Pond wall reconstruction question

18 years ago

A couple weeks ago part of the dirt wall behind the liner collapsed pulling down some of the waterfall rocks with it. So far no leaking but I need to repair it. The pond wall that collapsed was about 30 inches tall and vertical. My question is whether I need to drain the pond completely (easier for me but not as good for the goldfish) or whether I can drain about half or 2/3 of the water, pull the liner away from the dirt and temporarily support it with plywood and stakes as braces while I rework the wall. After fixing the wall, I could either remove the plywood or place it against the wall as added support in the future. Has anyone tried this and was it worth the effort? Thanks.

John

Featured Answer

lsst

18 years ago

Based on your info, if you can support enough liner to keep water in and rework the wall, you could keep water in the bottom for your fish.

I had to build a 40 inch retaining wall across the back of the pond. I poured a footing- then rebar-then blocks and put concrete in the voids of the block. I then backfilled the inside with dirt to create a slope. This took some of the water pressure off of the wall right at where the footing and block met the ground.

I use old carpet and pond underlayment to protect the liner and then ran the liner over the wall and capped it. It was a PITA but worth it.

If you do not think you need that much support, you could use decorative interlocking landscaping block instead.

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Comments (9)

curb1
18 years ago
You need to draw the water down as far as the repairs need to be made. I think your plan will work.
fujimook
Original Author
18 years ago
I plan on building in a slight slope (about 30 degrees) from the floor of the pond to about 18 inches up the wall and was hoping i would only have to remove about half of the water. If I understand what you're saying, I'd have to drain it all the way down. Correct? I was planning on reworking about 10 feet of the wall.
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lsst
18 years ago
Are you rebuilding the wall with dirt or do you plan on using cinder block and concrete or something to reinforce the wall?
fujimook
Original Author
18 years ago
Was considering 2 options. 1 - Rebuilding by sloping dirt on an angle from the floor about 2/3 of the way up the side and placing plywood between the dirt wall and liner for better long term stability. 2 - Replacing the collapsed dirt wall section with concrete blocks & rebar filled with concrete, behind the liner. If I use this approach, I would probably not slope the wall. I'm open to other suggestions and still hoping that I won't have to drain the pond completely. Thanks.

John
fujimook
Original Author
18 years ago
Excellent idea using interlocking landscaping blocks! We have some old keystone walls in the front yard that we were going to replace this year, so this would be a more economical way to do kill 2 birds with one stone. Thank you.

John
johnkr
18 years ago
I have a cinderblock wall supporting my 30 inch waterfall. I used flagstone slabs as a footer and construction adhesive instead of mortar. Construction adhesive is designed to support landscaping blocks and is applied with a caulking gun. IÂve been very satisfied.

You definitely want to cover the wall with pond underliner material to protect the pond liner from the blocks. I dug an extra large hole and filled the back side of the wall with gravel 3 feet high and 3 feet wide. It provides support and drainage. I experienced a storm several years ago that dropped 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. Without the wall and gravel, my pond would have certainly caved in.
fujimook
Original Author
18 years ago
I don't think I'll have to use adhesive or mortar because the old keystone blocks we have are held in place with fiberglass pins. For abrasion protection I will use old carpet and underlayment I used for the rest of the pond. Thanks.
lsst
18 years ago
Sounds like a plan!