~ The Pond that ALMOST beat CARLOS !! Almosttttt...... haha (pics)

[spanishleprachaun]

Here is the story.  We recently had a pond tour here in SA this summer.  2 of my largest ponds were on tour. I went to sit in at one of them and met this wonderful woman named Candy.  Candy had spent BIG MONEY on several different builders that
1.) stole her money and ran
2.) started work and then never finished
3.) did everything wrong and made it worse
4.) did finish, but it was not very functional and sloppy work

My heart went out to her, she seemed at her wits end.  I volunteered to come over and take a look at her backyard pond.

Here is what I found:

(IS THERE WATER AROUND HERE ?!!!? ALL I SEE ARE JURASIC WEEDS, ESPERANZA TREE, AND MASSIVE PHILADENDRUMS ?!?!? ) SHOULD I BE CAREFUL OR JUNGLE CREATURES ?!?!? 





Somehow I managed to walk away without falling prey to man eating plants or West Nile. 
We talked over everything she wanted this to become--- I had a great idea for the place.  Clean it up-- introduce blooming plants and shrubs-- new waterfall,... new rockwork.... I could do this !
 
So here came the sketch plan :


*** Now here is where I made a TERRIBLE ERROR IN JUDGMENT ! (slaps self in head like Homer Simpson)
She had a existing liner in this pond.  The pond did not seem to be leaking.  I wanted to get within her budget.  I inspected the top edge of the liner and most of it seemed okay.  I informed her - the liner should be able to be reused. Let's go for it.

I then slap down over 4000lbs of rock ---------- 500lbs of mortar ---- 2 days of my guys working to get all that rock and mortar into place to solidify.

Looked like this  last month :





Started to fill and LEAKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS !
I spent Dayssssssssssssssssssssssss..... trying every trick in the book to figure out what was going on.... found a couple pins holes---- found a part of the liner that slipped down..... but still leaking !!!
NO N ONO NONNONNNONONNNOooooooooooooooooooooo !

I would have to resort to ripping out the mortared trim work to find leaks BEHIND the rocks.....
i could only think it was parts of the exposed liner once before,  now were under waterlevel...

Days went by,... time and more time.... this one was beating me.....
I had to give in..............

DESTROY IT ALL............... NEW LINER UNDERNEATH !!!
REBUILD IT ALL ! ( except for the slate stone half crescent )
 :'(         :'(         :'(         :'(         :'(         :'(         :'(        

So in between all my other work... this one is back on the market for work.
This upcoming week is all REBUILD on this one.  New liner to be in wends day.  I'll have it done by this weekend.

I'll take pics as the rebuild progresses.  While I'm at it... I'll redo the waterfall to something different-- I actually did not like my 1st creation all that much...



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[miguynmkoi]

Nothing worst than having to clean up after someones mess.  Can't wait to see your hands on this one!

[Jerry]

Is that Palm Grass?  I love mine!  Will divide today!

[landey1230]

It's always good to hear about good deeds.  There are some of us that care about the work we do.  I want to see the end result of this.  Good job.   

[SueSTx]

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

What a change since that little corner pond on your Mom's porch.

[Ky Kim]

You have the gift!

Kim

[Esther]

Hope it finally all works out.

[Desertponder]

Wow, what an undertaking! It looks like it will be wonderful when its all done.

[Julles]

I loved the step-by-step... makes you appreciate what goes into making a pond CORRECTLY.

Good job, and... I'm JEALOUS!  (Love that patio space, too)

[spanishleprachaun]

      Thanks all,.... yesterday my guys broke out all the mortared Moss Rock.  The hardest part was the "footer base" I used to support that "walk across slate stone".  I used multiple cinderblocks in a thick bed of mortar and filled the thing SOLID !  Got it out in about 45min.
I'll take a pic of it ROCKLESS.  Now,  thursday liner will be in, we will put the new one in and redo all rock and mortar work.

stay tuned l;)  I'll take some pics along the way !

carlos

[spanishleprachaun]

( woo hoo !!!!  new improved waterfall, new liner.... and stone sealent curing on the flagstone as we speak   )

[Esther]

Good job and not so fun one.

[barb]

It looks great!  I bet Candy is thrilled.

[miguynmkoi]

Hey Carlos, what kind of stone sealant do you use for flagstone?

The mess turned out fabulous with your magic touch.  Great job!

[spanishleprachaun]

  thanks all !   The stone sealent comes in WET LOOK and LOW LUSTER types.  Can be picked up at any lowes or home depot.  I used the WET LOOK.  The sealer does better on non porous materials,.. and I was hoping would look even wetter on the flag stone, but it did ok on this project.

[spanishleprachaun]

[tinkster]

Woohooo Carlos! long time no see   Glad you put "almost" in there.  Its very stunning .

tinkster

[miguynmkoi]

And then there was light....very nice Carlos!