[matt mitchell]

Last year I started to dig out a pond in my yard. I live in the pa, where the landscape is basicly rocks with trees growing in the cracks.( It's great for building rock walls it's like having a quarry in my backyard) Anyway, the pond is in a great spot on the side of a hill surrounded by ledge on 3 sides. I want to create a waterfall over the ledge on the hill side of the pond. My problem is that I don't want to cover the ledge with a liner and the ledge runs straight up the pond wall. Is there a way to attach the liner to the ledge? I wish I had some pics but it's under a foot of snow. Any help is greatly appreciated.

THANKS

[Bill Schwab]

Matt:

I have thought about what you describe you are trying to do here....If I am understanding this correctly, you have a ledge of stone, naturally formed in your back yard, and since you are in PA it's probably that awesome pretty blue stuff that looks great with ponds, right?

And you want to funnel water over that ledge to use it's natural appearance and blend that in with your pond, is this correct?

If this is the case, we have used two options. The first, is you can use your cut off saw, and make a slight score into the face of this stone the width of how you want the fall to be. Then, carefully take a chisel, and gouge out a section that is about 1"-
1 1/2" lower than the rest of the stone so the water can funnel through. The other way, and this works great too, is to use rocks of the same coloring to build up the sides.Acid clean the surfaces, then stick it to the ledge stone. When it is dry, use Thero-Seal and make a slurry out of it. You can color this product so long as you use no more than 1lb of coloring per 50 lb bag of Thero Seal. After th water begins pouring over the chute, it will blend in and look natural. We use this ingerdient to plaster and waterproof swimming pools, and it has been on the market for almost 100 years. The problem I am seeing here is how you will install the rubber liner in the main pond below the falls. Unless there is a ledge where the falls will drop over the back of the lower pond, it is going to be pretty hard to keep the water from going under the liner. One way is perhaps to score the stone below, tuck the rubber in, and use epoxy, or even Great Stuff Foam to hold it in. Pictures would be great, and maybe this reply is all for nil...

Hope this helps!

[Stonehenge]

I don't know that I have anything to add to that - Bill's answer is pretty solid. When you described the issue I was thinking the same thing as Bill - how you marry a non-lined waterfall with a lined pond. Bill works with waterfeatures much more than we do, so I'd defer to him.

If you can get some pics posted here, it might help to better suggest an answer. If you're having trouble sizing the pics, just email them to me.

[matt mitchell]

Attaching the liner to the stone is my major concern. I will probably have to stack stones up the sides of the ledge to hold and hide the liner to the ledge. Thanks for the tip on scoring and chiseling the ledge to divert the water into the pond. When I take some pics I'll be sure to post them. Bill one more question, do you know if any of those sealants are fish friendly?

THANKS AGAIN
MATT

[Bill Schwab]

Epoxy and Great Stuff both are. And as far as liners go, you can save a bundle going to a roofing supplier to buy your liner. They sell them in 10, 20, and 30 foot widths, just tell them how long to cut them. Then clean off the release (white powder) before you fill the pond. You will need to leave the water sit and stabilize, the PH will have to coem down, before you can put the fish in.

Plants and oxygenators are one of the fastest ways to achieve that feat. You can take kitty litter boxes and fill them with oil dry, then plant the oxygenators, they look like grass, then submerge the box. The water will clean up almost immediately.