Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Big let down today

First a little history. In February of '05 my wife and I bought a house and five acres of land in SW Louisiana at the very end of a dead end road secluded from everyone.(dream come true) The property had a small 1/4 acre pond and was full of bullhead and green sunfish. Not desireable by any means but it was ours and our 2 year old Godson and younger nieces and nephews enjoyed catching their first fish there.

Many years ago my property was planted with rice and the land sloped from north to south which causes the back of the property to stay wet after a lot of rain. My wife wanted a horse so before I could risk putting an animal on the property I had do something to raise the land some and improve drainage. Best solution...Make the pond bigger and use that dirt to build it up. Great idea!!!

In November of last year I contacted a well known contractor in the area and had him come out and give me a bid. He was the cheapest so we made arrangements for him to come out whenever the entire property was dry enough to dig and haul the dirt. He was going to use an excavator and two dump trucks to deepen the existing pond and add an additional 1/4 acre. Beings that the property was nearly dry and no rain in the forecast he was going to come out soon to get the job done. In preparations for his arrival, I pumped out the existing pond and removed all the fish (had only one largemouth bass that was fat and over 4 pounds..no competition and plenty of food). Naturally, as soon as the pond was dry and before the contrator arrived, it started to rain and stayed wet for the entire winter.

I stayed in contact with the contractor and made plans to do the work in the summer. A good decision as it gave me time to completely remove all unwanted trees from the property and do some necessary clean up. In the mean time I made arrangements with a local farmer to be there whenever the pond was dug to spread the dirt and laser level everything to make the property drain the way it should. I met with the contractor again in late June of this year and everything was set up for them to come out on the 5th of July. Once again it started raining on the 4th of July and we had a wetter than normal summer (sorry for those in a drought) and it has just now dried up enough to do the work.

Since I am at work on a ship in the Gulf of Mexico, I asked the farmer (which is a friend of mine)to contact the contractor and to start the work as soon as possible before winter. Farmer called the contractor up and was told to tell me to "find someone else to do it" because it wasn't worth it to him to do such a small job. Naturally, because of the contractors good reputation and since numerous friends of mine have used him, I did not have a contract drawn up. Big mistake by me and it will never happen again. I guess a hand shake really isn't as good as it used to be.

I am 29 years old and hopefully have many years of life left to have this work done and enjoy it, but it sure does make me upset. All this build up and let down is getting on my nerves. I know I will have my "dream pond" eventually but now I basically have to start over from scratch. I guess I can chalk this one up to a lesson learned and have a binding agreement next time. Sorry for being so long but I had to tell someone.

You are better off with someone who is not the cheapest. Building a pond is not just pushing dirt out of a hole. You need to find someone that understands how to use and compact the right clay soils. Maybe you are lucky enough to live where there is plenty of clay but be certain your contractor knows how to build a pond. Your luck will change soon. Having a good pond takes a lot patience but is worth every minute of worry. Keep reading here and making plans while you hunt for a contractor. You have found the right place for help. I would suggest subscribing to the Pond Boss magazine and read all you can find about building a pond.

Keith,

I agree with PFF - perhaps you dodged a bullet by letting this guy go. Im sure you will find another (better) builder to start your dream pond.

Gator