Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam New Pond Build, 1 acre, pond liner

Hi Ninja,

I've spent a year and a half rebuilding my pond twice. Contractor #1 was just a guy who could move dirt, albeit slowly. He didn't "fix" the existing issue with the 1/2 acre pond we started with, only made a larger 1-acre pond worse than we had before (holds no water). Poor soil conditions and terrible pond building skills resulted in a mudhole. It sounds like your site material and mine are very similar.

In August of 21', I found another contractor to fix the problem we had. I was ready to spend 50k for a liner and was talked out of it even with my less than ideal soil (almost no zero good clay) and is sandy loam. We have lots of sandstone in my region of Ohio. Aside from the liner/ installation cost, you will need to cover the liner with another 1ft of material if you want to get any life out of it, which also requires more gentle slopes. Even with a "warranty", what happens if there is an issue and you have to drain, excavate, reline and refill?

With lots of consulting from various resources, including hours with TJ , we dug out the problem (old pond dam garbage) and repacked a new core trench. As we built up to the final depth, I applied 20 Units of soil floc and covered it with another packed 6 inches of soil. That is 2-3x the recommended dosage, but I wanted to be sure it would seal.

The depth is now over 4 ft since August and we haven't lost any water other than minimal evaporation (less than 1/2"). I believe it is now sealed well, and just waiting on mother nature to fill it. We don't get a lot of rain, so I've been assisting it with the garden hose and pump from a nearby creek.

Consider ALL of the variables before pulling the trigger on a liner. Yes they do work, obviously, but there is a lot more to think about unless you have an endless supply of $$. Just my $.02

Ryan-