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15-03-2020, 07:34 PM #1
GadgetBazza finally builds his pond!
Hi all,
so following numerous posts asking questions over the last 18 months and more recently some teasers of the design imagery for the landscaping, I can finally tell you I've made a start on the pond!
The project is much larger than the pond, but the pond plays a significant part in the design.
So far, we've replaced all the fencing, around 150 metres with steel posts and sleepers... I'm not having it come down again in one of these windy gales, so I've tried to wind proof it!
Built around 50m of raised 1.5 metre deep flower beds out of curved front sleepers. These sleepers have two continuous slot and tenons in the join to stop them twisting out of shape on long straight runs. These have been secured with rebar into the ground and tied into the fence build making it stronger still.
Created a roughly 50m2 workshop / storage to the side and across the back of my garage in the location of the previous shed, used to hold most of the materials and also my digger during the build.
Fitted new matching insulated garage doors to the workshop and garage.
Repaved part of the driveway (not complete) by the workshop so that we can access it and have somewhere for the rubbish bins to go without my slipping over onto my butt!
Built the base for the Gazebo and the frame for the top level 9m diameter deck.
Had the Gazebo installed
Build the base for the pool building and constructed the pool building out of curved edge sleepers (as per the flower beds), with a shaded seating area to one side. Roof of this building and the workshop is in cedar shingles to match the gazebo building.
Created a base for the hot tub and repositioned it.
Installed god knows how many electrical cables and new mains boards. We have a 3 phase power supply and have opted to install a 3 phase heat pump for the pool (which will be switched over to the pond in winter months). In addition we have already a house automation system and we have added controllers for up to 16 circuits of power / lighting control in the garden. So far I think we have pulled 400m of armoured cable around the garden!
Dug the hole (50m2 area) for the swimming pool, which didn't really go to plan thanks to the weather. It's taken two months to get to the point where the hole is dug and spoil removed to the adjacent field, 300mm hardcore laid and packed, two layers of steel mesh re-inforcement and 300mm of C35 waterproof concrete pumped into the hole.
We put steel rebar starter bars in the slab to tie to the pool walls, which are made from ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) and created the desired pool shape by bending the ICF formers, which we hoped would be a lot easier than it was! I think if you had maybe one radius wall in your design fine, but a random curvy pool shape is not easy! Then we rebased each layer of the ICF and then installed the structural supports ready for the concrete pour.
After this, I am installing 100mm of insulation and another 100mm slab on the bottom of the pool before screening and tiling.
So given that the pool construction is nearly at the point where I can hand it over to the tilers (they're starting around 2nd week of April currently), I thought I would turn my attention to the next big dig for the pond.
Enough talking, I know you want pictures, so here's the first...
A panoramic shot of the garden before work started...
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Last edited by GadgetBazza; 15-03-2020 at 07:45 PM.
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15-03-2020, 07:46 PM #2
Steel / Sleeper fence combo.
IMG_2692.jpg IMG_2696.jpgLast edited by GadgetBazza; 15-03-2020 at 07:48 PM.
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15-03-2020, 07:48 PM #3
Gazebo, Pool House, Hot Tub bases...
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15-03-2020, 07:51 PM #4
Portions of patio removed... Who'd of expected 16" of concrete poured under the patio!!!!
UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1623b.jpg UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_16240.jpgLast edited by GadgetBazza; 15-03-2020 at 08:55 PM.
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15-03-2020, 07:54 PM #5
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15-03-2020, 07:56 PM #6
Pool building
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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15-03-2020, 07:56 PM #7Hobby and business gone but when you’re hooked you’re hooked.
Always happy to help!!
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15-03-2020, 07:57 PM #8
This will be a great thread mate - keep the updates coming
Hobby and business gone but when you’re hooked you’re hooked.
Always happy to help!!
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15-03-2020, 07:58 PM #9
Bye Bye little shed, hello new shed / workshop...
IMG_3225.jpg IMG_3242.jpg IMG_3261.jpg IMG_3294.jpgLast edited by GadgetBazza; 15-03-2020 at 08:56 PM.
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Gazkoi Thanked / Liked this Post
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15-03-2020, 08:01 PM #10
New digger at home in bed....
IMG_3290.jpgLast edited by GadgetBazza; 15-03-2020 at 08:57 PM.
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15-03-2020, 08:32 PM #11
Slow pool dig out...
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15-03-2020, 08:34 PM #12
I mean, just how wet and muddy can it be???
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15-03-2020, 08:36 PM #13
Playing with bending ICF...
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15-03-2020, 08:39 PM #14
Pool floor poured....
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15-03-2020, 08:41 PM #15
Pool walls go up and braced.
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15-03-2020, 08:44 PM #16
New workshop and garage doors...
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15-03-2020, 08:52 PM #17
And finally the pond dig....
Thankfully, the ground whilst wet was nowhere near as sodden as the pool area and I was able to dig the full depth of the pond from the surface without the ground collapsing beneath the digger.
Got the whole lot out over the weekend, just need to get it shifted now and re-check the dimensions.
This where it's going... I marked it all out with stakes and string, although they wouldn't last long...
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First bit of test digging to 2.1m to see how the ground was...
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Taken this morning as I didn't finish until it was getting dark on Saturday.
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The hole completed today, difficult to see amongst all the mud, but hopefully you can make it out. Please with the dig progress this weekend.
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15-03-2020, 08:54 PM #18
Not sure how much progress will make this week and we will be focused on getting the overflow skimmer construction on the pool done ready for the walls to be poured. If possible though I would like to get the pond floor poured at the same time as the pool walls to save on concrete pump costs (£320 + vat!).
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15-03-2020, 10:56 PM #19
Thanks for taking the time and trouble to post, coming on a treat!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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15-03-2020, 10:57 PM #20
That was a lot to do on a weekend
Looking forward to watching this thread
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Running heater at low temp?
Covering the pond with polycarb should be enough to stop water temps dipping below 6C for the most...