We're getting a little excited having people come out next week to give us a few quotes... but are a little worried about getting our hopes up for nothing. The more and more we go out to our field and picture in our minds what it will look like, the more we want it.

So I dug 4 test holes 3' into the soil just to check it out. I couldn't do a water test to see how fast the water ran out because as soon as I got to the 3' level on each hole, water started to seep through some of the layers and filled up each hole. Not sure if this is a good sign for me or not?

In 1 of the holes I did hit a hard layer of shale which prevented me from digging any farther.

The other holes I pulled out chunks of gray clay... but also pulled out some not so bad soil. I only know what the gray clay looks like... the other soil which was a red/orange/brown was sticky like clay... but it wasn't as bad as the chuncks of gray clay I found. It crumbled a little more where the gray stuff kind of snapped because it didn't absorb any water. I know I have a high level of clay simply from the ground getting saturated during the winter months or after a hard rain.

1. What percentage of clay do I need so the pond wont leak
2. If they hit some shell layers, will this matter at all or does the pond have to be rock free?
3. Do counties normally require any permits for ponds that are smaller, roughly 100 x 50?
4. What happens after the pond is built, if it doesn't hold water, and we already paid? Is there a way to look at it or test to see if it will work BEFORE it rains?

The majority of everything that came out of the hole was looked to be clay. It hasn't rained since last week and the surface soil is still very squishy. I know our soil stinks just because of the hassles from gardening in this sticky stuff.