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
Creating the Tier
Beginning Date: August 15, 2006
The tier is what is going to add structural interest to the pond. We have changed our minds about a couple of things concerning the tier since the planning stage when we drew it out on paper. Instead of having the tier stretch the whole length of the back of the pond we are going to cut it off a couple of feet on either side. This should help it appear less boxy, I'd like to plant a tall structured bush (possibly a spruce of some kind) inside the corners to dress it up a bit. Also, instead of two waterfalls we've changed it to one sheet of water cascading down from the center.
This page was last updated 09/26/2006
Click on the Thumbnails for Full-Size Pictures
| August 15, 2006 | ||
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The floor of the tier will be at ground level so the back wall of the pond was backfilled with dirt and the floor built up. | |
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Construction of the wall of the tier was started. The side walls were offset 2 feet on both sides, a change in plans from the original drawing. We didn't get very far with the walls on this day. | |
| August 23, 2006 | ||
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Work resumed on the tier structure. The bottom row of blocks was lined up with the top of the wall of the main structure. | |
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A PVC pipe was inserted in to the bottom row to give water returning to the pond access to the lions and to fill the tier with water so it will flow over the weir and create the water sheet waterfall. The Doc wanted to install a drain pipe as well but this did not get done. | |
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When the next row of blocks were placed on the wall of the tier facing the pond a space was left so stacked stone could be installed there. | |
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Once again, making sure that the brick layers remained level was extremely important. The Doc made sure that he was there to instruct Martin and make sure that level was maintained. | |
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Our schedule had been delayed about half a day due to rain the day before. Martin and his crew were unable to get the walls of the tier completely finished and ready for the rock masons who were scheduled to show up the next morning. Cecil was sure that the masons would be able to finish the job for them. | |
| August 24, 2006 | ||
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For extra money the masons agreed to finish the tier structure. Another row of bricks was installed, then the Doc showed the masons how he wanted the waterfall to be placed. Cecil was a bit worried that the masons could not understand his Southern English and he spoke his best "Spanglish". | |
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No problem with communication this time! A break in the structure was placed in the center of the tier wall for a waterfall to be installed later. I was wondering why he used 2 cap stones on top of each other rather than a single block but then it occurred to me that the blocks would have had holes in them and he needed a flat, solid surface for the installation of the weir. | |
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If there was going to be a place where water could escape it was going to be right here! The Doc painted on a liquid rubber paint called CIM to help insure a watertight application. CIM is quite expensive but it's perfect for areas of the pond where liner is impractical. | |
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The masons finished the tier so they were able to complete the rockwork. The only problem we had with their work on the tier was the large gaps left from them placing the blocks together without mortaring in between. The gaps must be filled in before the liner is sprayed on. We can't fault them too much, after all, they are rock masons and this is not their specialty. No fear. This will be easily corrected during the preparations for the lining by spraying in foam. | |
| September 5, 2006 | ||
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After a short break to celebrate the 4th of July we resumed work on the tier. The gaps left between the cement blocks were filled and the interior tier walls were plastered with cement to make them smooth and to get rid of the block pattern. | |
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We ran the plumbing a bit different than what we had sketched out to do during the planning stage. Instead of having a separate drain AND return line we plumbed one 3-inch bottom drain that will serve as both. The drain will not serve as a re-circulation drain - the pump will not be pulling any water from the tier at all. The drain will serve as #1 - a water return so the tier will fill with water from the bottom - and also as #2 - a way to drain the tier completely of water for cleaning. | |
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We used 2" hard PVC to the drain and reduced the PVC to the lion spitters down to 1". The lines to the lion spitters were placed first then the 2" drain line was placed over the 1" PVC line. | |
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A 2" Gate Valve was placed on the 2" PVC line so that when the water is being pushed into the water return (drain) to fill the tier we can force some of the water through the lion spitters. Water will take the path of least resistance and all of it will basically go straight and no water pressure will go through the 1 1/2" line (reduced inside the tier to 1") to make the lions "spit". So - by closing the gate valve some - we can force the water to go through the lions. The more we close the valve, the more water will be forced through to the lions. | |
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Once the plumbing was in place we needed to pour the floor of the tier. Since we did not have the tier walls finished, nor the plumbing run at the time the floor of the main pond was poured we had to do it ourselves. We did not have the formula (or knowledge) for using the cement/fiberglass mix that the foundation pourers used so we did it the "old-fashioned" way of reinforcing the cement with metal. The sheets of wire were placed over wire lifts to keep the floor uniform. | |
| September 6, 2006 | ||
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Unfortunately, I was too busy during the time the guys actually poured the cement to be able to photograph the process - but this is how it ended up. After the cement dried the floor and walls were cleaned with a mixture of water and muratic acid. The floor and sides of the tier are now ready for the lining process. | |
| September 16, 2006 - Lining the Tier | ||
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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 20, 2006 | ||
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The weir for the water wall style waterfall is installed onto a layer of mortar. A solid sheet of flagstone is cut to size and pieces that were cut off were saved to be used soon to channel the water. Care was taken to make sure the weir is level from side to side. This insures a consistent wall of water. It is also tilted forward just slightly. | |
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There was a gap left after the weir was installed. This cavity would need to be filled and coated with Pond Armor. | |
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The Doc fills the cavity under the weir and uses (I believe it was) E-6000 as a waterproofing caulk around the edges. | |
| September 22, 2006 | ||
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It took Neil only a few minutes to coat the area where the gap had been. | |
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The tier was filled with water up to the weir and left overnight. | |
| Proceed to "Lining the Pond" |
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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