Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Pond liner for my new 1/4 acre pond

Thank you for this....just one more confirmation that Mike knows his stuff: he explained pretty much EXACTLY what you lay out here......but the key was that in the end, as you say:

"No guarantees on that procedure."

So, if I would STILL not have a 100% guarantee that it would hold, I agree with him that it's best to just bite the bullet and go for the liner.

As far as "..... a good, honest local pond builder >>>>> always greater than a random dude on the internet from far away![/quote]

That's what I did: I talked to a bunch of people, and decided to go with this company. And in most respects, I've very happy with their work. His vision/plan for things was great, he was reliable and communicative, etc. And he did tell me right from the beginning: the clay SHOULD hold, but next step would be bentonite, and if it it still doesn't hold, a liner. Unfortunately, he cut corners on the compacting, so we didn't get a genuine shot at seeing if it worked.....but Mike said I needed the clay regardless; the earth here is so rocky and craggy anyway. So....it is what it is. And I'm relieved I won't have to be sweating every rainfall from now on, wondering if it'll hold.