These days it's so easy building a pond yourself.
Thanks to a wide range of preformed ponds and flexible long life pond liners.
If you decide to do it yourself rather than hiring an expert, you'll be saving yourself hundreds of pounds.
Do some research, plan ahead and you may just be getting away without making the most common, sometimes costly, mistakes saving a further few quid.
Here's some tips on what those mistakes are and how to avoid them.
1.
Make a plan and stick to it.
By that I mean draw yourself a rough draft of what you would like your pond to look like.
This should include the shape of the pond, any shelves, where plants and rocks will be situated, waterfall or fountain.
This does not have to be a masterpiece of a drawing.
Even though building a pond is not rocket science, there are a lot of things to consider and it is easy to lose track of what you wanted to achieve.
You will find it helpful to refer to your plan when buying necessary supplies and equipment for your pond construction.
2.
Have a back-up plan.
If you decide to use a flexible liner make sure you will be able to replace it.
Yes, the current liners do come with 10 year or even a lifetime guarantee.
However I have recently learned that if you get a puncture in your liner - that can be caused by many factors like ice, worms, birds etc - and cannot locate it you will need to replace the whole thing.
This can prove to be a difficult task if you poor concrete around the edges of your pond.
I know this is a bit far-fetched, but just make sure you won't need to re-construct the whole garden if you need to replace a pond liner.
3.
Keep away from the trees.
When deciding on the location of your pond, try to build it away from any trees or bushes.
Falling leaves will turn into debris causing two main issues - water will start to cloud making your pond visually unattractive and damaging PH balance which is not good if you keep fish.
However some shade is beneficial as it will stop algae from spreading in hot summer days.
4.
Electrics and Power.
This is probably the one area where you may want to involve experts.
As much as you may feel confident with basic electrical skills, when it comes to water and electricity this is not an area for the amateurs.
There are a lot of things to consider and if you get one of them wrong the consequences could be fatal.
Also consider researching the current regulations regarding outdoor power installations.
5.
Install a Bottom Drain.
This will prove very useful in the future especially if you are building a bigger pond.
Take the replacing of the liner scenario.
To do this you will need to empty all of the water and just imagine how time consuming and physically challenging it would be if you had to do it by hand.
Of course you could invest in wet vac or pond vac, but having a drain installed in the first place will save you a lot of time and money.
This will also come in handy when changing a certain percentage of your pond water when you do your pond maintenance periodics.
These are basic points to consider when building a pond.
Considering these points will save you a lot of time and money in the long term.
Thanks to a wide range of preformed ponds and flexible long life pond liners.
If you decide to do it yourself rather than hiring an expert, you'll be saving yourself hundreds of pounds.
Do some research, plan ahead and you may just be getting away without making the most common, sometimes costly, mistakes saving a further few quid.
Here's some tips on what those mistakes are and how to avoid them.
1.
Make a plan and stick to it.
By that I mean draw yourself a rough draft of what you would like your pond to look like.
This should include the shape of the pond, any shelves, where plants and rocks will be situated, waterfall or fountain.
This does not have to be a masterpiece of a drawing.
Even though building a pond is not rocket science, there are a lot of things to consider and it is easy to lose track of what you wanted to achieve.
You will find it helpful to refer to your plan when buying necessary supplies and equipment for your pond construction.
2.
Have a back-up plan.
If you decide to use a flexible liner make sure you will be able to replace it.
Yes, the current liners do come with 10 year or even a lifetime guarantee.
However I have recently learned that if you get a puncture in your liner - that can be caused by many factors like ice, worms, birds etc - and cannot locate it you will need to replace the whole thing.
This can prove to be a difficult task if you poor concrete around the edges of your pond.
I know this is a bit far-fetched, but just make sure you won't need to re-construct the whole garden if you need to replace a pond liner.
3.
Keep away from the trees.
When deciding on the location of your pond, try to build it away from any trees or bushes.
Falling leaves will turn into debris causing two main issues - water will start to cloud making your pond visually unattractive and damaging PH balance which is not good if you keep fish.
However some shade is beneficial as it will stop algae from spreading in hot summer days.
4.
Electrics and Power.
This is probably the one area where you may want to involve experts.
As much as you may feel confident with basic electrical skills, when it comes to water and electricity this is not an area for the amateurs.
There are a lot of things to consider and if you get one of them wrong the consequences could be fatal.
Also consider researching the current regulations regarding outdoor power installations.
5.
Install a Bottom Drain.
This will prove very useful in the future especially if you are building a bigger pond.
Take the replacing of the liner scenario.
To do this you will need to empty all of the water and just imagine how time consuming and physically challenging it would be if you had to do it by hand.
Of course you could invest in wet vac or pond vac, but having a drain installed in the first place will save you a lot of time and money.
This will also come in handy when changing a certain percentage of your pond water when you do your pond maintenance periodics.
These are basic points to consider when building a pond.
Considering these points will save you a lot of time and money in the long term.
Source...