- A general guide for style planning: straight lines
are formal, curved lines are informal.
- If it is necessary to build up a portion of the ground, the
new soil should be well compacted to prevent settling. Add clay to give extra support
to looser soils.
- Many professionals provide a loner under concrete construction.
- Swimming pool liners and roofing materials may be chemically
treated. These treatments
are toxic to fish and plants.
- Pea gravel does not make a good foundation for concrete. It’s
rounded edges will move in time, unlike the sharp edges of crushed
stone that tend to knit together.
- In mixing “soil cement” into the pond excavation, be sure any
organic matter has been removed from the soil.
- Fiberglass ponds without resin laminate on their undersides
can be damaged by the lime in cement. Protect ponds installed over concrete with a layer of resin
gelcoat.
- Pond excavations can be marked on the soil with spray paint,
builder’s chalk, flour, cat litter, or sand.
- Walk barefoot on linters so you can feel any rocks
beneath that might puncture it.
- Indoor-outdoor carpet used as underlay should be slashed, to
prevent collected water from lifting the liner.
- Any footing constructed for pond walls must be perfectly level.
- When mixing stone aggregate into a concrete mix, the stone must
be clean; dirt will prevent a good bond and weaken the concrete. Likewise, water added to
the mix must be very clean.
- Installing a bottom drain may be more trouble than it’s worth.
So long as the pond bottom slopes to a deeper level or
to a sump area, the submerged pump may be used to empty the pond.
- Clay soil shrinks during dry spells. A layer of crushed stone
between the clay and the concrete helps to prevent cracking.
- Any reinforcing metals that protrude from concrete may oxidize
and create leaks in the concrete form.
- Obtain extra strength in concreting by using a concrete mix
with added fiberglass particles.
Camouflage the concrete by adding powdered color to the
mix.
- For a quick estimate of the pumping needs at one-foot height,
add tow zeros to the inch width of the spillway.
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