A Koi Pond is Born!
Follow Along from Conception
to Completion as The Pond Doc Builds a State-of-the-Art, Low-Maintenance Doc's
Dream System Koi Pond in His Own Back Yard.
Pond Construction Stage
Lining Preparation and Installation
Beginning Date: August 8, 2006
This stage is experimental. Instead of going with our tried and true method of using a 45 mil EPDM rubber liner (which we would have used the largest available) we decided to give new technology a try. We will contract with Neil Boyce of Blades & Blossoms to spray on a hard-coat liner -- a product he's been using for a couple of years. It's very similar to the spray-on liners for truck beds. Our hope is that it will give us a smooth, hard surface that is not easily punctured and lasts for years to come. It's not a brand new method, but it's still pretty new and we are very excited about watching it come together and then testing it for durability.
We will use another lining method for the tier. The product we'll use is called Pond Armor. It's painted on like paint but it's no where near the consistency of latex paint and it's a lot more expensive. We will do this ourselves. We wanted to do the tier this way so that we can evaluate the product, know how it goes on and test the results so that we can sell the product to do-it-yourselfers and professional pond builders with a clear conscience that we're selling a good product.
Both methods require a large amount of preparation. They both need a smooth surface and sturdy floor and walls. Preparation of the surface is probably the most important step to these lining processes.
This page was last updated 04/17/2007
Click on the Thumbnails for Full-Size Pictures
| August 9, 2006 - Smoothing the Walls of the Main Pond | ||
 |
Prepping the inside walls of both the tier and the main pond is extremely important. The spray-on lining will show any and all imperfections. We did not want any cement chunks to protrude from the wall. The nooks and crannies not only will accumulate dirt, they will look sort of funny after the lining is finished. Here, Martin uses a round saw to cut off large chunks of mortar from the inside of the wall. | |
| August 23, 2006 | ||
 |
We began plastering the interior walls of the structure with cement to give it a plastered finish. This will prevent the pattern of the laid bricks from showing through when the interior lining is sprayed on. The lining will mock the exact shape (along with any imperfections, crevices or cracks) of the surface. | |
| September 6, 2006 | ||
 |
The walls to both the tier and the main pond have been completely plastered with cement and dry. We are currently waiting on Neil with Blades & Blossoms to get in the materials for the spray lining job to be done on the main pond. Cecil (The Doc) will be trying a different product on the tier. If it does well we should be able to sell it to the do-it-yourselfer! Here comes the experimental (but exciting) part of our project! | |
| September 7, 2006 | ||
 |
It is important, when prepping for this type of lining that the area to be covered is clean and dry. It has to be clear of any loose particles. | |
 |
Our crew prepares all areas to be covered with the lining by cleaning the concrete with a diluted muratic acid mix. | |
| September 16, 2006 - Lining the Tier | ||
 |
The first batch of Pond Armor is mixed with hardener which activates it. Once activated, you only have a little time to work with it so The Doc, himself, worked quickly to get the batch painted on. It dried into a hard shell in no time! Unfortunately, he had to stop after the one batch and did not get to finish the tier today. | |
| September 19, 2006 | ||
 |
Before work can resume on the lining of the tier we must clean the surfaces again. Any loose debris that falls onto the floor or sticks to the walls will be covered with the Pond Armor and can create bumps and prevent proper coverage. | |
 |
The Doc opens up the hardener to prepare to mix it with the black Pond Armor. The mix is 2 parts Armor to 1 part hardener. | |
 |
To mix it thoroughly a power drill is used. He placed a long paint mixer attachment onto the drill. It fit on just like a regular drill bit would. | |
 |
The Pond Armor is spread onto the walls and floor of the tier using a roller for the sides and a brush for the corners - just like you would do with regular paint. The difference is the consistency of the Pond Armor is much thicker and does not glide on like latex paint. Pressure has to be applied to the brush when rolling and it's slower than painting. No matter how careful you are to apply an even coat and to get all the spots it's not uncommon to have missed spots and thin areas. Several coats are required for complete coverage. The smoother the surface, the smoother the armor. We found that once it dried our floor was pitted which showed us that more smoothing of the floor would have made the coating process easier. By the end of the day, the Pond Armor was completely finished. It dried to a hard shell within an hour. | |
| September 20, 2006 | ||
 |
The bottom drains and plumbing openings for the jets and skimmers inside the walls of the main pond were taped off and prepared for the next day's job of spraying on the lining. Notice how neatly the tape was applied. This was so the outside of the fittings would be coated but the threads on the inside protected. | |
 |
Painter's tape was applied to the edge of the flagstone. This actually defined the edge of the lining. | |
 |
Duke supervises The Doc as he inspects the tape application. It was important that there were no areas where the tape did not stick and that it created a straight line. | |
| September 21, 2006 | ||
 |
Neil Boyce with Blades & Blossoms arrived early with his crew to begin the process of coating the main pond. I was amazed by the amount of equipment it took to do this process. It now made sense why the spray-on liner was a more expensive option. The materials, like the Pond Armor, were more expensive than purchasing a 45 mil EPDM liner plus the investment in the equipment was tremendous! Neil backed his trailer with all the equipment in it up as close to the pond as possible without getting stuck which meant it was on the driveway on the level above. The machinery had to run for a while to heat up the polyeuretha (I don't know if I have that right - I'll just call it "stuff") before he could begin spraying. | |
 |
While the "stuff" heated up he and his crew coated the walls and floor of the main pond with a primer that has sealing properties as well. | |
 |
We ran into a bit of a snag as gases from the concrete floor caused bubbles to form on the surface of the floor. This did not happen on the walls. Some of the bubbles could be "swept" away with a brush. | |
 |
After the primer was applied and while it was drying sheets of plastic were taped to the structure to protect the rockwork from over-spray. | |
 |
Finally, the primer was dry and the "stuff" was ready to go. Neil looked like something out of a sci-fi movie with his protective mask on and armed with his spray gun. The "stuff" came down through a long hose that I called the umbilical cord because it looked like one. It was under pressure and sprayed onto the first wall. The spraying process was surprisingly quick. | |
 |
It takes several passes to create a thick enough membrane and to insure that there are no thin areas. | |
 |
The thicker the membrane, the less chance of any leaks occurring... Notice the force of the spray! | |
 |
Constant inspection of the quality of what was coming out of the sprayer insured less problems down the road. | |
 |
In what seemed like no time the first wall was completely covered. | |
 |
Neil and Moise cut a portion of the tape away to test the wall for adhesiveness. All checks so far are a-okay. | |
 |
The "stuff" dries quickly. Even propping a tool against the wall causes no marring of the surface. | |
 |
The Doc feels the membrane and is surprised to find it just a bit flexible - more like rubber than what he was expecting. He thought it would be more like the hard finish of the tier -- like the back of a sprayed liner truck bed. I think I like the fact that the wall is somewhat flexible. I would think that it would be more likely not to crack if we ever suffered a mild earthquake and it would bend and flex with the normal settling of land that occurs naturally. | |
 |
We thought we had smoothed the sides better than what it shows here. The coating told a different story. Oh, well... As long as there are no leaks we're still good. | |
 |
With all the sides finished, it was time to concentrate on the floor. As a precaution and because of the gas bubbles that had come up earlier Neil decided to brush one more coat of primer onto the floor. As the primer dried the machinery was started to once again heat up the "stuff" for the spraying of the floor of the pond. Unfortunately, a small part went bad on the compressor and Neil had to stop for the day. | |
| September 22, 2006 | ||
 |
Wouldn't you know it? In the wee hours of the morning a hard rain wet our work area, even filling the pond a little. There is NO WAY to spray the "stuff" onto a wet surface. The Doc and I got out early and vacuumed out the pool of water that had collected with our trusty wet vac. (How could a pond owner ever do without one of those!?) As cloudy skies threatened to send even more rain our way I ran the wet vac to get rid of the little puddles around the pond floor while Cecil, on his hands and knees, used towels to dry it. When Neil arrived, his crew used heat to dry it even further. | |
 |
Once the work area was dry with a now-working compressor the spraying resumed. | |
 |
There was a gap left after the weir was installed. It had already been filled at this point. | |
 |
It took Neil only a few minutes to coat the area where the gap had been. | |
 |
Finally, all the spraying was completely finished! It would have been completed the day prior had a part not gone out on the compressor. | |
 |
Clean up began. All the plastic was removed and the tape is carefully cut away. | |
 |
As Moise is cutting the tape it begins raining again. Wow! Talk about timing! | |
 |
The tape covering the bottom drains and on the plumbing outlets to the skimmers and jets were cut away. Notice how the rain water beads up on the new membrane. | |
 |
All we had to do now was test for leaks. The tier was filled with water up to the weir and left overnight. | |
| October, 2007 | ||
| We did experience some leaking from the main pond. Even though Neil was very careful to coat every inch of the walls and floor there were a few pimples we found later and the Doc used Pond Guard to "plug up" the holes. The tier presented more serious problems... Gasses from the concrete created volcanoes. Each | ||
| Proceed to "Electrical Updates" |
The Project Schedule
(click on each step for pictures & details)
Though I tried to place each step in chronological order I am finding that as we progressed I often have to go back and revise what I've already completed. The color codes are as follows: BLACK is "Not Started", GREY is "In Process", PURPLE is "Completed" and RED is "Recently Revised"
Have a question about the construction of our dream pond (or any other question for that matter)? Click HERE!
To get to each section of our project so that you can see pictures and follow along with our progress, simply click on the stage in which you are interested.
|
Finishing Up |
Practical Information | |||||
|
|
© copyright 1997 - 2008 by PondDoc.com. All Rights Reserved.
