#Thegreatpoolpondconversion - 200209
The the last six months or so was “sand, sandbags, pounding, sand, sand, sand”… it was by far the most physically grueling (54,000 pounds of sand we moved - just the two of us), and the longest on the timeline. Nothing else will take nearly as long.
For the next few weeks, it’s going to be liner, liner, liner. Now that the pond interior is ‘shaped’, this is the next big step. And it’s bulky and relatively expensive to buy sight unseen over the internet. Actually the sand did cost more, but it was in three spread out deliveries so it didn’t feel like it.
A lot of planning and prepping because there’s only one chance to get this right. And we’re finding out there are issues like getting it off the truck (lift gate), moving it once it’s on the ground over concrete and grass (beefy handtrucks), and then the actual install process which we have to break down into bite sized pieces we can manage over more than one sunday.
We measured again today and concluded (and had it confirmed) that we were being far too liberal with the sizing. So we are confident and have settled that it will be 40x25, and not 45x30. That means it’ll be 100 pounds lighter, 350 square feet smaller and will come on a six foot wide roll instead of eight feet. And about 25% less expensive. All in all, easier to move around and now we can manage it without having to enlist a local football team..
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We’re still taking at least 10 gallons of water a day out. If we can bail in the morning and evening, then its closer to 15-20. Considering how many weeks we’ve been bailing, wow was there a lot of water in there. We do see a noticeable drop in the water level, so we’re making progress.
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We need to clear the driveway in anticipation of the liner delivery so we shoveled into the cart and dumped into the ruts most of what was left. This was the third (and last) load of 20 yards. We’re down to about a puny 1/2 a yard.
This is November 14, 2019:
And now:
This is what the grass looks like now:
We still need to rake and spread it. At our leisure, as it were, on a non-pond non-sunday.
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For a change of pace, we moved on to staining part of the deck. This was just a test of color and coverage because this area will be covered by the liner and the border rocks. We decided we’re not thrilled with the color - too dark. So we’ll use up this can on the other parts of the deck that won’t show. Since they won’t show it probably doesn’t have to be done at all. At least we can fool ourselves into believing we got something out of the can.
Looking ahead:
- continue to bail
- complete the liner order and schedule delivery
- dispatch that last 1/2 yard of sand on the driveway
- finish painting the pool deck border
Here’s an index of all the postings in #thegreatpoolpondconversion