Pond Boss
Posted By: Megan56 Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 08:15 AM
So my husband and I will be moving to IL in a few weeks and we have come across a house we like on 2 acres. We like the house and space, however 1 large pond and 1 small pond seem to be taking up a majority of the acres.

My question is would it be doable to drain and fill the large pond and just keep the small one? What would a project like that cost? Both do have fish in them.

TIA! I’ve added a pic since I have no clue how big that pond is

Attached picture 1080FAE4-01A2-4382-9110-223B6A4C855C.png
Posted By: Dave Davidson1 Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 11:05 AM
Megan, the small pond might not be a able to control the amount of water(runoff) coming in. How deep and how large are the ponds?
Posted By: RStringer Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 02:19 PM
I think that would be a huge expense to fill in. Yes it is doable but not sure why anyone would want to. Looks like it would be a beautiful place. I would consider filling in the small one first but to each their own. Not sure on a cost of that. It would require lots of dump trucks loads to fill that in. Then you might end up with a marsh when all said and done. I would think they would have to remove all of the muck at the bottom of the pond. They would have to truck tht offsite also. If they didnt remove the muck. I dont think you will ever end up with solid ground. I'm no expert by far guess my opinion. And welcome to the site.
Posted By: esshup Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 02:34 PM
If I were to fill in a pond I would fill in the smaller one. It is much shallower than the bigger one and you'd have to spend more on it annually to control the weed/algae growth.

As for cost, it would all depend on where the dirt came from and how easy it would get to the pond to dump it. then you have equipment costs to move the dirt around and compact it as they are spreading it. Without compacting it will settle over the next few years and you will have a depression. When moving dirt there is a 25%-30% "fluff factor".
Posted By: Theo Gallus Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 04:11 PM
(You're not going to find a lot of support here for getting rid of a pond.)

To me, it seems you are contemplating buying a property that has had its value raised by having two ponds put on it, and spending lots of money to lower that value.

But, its your money and (so far, still) a free country.
Posted By: Bill Cody Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 04:44 PM
Having a pond and keeping it presentable and family enjoyable is a lot of work and effort much more than maintaining grass or a garden. If you hire it done expect $$$$. Reconsider buying it, unless it is a very good $$ deal. As mentioned buying dirt and hauling is expensive. Before I would ever buy a pond I would request a chemical bottom soil analysis similar to how farmers regularly collect & test their fields but in your case testing for presence and amount residual pond weed chemicals historically applied. Some degrade very slowly or not a all. Sometimes an older pond is mostly a 'chemical' dump to control weeds and algae. You don't need that liability.
Posted By: BrianL Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/14/20 04:44 PM
You probably could cut the dam, haul in dirt to fill. but it is going to be a mess for a couple years. Waiting on it to dry out enough to work with will be an issue. You are probably better off to find another property, if the pond bothers you that much. I would guess what you are wanting to do will cost $100,000.00 plus and one to two years to complete.
Posted By: Megan56 Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/15/20 03:34 AM
Wow, I’m really glad I found this forum. You’ve all been super helpful and have given new stuff to think about so I really appreciate everyone’s input!
Posted By: RStringer Re: Buying House w 2 Ponds? - 01/29/20 03:09 PM
Let us know what you decided to do. Other people might be curious if you had someone give you a bid on it.
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