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
Building the Rock Wall
Beginning Date: August 24, 2006
Most ponds do not require hardscaping jobs such as this. Because ours is formal with walls we had to decide what kind of facing to put on the exterior of the structure. We could have stucco'd the walls to match the house. That would have looked nice but we are partial to the warmth of natural rock. The symmetrical shape of the pond, the fountain and the lions will keep the Mediterranean style going while the stacked stone brings in the North Georgia Mountains element without sacrificing the formality. This was one of the most interesting parts of our project simply because we enjoy watching the master skills of the masons. It certainly did more for changing the look of the pond since building the actual structure. We think it came out beautiful!
This page was last updated 09/26/2006
Click on the Thumbnails for Full-Size Pictures
| August 24, 2006 | ||
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We needed a lot of stacked stone and flagstone, sand and mortar for the amount of wall space we were covering. It took 2 truckloads from our friend, David's, company to haul it all in. He came early in the morning because we expected the crew of rock masons in around 10:00. | |
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David hauled his own forks in on a trailer, unloaded it, then began unloading the first pallet of stone. The weight of the rock and the trucks could crack our driveway and David was as careful as he could be. We are happy to report that our driveway withstood the weight and no new cracks were created. | |
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It had rained overnight and the ground was still very wet. David hauled the first pallet to the bottom of the hill. He was unable to get the forks to go up the slippery hill. We thought (as did David) that we were up the creek without the paddle but the Doc came through with his 4 WD truck and pulled the David up the hill. We all have a new respect for the power of our Chevrolet Silverado truck! | |
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Finally, all the stone, mortar, sand and flagstone were lined up and ready to go. We purchased a pallet of mortar mix, a pallet of flagstone and 3 pallets of the stacking stone. I went with the Doc to pick out the rock. I wanted to make sure that the stone had plenty of browns instead of grays. What we got was exactly what I wanted -- it had a bit of gray but mostly brown. The supplies were now ready and waiting on our masons to arrive. | |
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As soon as they arrived, the Masons went straight to work. They began on the East Wall of the structure laying the stacked stone. | |
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This particular mason also worked with us on our show pond for the Southeastern Flower Show a few years back. He and his crew are very skilled and fast. Our friend, Neil, with Blades & Blossoms has them work on many of his projects and was happy to set us up with them. They weren't cheap but their work is excellent! They charge by the square foot which is a very fair way. | |
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The East Wall (the one closest to the fence) was the first to be finished with stacked stone. | |
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I can't help but place a little of my own personality into a project so I brought one of my favorite rocks from the store and decided to place it in the rockwork - I just didn't know where it would look best. The Doc actually found the perfect spot which is centered on the South Wall. | |
| August 25, 2006 | ||
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The finished the stacked stone on the front wall (as shown here) and the very low West wall of the structure. Much of the 2nd day they were there the masons worked on building the rest of the wall for the tier since we were unable to finish it before they came. More of that work is recorded in the "Building the Tier" section of our project. | |
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It was obvious that the Doc chose the perfect spot for my message rock. It did not stick out like a sore thumb but was centered nicely and would offer a little surprise for our guests who might happen to see it. | |
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By the end of the 2nd day the walls of the tier were completely finished and all 4 outer sides of the stacked stone was completed. All we had left to do was the front wall of the tier and the flagstone to cap the top of the walls. | |
| August 26, 2006 | ||
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The Doc and I were wondering how they were going to do the front of the tier. They had asked that we pick them up some boards and that, too, had us puzzled until we saw the scaffold they built with the boards. So - work began on the stacked stone on the face of the tier. | |
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The sides and top of the cutout for the water-sheet was left unfinished. The reason for that is because water will be flowing over that ledge we will have to spray the lining material there. Then we'll install a straight edged rock of some sort to stick out and create a wall of water flowing down to the pond below. | |
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I personally liked the way this corner was done. Notice the bigger stone that breaks up the pattern of the smaller stacked stone. | |
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Now that the walls were finished it was time to begin work on the flagstone capping. The large sheets of flagstone were busted up into smaller workable pieces. | |
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The corners of the structures received a little more attention and were the first part of the wall to be capped. | |
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The first wall to be completed capped was, again, the East Wall. Mortar was applied to the top of the wall then the pieces of flagstone carefully arranged to form a pattern of sorts. Two men started on either end and worked their way to the middle, just as they did when they were stack-stoning the walls. | |
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Once the pieces were in place mortar was injected into the cracks with, surprisingly, a chef's pastry bag. | |
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Then the excess mortar was scraped away with a wire brush. The rest of the excess mortar was swept away by a broom to finish the capping. | |
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The capping made all the difference! The job just didn't look complete until the flagstone was layed. | |
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Alas! The rock work was completely finished. Here's a view of it from the southeast corner of the pond. We can now see how important it is to soften the edges of our pond with landscaping. | |
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There was another surprise in store for me. I actually loved the view from the back of the tier. I could see then how easy it was going to be to work on the plants in the tier and enjoy the pond, even from the back. Our little swimming pool is dwarfed even more by the massive pond. I have a feeling the grandkids will want to swim in the pond instead of the pool. Cecil's already said he's going to... | |
| Proceed to "Installing the Lions" |
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.
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Finishing Up |
Practical Information | |||||
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