Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Above ground pond ideas
I want to build a pond on my deck and am wondering if anyone has any
ideas. I'm aiming for a 3' x 6' footprint, about 2.5' deep. I'm considering building this out of thick glass, or galvanized & welded steel, or a strong plywood frame with standard pond liner inside it. The advantage of the homemade approach is I can make it to the exact dimensions I want, and build in the landscaping around it (i.e., with attached planter boxes as opposed to flower pots). Has anyone out there built a pond above ground this size? Any ideas for the design? Many thanks... |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Here's mine: http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~ccunning/garden2.jpg The pond area is only 3' x 3' x 2' but you can expand it. It's built with a 2x4 frame (pressure treated of course) and then sided with 1x6 appearance grade pressure treated wood. Trim is 1x4 appearance grade. The pond area has a 45 mil pond liner stapled around the top. I'll warn you though, this doesn't work all that well... A flat piece of pond liner doesn't like making a cube shape (especially in ours, which has a shelf as well) and we have a lot of bunched up liner at the top. If I had it to do again, I would build a shelf all the way around the top so we could add rocks to hide the bunching, or I'd just do it out of fiberglass. As it is I plan to try and find some plastic baskets I can hang off the sides and put plants in it to hide it. Still looks good though, but I'm a perfectionist. I just built a pretty standard deck box design. The frame is just a cube 2x4 frame, screwed together with 3" deck screws.The vertical corner pieces are notched out so the horizontal members sit on little support ledge so it's nice and sturdy. Crossbracing every few feet. I screwed on the siding and then put the 1x4 trim over the screws to hide them, attatching it with 8 penny galvanized finish nails slightly counter sunk. Pretty simple |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
You'll love having a pond on your deck.
We have one o n our patio that used to be a spa/hot tub. I got tired of messing with it so we turned it into a pond. It's been six years now and we love it. http://radioheaven.homestead.com/Cement_Pond1.html Ron |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
I built an 8 X 8 out of stacked Landscape filters. It sits on ground, so no
worry about weight. Used long lag bolts to secure it, put old carpet padding inside the frame, and used a retired swimming pool liner. Has been going 3 years now-doing fine ! On the deck, I would stress reinforcing the structure ! This thing is Heavy ! Also, plan your plumbing ahead of installing ! Good Luck, and you WILL enjoy it !--J.B. wrote in message oups.com... I want to build a pond on my deck and am wondering if anyone has any ideas. I'm aiming for a 3' x 6' footprint, about 2.5' deep. I'm considering building this out of thick glass, or galvanized & welded steel, or a strong plywood frame with standard pond liner inside it. The advantage of the homemade approach is I can make it to the exact dimensions I want, and build in the landscaping around it (i.e., with attached planter boxes as opposed to flower pots). Has anyone out there built a pond above ground this size? Any ideas for the design? Many thanks... |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Meant to say Landscape Timbers !!!
"Jim Beasley" wrote in message news:RYyve.105958$xm3.75247@attbi_s21... I built an 8 X 8 out of stacked Landscape filters. It sits on ground, so no worry about weight. Used long lag bolts to secure it, put old carpet padding inside the frame, and used a retired swimming pool liner. Has been going 3 years now-doing fine ! On the deck, I would stress reinforcing the structure ! This thing is Heavy ! Also, plan your plumbing ahead of installing ! Good Luck, and you WILL enjoy it !--J.B. wrote in message oups.com... I want to build a pond on my deck and am wondering if anyone has any ideas. I'm aiming for a 3' x 6' footprint, about 2.5' deep. I'm considering building this out of thick glass, or galvanized & welded steel, or a strong plywood frame with standard pond liner inside it. The advantage of the homemade approach is I can make it to the exact dimensions I want, and build in the landscaping around it (i.e., with attached planter boxes as opposed to flower pots). Has anyone out there built a pond above ground this size? Any ideas for the design? Many thanks... |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
What zone are you in? If you are above Zone 6, you have to anticipate freeze problems. I am in Zone 5, and my 4X6 3.5 deep 3/4 inch plywood pond has 3.5 inches of foam board insulation betwen the inner and outer walls, and I put a 100 watt aquarium heater in the water in the winter and cover it with a two inch thick foam insulation board. It never goes under 40 degrees, even when it's below zero outside. I also have foam board under the liner, but I don't know if that helps or hurts-- maybe the earth heat would keep the pond warmer. I'm planning to make a 8X8 four feet deep pond this fall, same construction, regular 4X8 CDX plywood and treated horizontal studs screwed together at the ends and to the plywood, and rubber liner. Just like you would make a concrete form. I am thinking of digging a hole in middle under the pond so it would be five or six feet deep in middle. The liner does bunch up in the corners but that's only a minor appearnace problem, not a functional problem. My pond is not on my deck, it's next to my deck, so I can look down into the pond from the deck. Or jump in if the spirit moves me. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
gene wrote:
What zone are you in? If you are above Zone 6, you have to anticipate freeze problems. I am in Zone 5, and my 4X6 3.5 deep 3/4 inch plywood pond has 3.5 inches of foam board insulation betwen the inner and outer walls, and I put a 100 watt aquarium heater in the water in the winter and cover it with a two inch thick foam insulation board. It never goes under 40 degrees, even when it's below zero outside. I also have foam board under the liner, but I don't know if that helps or hurts-- maybe the earth heat would keep the pond warmer. Intuitively, I would say it hurts. But I don't want to build two identical ponds (save for foam underneath) to find out :-) My pond is not on my deck, it's next to my deck, so I can look down into the pond from the deck. Or jump in if the spirit moves me. Exactly what mine's going to be. -- derek |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
What zone are you in? If you are above Zone 6, you have to anticipate
freeze problems. I am in Zone 5, and my 4X6 3.5 deep 3/4 inch plywood pond has 3.5 inches of foam board insulation betwen the inner and outer walls, and I put a 100 watt aquarium heater in the water in the winter and cover it with a two inch thick foam insulation board. It never goes under 40 degrees, even when it's below zero outside. I also have foam board under the liner, but I don't know if that helps or hurts-- maybe the earth heat would keep the pond warmer. ... What kind of fish will you keep? If they are koi or goldfish, they are quite tolerant of icy water. Leaving a 100 watt heater on all winter adds up to quite a bit of energy and $$$ over the course of the winter. You can let the surface mostly freeze over, just keep a hole open with a floating 25 watt heater, and use a bubbler to provide gas exchange. To prevent the pressure of the ice from bursting the walls of your pond, float a couple of small logs in the water. Good luck. |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
I'm in San Francisco, CA: Zone 9 I think. Doesn't freeze here but once
every 10 years, for a night or 2. Thanks for the great suggestions for building, but I found out that my deck won't be able to hold the quantity and depth of water I was aiming for. It's standard construction that will hold ~60lbs/square foot. The pond, by my calculations, would be approximately 156lbs/sq foot (a tank 6' long x 3' wide x 2.5' deep, which would hold 337 gallons. That comes out to 2800 lbs total, over 18 sq ft., or 156 lbs/ sq ft.) So, I could do a pond about 8" deep. Sounds more like a racoon feeder than a pond.... |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
for. It's standard construction that will hold ~60lbs/square foot. The pond, by my calculations, would be approximately 156lbs/sq foot (a tank 6' long x 3' wide x 2.5' deep, which would hold 337 gallons. That comes out to 2800 lbs total, over 18 sq ft., or 156 lbs/ sq ft.) Can you get under the deck and reinforce it? C// |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
It's standard construction that will hold ~60lbs/square foot.
The pond, by my calculations, would be approximately 156lbs/sq foot (a It must be more than 60 lbs per sq foot... That means that a 200 lb man standing on one foot would break through the deck??? It's GOT to more than 60 lbs per sq foot. Ron |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
It must be more than 60 lbs per sq foot... That means that a 200 lb man standing on one foot would break through the deck??? His weight will distrubute over an area larger than a foot. The answer to your question is more obvious, put this way: if his deck is four hundred square feet (20x20), and he puts one hundred people on it, what do you think will happen? A four hundred square foot deck, rated at 60 lbs per foot, is capable of supporting 24,000 pounds. That's roughly 6 F150 trucks! And yet... that's only 120 200 pound people. Preferably not bouncing. And I wouldn't try that, myself. Termites and stuff. You never know. C// |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Even though it sounds like the idea has been done away with due to weight
issues on the deck, I just thought I would add some pics of an above ground pond that a friend and I built three (?) years ago. I was all pressure treated 4x4's, re-bar, lag bolts, sand, foam insulation, and a pond liner. It's been going strong for him since we built it! http://icanhelp56.homestead.com/GenePond010.html -- G.D.Smith Harpers Ferry, WV FOR SALE: 2003 Swee****er 22' Pontoon Boat http://icanhelp56.homestead.com/gs_pontoon01.html FOR SALE: 1999 Fleetwood Mallard 37' Travel Trailer http://icanhelp56.homestead.com/Mallard001.html wrote in message oups.com... I want to build a pond on my deck and am wondering if anyone has any ideas. I'm aiming for a 3' x 6' footprint, about 2.5' deep. I'm considering building this out of thick glass, or galvanized & welded steel, or a strong plywood frame with standard pond liner inside it. The advantage of the homemade approach is I can make it to the exact dimensions I want, and build in the landscaping around it (i.e., with attached planter boxes as opposed to flower pots). Has anyone out there built a pond above ground this size? Any ideas for the design? Many thanks... |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Above-ground Stump removal ideas needed | Gardening | |||
Above Ground Pond | Ponds | |||
how to get above ground pump to work on a below ground pond. | Ponds | |||
above ground height for formal pond | Ponds | |||
Help request: Designing above ground indoor pond | Ponds |