@#!$%& Leaking Waterfall

Built a pond last year with a small waterfall. The waterfall is just five
limestone slabs stacked on top of each other. I don't have space for
anything more elaborate. The bottom slab juts over the pond. It worked
fairly well last year with a few small leaks, which I fixed by shimming here
and there.

This year I noticed that the ground under the waterfall had settled over the
winter. So I shimmed the whole thing again, with not so great results. I
finally got tired of the moderate leak and shut the whole thing down to
apply some great stuff. I was loosing water in two places, backflow under
the main slab and some trickling off the edge of the bottom slab. So I
foamed the the backflow in the bottom slab and tried to put some artistic
(look like sh*t) edging on the bottom slab to prevent the side trickle. Woke
up this morning to a half empty pond?

So time for a real solution. I know I should have a liner under my
waterfall, but did not relish the idea of digging it all up. Although I did
have it up once last year to hide an overflow pipe under the waterfall. I
was thinking that I could build a tray for my waterfall to sit on. I was
going to use some marine plywood and 1*2 for form a U to hold my liner. This
might be harder to hide than simple liner, but I thought it help the liner
hold it's shape and prevent leaks around the edges?

Any thoughts?

Hi.
I fought a similar battle for a few years.... but the difference is I DID
use liner over the moundof dirt and rocks. I then spent a few years
painstakingly trying to both camoflauge all lthe liner with rocks and stones
while at the same time making sure I wasn't losing water anywhere.
Everytime I thought I had it right, there would be another piece that needed
"tweaking" and then that tweak would alter some other part, etc. etc. And
then, of course, when you finally get it perfect, winter comes, spring
comes, and the ground and rocks have shifted/settled, and you need to
"tweak" all over again. This was driving me crazy but I was determined
not to break down and buy a pre-fab waterfall. Guess what? I gave in
last year and have never regretted it. I still got to use my mound of dirt
and rocks, but instead of fighting with building up the sides of the liner
just right, I plopped down a pre-fab (black plastic "chute" with a few steps
in it) and then got to decorate, camoflauge, and alter to my hearts content,
all the while NOT losing any water. It doesn't look any more fake than the
black plastic liner did, maybe even less, because I am able to throw rocks
and stones in on the "steps" and even stick some watercress and other plants
and flowers in the waterfall.

So my suggestion? Get a prefab waterfall instead of using the liner, and
then ENJOY the tweaking and decorating. (I was surprised that it was much
cheaper than I thought it would be.... think it was only about $30)
Sue
"William Share" wrote in message
.cable.rogers.com...
Built a pond last year with a small waterfall. The waterfall is just five
limestone slabs stacked on top of each other. I don't have space for
anything more elaborate. The bottom slab juts over the pond. It worked
fairly well last year with a few small leaks, which I fixed by shimming
here
and there.

This year I noticed that the ground under the waterfall had settled over
the
winter. So I shimmed the whole thing again, with not so great results. I
finally got tired of the moderate leak and shut the whole thing down to
apply some great stuff. I was loosing water in two places, backflow under
the main slab and some trickling off the edge of the bottom slab. So I
foamed the the backflow in the bottom slab and tried to put some artistic
(look like sh*t) edging on the bottom slab to prevent the side trickle.
Woke
up this morning to a half empty pond?

So time for a real solution. I know I should have a liner under my
waterfall, but did not relish the idea of digging it all up. Although I
did
have it up once last year to hide an overflow pipe under the waterfall. I
was thinking that I could build a tray for my waterfall to sit on. I was
going to use some marine plywood and 1*2 for form a U to hold my liner.
This
might be harder to hide than simple liner, but I thought it help the liner
hold it's shape and prevent leaks around the edges?

Any thoughts?

Thanks Sue.

I looked at the prefabs a couple of years ago and they seemed a little
pricey. Something like $200+ CDN at HD. The other problem is that I have
limited space, so my waterfall is fairly small (steep). I ordered a
"waterfall" liner and I will take one more stab at this. I did have an
epiphany though. Since my water fall is just a stack of rocks sitting beside
the pond, I'm going to dig a little trench around the waterfall and put the
liner under the waterfall and in the trench. Then I can fill the trench
(over liner) with stones. This should be easier to hide than a mound.

Who's in the Zoo BTW? We've got Cats and Fish inside and Birds, Squirrels
and Fish outside.



"SueAndHerZoo" wrote in message
news:NPiBc.1497$Pa4.787@lakeread04...
Hi.
I fought a similar battle for a few years.... but the difference is I DID
use liner over the moundof dirt and rocks. I then spent a few years
painstakingly trying to both camoflauge all lthe liner with rocks and
stones
while at the same time making sure I wasn't losing water anywhere.
Everytime I thought I had it right, there would be another piece that
needed
"tweaking" and then that tweak would alter some other part, etc. etc.
And
then, of course, when you finally get it perfect, winter comes, spring
comes, and the ground and rocks have shifted/settled, and you need to
"tweak" all over again. This was driving me crazy but I was determined
not to break down and buy a pre-fab waterfall. Guess what? I gave in
last year and have never regretted it. I still got to use my mound of
dirt
and rocks, but instead of fighting with building up the sides of the liner
just right, I plopped down a pre-fab (black plastic "chute" with a few
steps
in it) and then got to decorate, camoflauge, and alter to my hearts
content,
all the while NOT losing any water. It doesn't look any more fake than
the
black plastic liner did, maybe even less, because I am able to throw rocks
and stones in on the "steps" and even stick some watercress and other
plants
and flowers in the waterfall.

So my suggestion? Get a prefab waterfall instead of using the liner, and
then ENJOY the tweaking and decorating. (I was surprised that it was
much
cheaper than I thought it would be.... think it was only about $30)
Sue
"William Share" wrote in message
.cable.rogers.com...
Built a pond last year with a small waterfall. The waterfall is just
five
limestone slabs stacked on top of each other. I don't have space for
anything more elaborate. The bottom slab juts over the pond. It worked
fairly well last year with a few small leaks, which I fixed by shimming
here
and there.

This year I noticed that the ground under the waterfall had settled over
the
winter. So I shimmed the whole thing again, with not so great results. I
finally got tired of the moderate leak and shut the whole thing down to
apply some great stuff. I was loosing water in two places, backflow
under
the main slab and some trickling off the edge of the bottom slab. So I
foamed the the backflow in the bottom slab and tried to put some
artistic
(look like sh*t) edging on the bottom slab to prevent the side trickle.
Woke
up this morning to a half empty pond?

So time for a real solution. I know I should have a liner under my
waterfall, but did not relish the idea of digging it all up. Although I
did
have it up once last year to hide an overflow pipe under the waterfall.
I
was thinking that I could build a tray for my waterfall to sit on. I was
going to use some marine plywood and 1*2 for form a U to hold my liner.
This
might be harder to hide than simple liner, but I thought it help the
liner
hold it's shape and prevent leaks around the edges?

Any thoughts?

Any thoughts?

Been there done that. Last year we battled the same kind of problems with our
smaller pond. We took it apart at least 4 times during last summer, when it was
100 or more outside. Finally we gave up and didn't rebuild it. This spring we
decided to do a larger pond, but since I had surgery in March I wasn't able to
do anything. I told my hubby, I don't care what it costs, we are not going
through another summer like last summer, we are going to have our new pond and
waterfall put in. Which we did. It was put in, in April, and believe you me
it was worth every penny. The company that did it, worked with us, and
actually took our suggestions about things. I guess what I am trying to say,
is if you can, ask someone who knows what to do, before you pull every hair out
of your head. It will save you anymore frustration.
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html