plastic together to make a thicker stronger board. You want the hollow tubes running vertically. To bunch you make a score cut perpendicular to the tubes leaving one face intact. You can now fold it over on itself doubling the thickness. That can be repeated making an accordion type deal. 4 - 6 folds an you have a strong board that will never rot for free. With corrugated plastic you can make it so long that it doesn't have to even be bolted to the block. Instead it can be down in the soil and soil piled against it to hold it to the block.
For pressure treated wood you can drive stakes into the ground and nail 2x4s to the stakes to create a wall. Cheaper than using a 2x12 and you don't have to bolt to the blocks.
The U channel is just a thin blog type filter. But it gives you so many more options. The picture shows the water in the channel being higher than the pond and over flowing into the pond. But the level of the pond can be brought up over the lip and go into the channel.
You can use pots or plant directly into the channel. Just lower the pond level below the front lip and dig around as much as you like without getting the pond water muddy. After planting add water to the channel and let the muddy water settle and you can bring the pond level back up or pump water into the channel and let it over flow into the pond.
The channel also allows you to use tall plants like Cana. Even in pots the channel will keep the pots from tipping over in the wind.
String algae in plants on a regular shelf is a nightmare. With channels you can plant high so the soil is just an inch below the front lip. Plant and then put a layer of water rock over the soil so the top of the rock is above the front lip. Now if you pump water into the channel the water level will be below the rock and string algae hates that. Or instead of pumping water into the channel bring the pond level up. Your liner will be completely covered with the river rock.
I like to use river rock rather than pea gravel because you will have to work in the channel someday to divide plants, etc.
If you ever need to treat your pond with salt or something else you can just drop the water level a few inches to isolate the plant channel and treat the pond without harm to the plants.
I could go on...
In the case of liners it is the closeness of the two pieces that causes the problem. Adding goops only makes the problem worst. It holds the liners a bit further apart but still close enough for a capillary action to occur only with much more volume. And using roof tars and goops not made to fuse with the liner means they just sit on the liner. Water can still get between the goop and the liner.
Sealing two liners together using manufacturer approved products does fix the problem because the bond fuses the two liners into a single piece. Expensive and not easy to get right.
There's an easier choice when the two pieces are above the water line. Do the opposite of instinct and make a larger gap between the liners. That breaks the capillary action and you'll have no problem. And it is very easy to do. It can be as simple as running a bead of silicone horizontally on the bottom liner and waiting a day or so for the caulk to dry or at lease firm up. Now the top liner can be laid over the top over lapping the caulk by at least a couple of inches.
A faster way is to attach a piece of wood horizontally to the bottom liner and over lapping the top liner.
The picture unfortunately doesn't show the top liner overlapping very much. It can. It can run right down into the pond. The capillary action will occur but stop at the gap and not continue out into the soil. Remember, it isn't the wood or caulk stopping the water, it's the gap. The water never gets to the caulk or wood.
Without a gap some place you can overlap liners for 6 miles and you will still get a capillary action if one end is in water or wet.
Pretty simple fix once you know the problem.
Plant shelves, I think are the worst idea in ponds. Herons aren't the issue since they have no problem hovering over a pond and grabbing fish. And Great Blues can stand in the middle of many ponds. Raccoons may gain a bit more access, but again, in 3' deep ponds they'll go in shelves or not. However, raccoons will go after the potted plants, knocking them all over looking for food under the pots. It's what they do for a living. And its never a question of if but when. It's no fun at all fixing that mess. And after you do, you get to do it all over again when the raccoons come back. And if you live on planet earth...you have raccoons.
The shelve by themselves are messy. Stuff will come out of pots and into the pond. The soil beneath will often crumble over time and make the shelves uneven and normally sloping into the pond. Cleaning the pond becomes much harder. Koi and pots...yeah, that doesn't work.
And my number one issue with plant shelves...you can see the pots and they look like crap.
I think a better solution is to make a U channel instead of a shelf.
Along the top is a collar made using bond beam concrete block. Because the inside of the block is open the liner can be pushed inside the block and covered with soil. The result is an edge that will never cave in and you'll have about 2" of liner exposed. You can cover with rock or plant right up to the edge and plants will cover it. Or better yet a combination of rock and plants. Many more options.
The second level uses regular concrete block filled with soil. A pressure treated board can be bolted to a few blocks to create a lip. However lots of stuff can be used to create the lip. Right now there are tons of political signs everywhere you can get for free. These are made out of corrugated plastic. Strong stuff and won't rot. Even pressure treated wood will rot someday. You can bunch the corrugated plastic together to make a thicker stronger board. You want the hollow tubes running vertically. To bunch you make a score cut perpendicular to the tubes leaving one face intact. You can now fold it over on itself doubling the thickness. That can be repeated making an accordion type deal. 4 - 6 folds an you have a strong board that will never rot for free. With corrugated plastic you can make it so long that it doesn't have to even be bolted to the block. Instead it can be down in the soil and soil piled against it to hold it to the block.
For pressure treated wood you can drive stakes into the ground and nail 2x4s to the stakes to create a wall. Cheaper than using a 2x12 and you don't have to bolt to the blocks.
The U channel is just a thin blog type filter. But it gives you so many more options. The picture shows the water in the channel being higher than the pond and over flowing into the pond. But the level of the pond can be brought up over the lip and go into the channel.
You can use pots or plant directly into the channel. Just lower the pond level below the front lip and dig around as much as you like without getting the pond water muddy. After planting add water to the channel and let the muddy water settle and you can bring the pond level back up or pump water into the channel and let it over flow into the pond.
The channel also allows you to use tall plants like Cana. Even in pots the channel will keep the pots from tipping over in the wind.
String algae in plants on a regular shelf is a nightmare. With channels you can plant high so the soil is just an inch below the front lip. Plant and then put a layer of water rock over the soil so the top of the rock is above the front lip. Now if you pump water into the channel the water level will be below the rock and string algae hates that. Or instead of pumping water into the channel bring the pond level up. Your liner will be completely covered with the river rock.
I like to use river rock rather than pea gravel because you will have to work in the channel someday to divide plants, etc.
If you ever need to treat your pond with salt or something else you can just drop the water level a few inches to isolate the plant channel and treat the pond without harm to the plants.
I could go on...
No way to delete posts?
j.w
I Love my Goldies
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Messages
- 33,896
- Reaction score
- 20,872
- Location
- Arlington, Washington
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- USDA 8a
- Country
Waterbug I think you would have to ask a mod or admin to do it for you. You do have a few minutes to make changes but not to delete completely.
sissy
sissy
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2011
- Messages
- 33,086
- Reaction score
- 15,707
- Location
- Axton virginia
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 7A
- Country
I see you have your bubbler and love how it looks but how are you going to filter the pond .I used plain pipe insulation to insulate all my pipes and then some of those extra wide opening pool noodles for some since I got the on sale .I love wahat you did with your waterfalls seperated from each other and the deck is great and is that speakers on the posts .
herzausstahl
herzausstahl
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 363
- Location
- Northeast Wisconsin Zone 4a/5b
- Hardiness Zone
- 4a
Waterbug,
No worries, I take it that was meant for another post? But to involve it with my post, the liners I sealed the same way Addy1 did with hers. That is with the pl roofing glue (so I believe it is a glue for sealing the 2 liners, not just caulk, and the epdm liners we are using are similiar to the roofing ones), then double sided roofing tape, followed by single sided tape to cover the 2 liner edges. So the last 2 steps should help to eliminate gaps for the capillary action you were talking about I would think. At least in the case of my pond, the first seal sits underwater in the stream opening and I made sure it was flat along the seal run and overlapped by a foot or so. The upper seal in my stream I overlapped over a step to help avoid the capillary action (which I was aware of, but didn't know the technical term for it), and the water runs over it fairly fast without any time to pool. I believe my first seal is working because the pond never drains down to that level, plus it is all clay under the seal so that should help. As to the shelves, I don't have plant shelves so much as rock shelves. My shelves were built to hold the rocks to make it look more natural. The upper shelf is sloped back a little to hold the rocks in place, slants down at a 45 degree angle to the next shelf (only about a foot down) which holds the last layer of rock. So no plants. The majority of this shelf was dug in clay, so I would think that would help stabilize it a little more wouldn't it? My mom has a small pond with very defined vertical shelves (foot down from the edge, foot wide, and about a foot down to the bottom) dug in clay and hasn't had any cave ins. I just planted some water lilys in pots in the very bottom, so unless the raccoon can hold his breath for a long time I won't have to worry.
Interestingly enough, my parents live next to a large woods and she has never had any problems with raccoons rearranging her plants (there is a large stream for them to play with running through the valley instead), but they are the reason she doesn't have any fish though.
Thanks JW,
That was my plan for the hemlock, and probably most of the trees that will grow large that I planted. Plus my younger brother is an arborist, so I have the luxury of asking him about any trees I want to plant and what to do if I run into problems.
LOL Addy1,
If I left stuff too long, my wife would kill me. She has already referred to herself as a yard widow since I have been out in the yard constantly since May, first a fence and then the pond (and no disrespect meant towards yourself or your late husband).
Sissy,
For a filter I actually have two. First the stream has a ton of small rocks in the bottom that will act as a biological filter, and then I also have a filter rated for a 4000 gallon pond (about 2 times the size of mine) that has a few sponges for mechanical filtration, some bio balls for biological, and a UV light (also has a backflush feature for cleaning). Could've built one, but wouldn't have had the UV and would have been larger. That is inline for the waterfalls. Before I had that I had murkier water, but all is clear now. As for the lines, I didn't insulate any (had them all buried after you told me, but I am not using rigid PVC inline anywhere except for my snorkel in the upper pool and my overflow drain). But for winter I plan to turn off both pumps, remove the filter, blow air in all the lines and put caps on them. The pumps will be left in, but are at the very bottom of the pond. Talked to a friend of my brothers (the arborist) who works for a landscaping company down in Madison, WI and he said that is what their pond guy does for all of theirs in the state, so should work (I'll know next May for sure though).
And on to the last photos I will have for awhile, unless I make more changes.
These are continuing the journey down the path from the bench.
These are all pictures from the outside of the garden looking in. I did try to add another lip to the stream so the upper pool would be fuller, but the rock I used was too tall so the water started to leak out the sides, so I ripped it out. The next thing I plan on is winterizing the pond (blowing air in the lines I have and adding the winter surface water agitating pump), but obviously won't do that for awhile and gonna read up on that in the forum in the next few months.
No worries, I take it that was meant for another post? But to involve it with my post, the liners I sealed the same way Addy1 did with hers. That is with the pl roofing glue (so I believe it is a glue for sealing the 2 liners, not just caulk, and the epdm liners we are using are similiar to the roofing ones), then double sided roofing tape, followed by single sided tape to cover the 2 liner edges. So the last 2 steps should help to eliminate gaps for the capillary action you were talking about I would think. At least in the case of my pond, the first seal sits underwater in the stream opening and I made sure it was flat along the seal run and overlapped by a foot or so. The upper seal in my stream I overlapped over a step to help avoid the capillary action (which I was aware of, but didn't know the technical term for it), and the water runs over it fairly fast without any time to pool. I believe my first seal is working because the pond never drains down to that level, plus it is all clay under the seal so that should help. As to the shelves, I don't have plant shelves so much as rock shelves. My shelves were built to hold the rocks to make it look more natural. The upper shelf is sloped back a little to hold the rocks in place, slants down at a 45 degree angle to the next shelf (only about a foot down) which holds the last layer of rock. So no plants. The majority of this shelf was dug in clay, so I would think that would help stabilize it a little more wouldn't it? My mom has a small pond with very defined vertical shelves (foot down from the edge, foot wide, and about a foot down to the bottom) dug in clay and hasn't had any cave ins. I just planted some water lilys in pots in the very bottom, so unless the raccoon can hold his breath for a long time I won't have to worry.
Interestingly enough, my parents live next to a large woods and she has never had any problems with raccoons rearranging her plants (there is a large stream for them to play with running through the valley instead), but they are the reason she doesn't have any fish though. Thanks JW,
That was my plan for the hemlock, and probably most of the trees that will grow large that I planted. Plus my younger brother is an arborist, so I have the luxury of asking him about any trees I want to plant and what to do if I run into problems.
LOL Addy1,
If I left stuff too long, my wife would kill me. She has already referred to herself as a yard widow since I have been out in the yard constantly since May, first a fence and then the pond (and no disrespect meant towards yourself or your late husband).
Sissy,
For a filter I actually have two. First the stream has a ton of small rocks in the bottom that will act as a biological filter, and then I also have a filter rated for a 4000 gallon pond (about 2 times the size of mine) that has a few sponges for mechanical filtration, some bio balls for biological, and a UV light (also has a backflush feature for cleaning). Could've built one, but wouldn't have had the UV and would have been larger. That is inline for the waterfalls. Before I had that I had murkier water, but all is clear now. As for the lines, I didn't insulate any (had them all buried after you told me, but I am not using rigid PVC inline anywhere except for my snorkel in the upper pool and my overflow drain). But for winter I plan to turn off both pumps, remove the filter, blow air in all the lines and put caps on them. The pumps will be left in, but are at the very bottom of the pond. Talked to a friend of my brothers (the arborist) who works for a landscaping company down in Madison, WI and he said that is what their pond guy does for all of theirs in the state, so should work (I'll know next May for sure though).
And on to the last photos I will have for awhile, unless I make more changes.
These are continuing the journey down the path from the bench.
These are all pictures from the outside of the garden looking in. I did try to add another lip to the stream so the upper pool would be fuller, but the rock I used was too tall so the water started to leak out the sides, so I ripped it out. The next thing I plan on is winterizing the pond (blowing air in the lines I have and adding the winter surface water agitating pump), but obviously won't do that for awhile and gonna read up on that in the forum in the next few months.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,957
- Reaction score
- 29,985
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
laughing herz....... my new hubby gets a clean house only when the weather is too yucky to be outside! He loves the fact I enjoy being outside so much. My previous hubby was a little more difficult.........lol
This hubby starts jobs and thinks on them for a while...........umm longer than a while...........but he does a good job. I tend to take over some of them and finish.........so he has learned if it sits too long I will do it, so if he does not want me to do it, he has to get cranking.
The pond, yard, mowing, tractor is my stuff, I won't mess with electric, (he is an electrician.......) house cleaning on the bottom of my list. But he still works and I got to retire early, so a trade off.
herzausstahl
herzausstahl
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 363
- Location
- Northeast Wisconsin Zone 4a/5b
- Hardiness Zone
- 4a
Addy,
thats cool that it works out well for both of you, I tend to think as I work on it, and if something doesn't work how I want, change it as I go. sometimes my wife gets involved outside, but she describes herself as "indoorsy", on the bright side it means the house is clean and I don't have to cook, so works for me. having an electrician can come in handy, fortunately for me I found a guy who does a good job at a good price (used to work for a company and self employed now).
thats cool that it works out well for both of you, I tend to think as I work on it, and if something doesn't work how I want, change it as I go. sometimes my wife gets involved outside, but she describes herself as "indoorsy", on the bright side it means the house is clean and I don't have to cook, so works for me. having an electrician can come in handy, fortunately for me I found a guy who does a good job at a good price (used to work for a company and self employed now).
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,957
- Reaction score
- 29,985
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
He swears he is not retiring, says I work him too hard when he is home..........lol...............his job currently is to bring home the paycheck. I enjoy working on everything, except house cleaning, even enjoy cooking............
herzausstahl
herzausstahl
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 363
- Location
- Northeast Wisconsin Zone 4a/5b
- Hardiness Zone
- 4a
Here are some animal pics from the pond.
This was the first one to move in (besides insects). My wife named him Trevor. This is one of the few times I have seen him, because mostly he likes to hide out. Not sure where he will overwinter, I would guess in the ground around the pond somewhere, or else in the mulch. Funny how far these guys will travel for water, nearest source is about 1/2 mile away, first frog I've seen in fact, mostly just see toads.
My goldfish, about 10 feeders and 4 Shubunkins. Got some nice colored ones out of the feeder tank and the guy at Petco was nice enough to target the interesting ones for me. I was adding water to the pond in this corner and all of them flocked to the current. Was kind of cool.
This was the first one to move in (besides insects). My wife named him Trevor. This is one of the few times I have seen him, because mostly he likes to hide out. Not sure where he will overwinter, I would guess in the ground around the pond somewhere, or else in the mulch. Funny how far these guys will travel for water, nearest source is about 1/2 mile away, first frog I've seen in fact, mostly just see toads.
My goldfish, about 10 feeders and 4 Shubunkins. Got some nice colored ones out of the feeder tank and the guy at Petco was nice enough to target the interesting ones for me. I was adding water to the pond in this corner and all of them flocked to the current. Was kind of cool.
herzausstahl
herzausstahl
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 363
- Location
- Northeast Wisconsin Zone 4a/5b
- Hardiness Zone
- 4a
The other night we had a full moon so I got out the camera and decided to take pictures of the pond at night. Not the greatest with my light settings yet, in fact, just left it on auto and can't find my tripod so i had to rely on chairs to set the camera on, but still turned out ok.
The solar lights across the whole garden.
A different view, I lit the candles on the deck.
More scene shots of the whole garden. The solar lights look random from here, but they actually follow the paths leading through the garden.
These are of the candles on the deck and their reflection in the pond.
The solar lights across the whole garden.
A different view, I lit the candles on the deck.
More scene shots of the whole garden. The solar lights look random from here, but they actually follow the paths leading through the garden.
These are of the candles on the deck and their reflection in the pond.
herzausstahl
herzausstahl
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2011
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 363
- Location
- Northeast Wisconsin Zone 4a/5b
- Hardiness Zone
- 4a
Did some technical upgrading the other day. First I decided to build a cover on the deck for where my power outlet and speaker outlets are.
The 2 gang box (lower one) is my outdoor outlets and the single gang (upper one) is for my speakers. I got a 4 speaker wall plate (like this one here :http://www.ebay.com/itm/Banana-Bind...258?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae28b2c22), but only had 2 lines run. So I connected each line to one of the speaker terminals and ran a bridge (a second wire) from that terminal to one of the extra ones. Haven't tried it yet to see if it worked. Might be a spring project.
Here is the first cover I built. Each one just rests on the deck so I can remove them whenever I want without hassle.
Here is the second one I built. Covers all of my outlet boxes and adds a step for my daughter to get onto the bench.
Then I decided I wanted to raise my overflow drain so i could raise my water level. I wanted to raise it to add more capacity to the pond, to make it deeper for winter, and now the water level is higher in the stream and the young goldfish can swim in the current (at least till they get too big for it, haven't measured the water depth there yet).
I raised it about an inch to an inch and a half. The liner is connected to the 2" hard PVC with 2 sided sticky tape (liner wrapped around 3/4s of the pipe) and then single sided tape (white one) over the top. Hasn't leaked so far. Then I covered it back up with rocks. The flat rock in front of the drain has also been good for telling how low/hi the water level is.
And naturally raising the water level showed me which side of the pond was the lowest. So I dug up my liner on this side and added extra dirt underneath it to build it back up.
I also had to do this under the deck a little bit, but only had to unscrew one board to be able to reach all of it, so that wasn't too bad. Had I have read this forum a lot earlier in the planning phase, I would have followed addy and sissy's advice and left all of my excess liner rolled up on the sides instead of just a little extra. But was able to raise it and then cover it back up with stones.
Here is the finished re-edging, luckily still had lots of the little river rock left that I used to fill in gaps between the bigger stones and make it look more natural. Still gotta find my camera tri-pod and then I will attempt some more night time pictures. Looking at trying it next time I light the Tiki torches and seeing if I can get better pictures of those.
The 2 gang box (lower one) is my outdoor outlets and the single gang (upper one) is for my speakers. I got a 4 speaker wall plate (like this one here :http://www.ebay.com/itm/Banana-Bind...258?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae28b2c22), but only had 2 lines run. So I connected each line to one of the speaker terminals and ran a bridge (a second wire) from that terminal to one of the extra ones. Haven't tried it yet to see if it worked. Might be a spring project.
Here is the first cover I built. Each one just rests on the deck so I can remove them whenever I want without hassle.
Here is the second one I built. Covers all of my outlet boxes and adds a step for my daughter to get onto the bench.
Then I decided I wanted to raise my overflow drain so i could raise my water level. I wanted to raise it to add more capacity to the pond, to make it deeper for winter, and now the water level is higher in the stream and the young goldfish can swim in the current (at least till they get too big for it, haven't measured the water depth there yet).
I raised it about an inch to an inch and a half. The liner is connected to the 2" hard PVC with 2 sided sticky tape (liner wrapped around 3/4s of the pipe) and then single sided tape (white one) over the top. Hasn't leaked so far. Then I covered it back up with rocks. The flat rock in front of the drain has also been good for telling how low/hi the water level is.
And naturally raising the water level showed me which side of the pond was the lowest. So I dug up my liner on this side and added extra dirt underneath it to build it back up.
I also had to do this under the deck a little bit, but only had to unscrew one board to be able to reach all of it, so that wasn't too bad. Had I have read this forum a lot earlier in the planning phase, I would have followed addy and sissy's advice and left all of my excess liner rolled up on the sides instead of just a little extra. But was able to raise it and then cover it back up with stones.
Here is the finished re-edging, luckily still had lots of the little river rock left that I used to fill in gaps between the bigger stones and make it look more natural. Still gotta find my camera tri-pod and then I will attempt some more night time pictures. Looking at trying it next time I light the Tiki torches and seeing if I can get better pictures of those.
sissy
sissy
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2011
- Messages
- 33,086
- Reaction score
- 15,707
- Location
- Axton virginia
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 7A
- Country
hey you could hide all your millions in there and we are the only ones who know .Now where do you live LOL
sissy
sissy
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2011
- Messages
- 33,086
- Reaction score
- 15,707
- Location
- Axton virginia
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 7A
- Country
I was looking at your deck and noticed the spacing between the boards as I put spacing in my front porch and am suffering for it now as some of the boards shrank so much that my poor chihuahua has his little legs falls through .I didn't think of it back when I built the front porch because I had 2 large dogs .When I built my back decks I did not space the boards and he is fine on both those decks .I have stainless steel spaces I 'm going to put in some of the gaps on the covered front porch before my Chihuahua breaks a leg .I can't believe how much they shrunk ,some over an inch .I'm to lazy right now to take them all up and move them closer because the front porch is a 100 feet long .
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,957
- Reaction score
- 29,985
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
my sweet heart took long enough doing the deck they dried nicely before we even used them..................one advantage to taking your time.Be
Beautiful job! your work is wonderful, love the covers you made and all the tweaks.
Beautiful job! your work is wonderful, love the covers you made and all the tweaks.