contractor vs creator

ANY contractor can "BUILD" a pond, BUT EVERY contractor cannot "CREATE"
a pond!!!

A pond is like a building (ie. your abode) you can build yourself a
house, or you can create yourself a home.

A house can be built of cinder blocks, have unpainted pine siding,
thatched or twig roof, and
orange crates and cable reels for furniture . (generic)

While a home is created, brick, vinyl siding, fiberglass or terracotta
roofing, elegant furniture etc. (custom, personal touch)

A house CAN be turned into a home, BUT it takes extra money farther down
the line.


So it is with a pond.

A pond can be built just by digging a hole in the ground and filling it
with water,
tossing in a few plants and fish and letting nature take it's course.
But chances are you will be adding several hundred gallons of water a week,
it will be a pot of pea soup and smell like your septic system.

A pond should be"CREATED" meaning;

1. Thought should be given to the "lay of the land" when deciding on a
location .
Built in a valley or at the bottom of a hill the edges need to be raised
to prevent run off from filling the pond.

2. unlined, lined; rubber, vinyl, fiberglass, or concrete; freeformed or
preformed; in ground/raised;
fishpond/watergarden; deep 3-4'/ shallow 18"-2'; waterfall/stream.

3. Filter/pump; in/out of the pond; Mechanical, biological, Mech/Bio;
commercial/DIY;
ease and frequency of cleaning.

There is alot more that can be added to the list as examples. But you
get my drift.

I was just informed that my cousin, who promised her son a pond, 18
months ago. Is not happy with
the pond, she had built by a "friend of the family" who is a school
teacher and has been "building pond on the side:
every summer for about 10 years. The dream began, and now has turned
into a nightmare.

I found out she was getting a pond when I was doing landscaping at her
mothers home. I started asking questions
about different aspects of the pond. Size, depth, filtration,
waterfall/stream, what all he was supplying; for her $4500.00.
I gave her some tips, answered some of her ?'s. I told her if she needed
any help or if he wasable to do it this year,
I would do it for her.

He finally came the week before school started and his helpers left for
college, and dug the pond. I have gathered
bits and pieces of info about it over the last few weeks from other
people she has complained to. No skimmer,
no botton drain, small pump, in pond filter, ? on the waterfall, pond
2-3X bigger than it was supposed to be,
50 - 200# rocks around the edge.


WELL!!! I have not seen her back yard, but she has told me that with
the rain that has hit the east coast the last month
(over 10" in my area. and still raining). The pond has filled up mud and
water and overflowed for a 3rd time this month,
with the run off from the back yard.

I am waiting to see how long it takes for her to call me to straighten
out her mess.

In my 50.5 years on this planet, 35 of them as a FT/PT contractor, I
have seen it many more times than I care to remember,
where people have gotten "taken" by a friend of a friend, or a
discount, Fly by nite, laid off, person, who throws a ladder
on the bask of his pickup truck and calls himself a (pseudo) contractor.

I am not by any means the most brilliant, experienced, or knowledgable
person alive. But, many times I have been called in
to repair the other guys work. Whom, by the way, under bid me by $100 -
500 to get the job and it has cost the person as
much or more than my original price to straighten it out.

When I talk to a perspective customer, I try to give them all the facts,
so there is a limited chance for surprises along the way.
I have learned over the years to look at "The BIG picture". I can forsee
the finished product, can design, layout, build,
maintain/service, the finished product.


Sorry for the long rant, but I can see the same, possibly happening to
some in this group.

Like I said to start:

ACCBAP;BECCCAP

ANY contractor can "BUILD" a pond, BUT EVERY contractor cannot "CREATE"
a pond!!!


Chagoi