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Thread: Ken's Pond Build
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08-07-2020, 09:26 PM #41
Made some good progress today and thankfully the weather held up for us to get two 9 tonne truck loads away. Just as we finished around 4.30 p.m. it started bucketing down and hasn't stopped.
We got a guy who came with a digger on a trailer towed by a 9 tonne truck. He did the digging and I ferried the rubble from the old pond and soil outside beside the truck with a one tonne dumper and then he went out with the digger and loaded it. I lost count of the number of runs back and forward and have much the same to do tomorrow.
Originally it was estimated at 2 loads to clear it, but will end up being 3 so another €300. A large skip would have cost that much and I'd have to load it myself. Judging by what I've read, I should prepare myself for more little surprises like that.
I'll have to make sure he leaves me enough topsoil to backfill around the walls and fill in the bottom drain and skimmer piping.
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We went to 110 cm depth. That will allow for 15cms of hardcore, 25cms of reinforced concrete. There will then be 70cms of wall below ground and 80cms above giving a total depth of 1.5 meters (5 feet).
There were a few wires across the back of the old pond that were for garden lighting that was already disconnected. The bucket on the digger managed to nick a cable that can be seen in the bottom corner. It cut the cover and shielding, but not down as far as the wires. I'm not sure if this is a redundant garden light cable or one that goes to our garage down the back of the garden. I may stick some heavy duty tape on it and take a chance. It will be reasonably accessible if there is a problem in the future and it turns out to be in use.
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Also got him to dig out the trench for the bottom drain and skimmer pipes. There will be two 110mm and one 40mm for the air on the Spindrifter. The filter will be in the shed so the pipes will go through the rear. Took a good look at it tonight and I think I'll need a bit more room for that lot so I'll get him to dig back across the back of the shed another 6 inches or so.
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09-07-2020, 11:39 AM #42
Dig completed this morning. It has been said before, but it's amazing the amount of soil that comes out of a relatively modest pond dig. This generated 3 x 9 tonne truck loads. That did include the granite from the original pond, but that was pretty modest and probably about half a load/ Part of this was already hollowed by about 1,000l by the previous pond.
It's a bit wider than needed, but better than being too narrow. The soil is very compacted and would be very difficult to dig by hand. Getting someone in who knew what they were doing with a digger made short work of it.
I'd doubt hardcore will be necessary, but I'll let the builder make that call. Trying to gauge how much soil I'll need for backfilling isn't easy. I've two piles which will hopefully be enough.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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19-07-2020, 10:00 PM #43
No progress unfortunately. Still waiting for my bottom drain from Absolute Koi that was on backorder. I rang them on Thursday and they said it came in and was about to ship so hopefully I'll have it tomorrow.
I've also decided to stick in a second bottom drain. I'm on the limit for one, but a friend has a spare so I'll put it in for the sake of a bit of pipe. I'll put the aerated Spindrifter at the rear and the regular BD at the front nearest the window. I'm guessing the air will impede vision if the Spindrifter was at the front so probably better at the back.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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20-07-2020, 05:46 AM #44
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24-07-2020, 08:32 PM #45
Spindrifter arrived and need to organise pressure pipe. Skimmer also arrived, but unfortunately it was badly damaged.
Won't get the base down until the first week of August. Things moving a lot slower than planned.
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24-07-2020, 08:39 PM #46
That's bad form,seems they are not very well organised at packing their products as others have gotten broken stuff too.
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24-07-2020, 08:42 PM #47
I would tend to agree. JBR say it's my issue as I organised shipping. The courier company are saying it's JBR's issue as it wasn't packed very well.
However, in fairness to JBR, it's 6mm plastic and was shattered so obviously took a very significant impact. I don't think any amount of packing would have prevented the damage. Something very heavy was obviously thrown on top of it.
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07-08-2020, 05:08 PM #48
Some progress made over the last couple of days. Bottom drains went in on Wednesday and concrete went down today.
However, I'm not that happy with the finish of the concrete. It's level, but the surface isn't very smooth. Builder laid it and then left it for a couple of hours before giving it a final level. Problem was that's it's a warm humid day here and it started to dry out very quickly.
It's note really good enough to fibreglass. I'll either have to get him to put a screed on it or insulate. I wasn't planning on insulating the floor as I don't really think it's necessary given that it's under ground level and has 7 inches of concrete.
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blondie Thanked / Liked this Post
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07-08-2020, 05:29 PM #49
That's a nuisance, maybe you could put a self levelling compound over it.
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07-08-2020, 07:06 PM #50
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07-08-2020, 07:18 PM #51
Sorry, I should have said, he could put a self levelling compound over it
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14-08-2020, 08:41 PM #52
Some good progress made on the block work. There were two brickies so all this was done in 4 hours. They laid all the blocks I had, the remainder are to come on Monday.
I had them leave three 50mm gaps in the blocks just below ground level for returns. I'll fill with mortar when the pipe goes through.
Next step is to lay the foundation for the raised top part of the pond and then finish the block work later in the week.
Then I can start thinking about fibreglassing.
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14-08-2020, 08:54 PM #531kGal BD/Skim RDF/UV/k1 2.3kGal 2windows 2airBD/skim Sieve/Eazypod RDFcombi+bakki 3xVP/UV,ASHP
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14-08-2020, 08:57 PM #54
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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14-08-2020, 09:05 PM #55
8994BD66-9B5E-416F-8914-A8A9443249BF.jpgFloor after rendering
F2D768EA-630C-453B-9090-2C53E6B63BFB.jpgToday after fibreglass flow coat1kGal BD/Skim RDF/UV/k1 2.3kGal 2windows 2airBD/skim Sieve/Eazypod RDFcombi+bakki 3xVP/UV,ASHP
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15-08-2020, 09:39 AM #56
Thanks Mike. I'll give that a try. Looks great fibreglassed.
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17-08-2020, 04:04 PM #57
Got the main pond returns in this morning. That's enough to allow the builder crack on with the foundation for the raised part at the rear. I did have a hole for a third return in the main pond, but decided it wasn't necessary and will fill it in.
There will be two additional returns going to either side of the upper pond also.
Also made some decisions regarding the final pond height and water level. My plan was to use the shed next to the pond as a filter house. However, it all depended on getting the level for a gravity feed. I drilled a pilot hole so I could get the exact level of the shed floor beside the pond. Unfortunately there is only 62cm between the floor and the water level. I'm potentially looking at the Queni-Koi 22 or 35 combi drum. 62cm is even too low for the 22 so I'll need to plan to put the filter outside behind the shed. Not a huge issue, but will need another slab and potentially block work so I can put a structure around it. I can easily run power out from the shed.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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17-08-2020, 09:49 PM #58
Did a bit more playing around with the height of the pond. Raising it by a block makes the window look out of proportion. I added a row of blocks to raise the window and then added another block to the height. It looks ok and brings the pond wall height up to 90 cms and gives me room with a little to spare to use the 22 Combi in the shed. I think I'll go with this. Wife is not keen on me building a filter bay in the garden if I can avoid it.
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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21-08-2020, 05:56 PM #59
Blockwork finished today. Had written off this week due to the weather, but the bricklayer said it was either today or the week after next so we decided to go ahead. Besides the wind and the odd shower, it wasn't too bad here in Dublin. Although the day did start with me having to vacuum 5 inches of water off the base.
I also got my Ultraskim from Absolute Koi today. It came very well packaged and thankfully was in one piece. I think it fits very well and the water level will be perfect.
Next week will be insulation for the sides and the window frame. Once the frame is in I can arrange fibreglassing.
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22-08-2020, 08:32 AM #6014000l, my mutts: Chargoi (2010), Doitsu (2022), Tancho (2022), Kujaku (2022), Hi Utusri (2022)
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The Daily pond temp thread
Yep , forecast snow here ! Hoping so more money to be made gritting lol Sent from my SM-S918B...