Planning On A Pond... A Big One :)

[PRW1988]

Alright, so the situation here is my dad has always wanted a pond. Well, we're now going to build one, so problem solved lol, the pond I'm thinking of building is going to be 8ft long, 4ft wide and 3 ft deep, it'll hold an estimated 720gallons of water (calculated by LxWxD= cubic feet, cubic feet x 7.5= total -estimated- pond gallons).

It'll more than likely be an above ground pond, with mabye 1/2ft-1ft burried. I'm planning on making it out of wood, a simple Ply-wood frame to begin with, then I'll place the liner in the ply-wood box, then build around the outsides with 2x4s until I get the desired look.

Has anybody done anything like this before? If so, or even if not, some advice and/or suggestions are welcomed

Oh, also the shape of the pond will be a basic rectangle, I was thinking of an octogon or hexagon but my dad didn't like the looks on the blue-print designs.

 

[GoldLenny]

If you have access to 6"x6", 8' long railroad ties type wood, you could use that as the frame. It would handle the outdoor weather better than 2"x4"s and plywood and use galvanized metal straps on the corners to hold the corners together... remember all that water pressure above ground is a lot of weight to be held back by the plywood and 2x4's.... another reason I think the railroad ties would be better.

The plywood will be quicker to deteriorate due to water rot from the ground... presuming the top of the plywood will be covered by the pond liner wrapping over it. Just keep an eye on the plywood at ground level and be prepared to use treated 2x4's around the base to support that section so the pond liner doesn't bulge through the rotting plywood which might cause it to tear... another reason for the railroad ties or something stronger and more durable than plywood..

Your math is correct on the gallons. I came up with 718 using LxWxD (in inches), divided by 231 to get gallons.

I've built an above ground pond into a deck but used the 2"x6" deck boards as the side frame (instead of your proposed plywood side frame) and used 4"x4" posts as further support on the outside since I built a sitting bench on two sides of the triangular pond with the third side parallel with the outside of the deck. Since we get lots of rain in my area, I had the pond overflowing into plastic planters on that outside edge with elephant ear plants growing like crazy out of that planter.