• Amused
  • Angry
  • Annoyed
  • Awesome
  • Bemused
  • Cocky
  • Cool
  • Crazy
  • Crying
  • Depressed
  • Down
  • Drunk
  • Embarrased
  • Enraged
  • Friendly
  • Geeky
  • Godly
  • Happy
  • Hateful
  • Hungry
  • Innocent
  • Meh
  • Piratey
  • Poorly
  • Sad
  • Secret
  • Shy
  • Sneaky
  • Tired
  • Page 1 of 5 1234 ... LastLast
    Results 1 to 20 of 82

    Thread: How much does a pond build cost

    1. #1
      Oldstyle244 is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2007
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      266

      How much does a pond build cost

      I have a small pond (2,000 gallons) and about to buy another house, this time, I was thinking 7,500 gallons and let a professional do the work. I spoke to one builder who with too many bells and whistles showed me a pond for $40,000??????? But said I could do the same size, same filtration, without all the extras and still look nice for $15,000-$20,000; am I out of my mind for considering this?

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    2. #2
      Just Jessie's Avatar
      Just Jessie is offline Supporting Member
      is Loving Life
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      Mar 2006
      Location
      Arlington, Washington
      Posts
      13,918
      I think so, but we do-it-ourselves with everything.


      Jessie
      I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
      I support and will defend my right to bear arms

      MY FAVORITE COLOR IS SHINY
      Lifetime Diamond Member #5 WWKC


      BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN

      www.TickerFactory.com

    3. #3
      JoesPonds.com's Avatar
      JoesPonds.com is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Sep 2005
      Location
      USA
      Posts
      1,621
      I know other will disagree with me, but I think you'd be insane pay $20K+ for a pond. All our ponds were DIY and were extremely inexpensive to complete. The hardest part is digging the hole...everything else is relatively simple as far as labor goes. I'd recommend anyone to go the DIY route, unless of course, you have the $$$ and wanna' spend it...

    4. #4
      Oldstyle244 is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2007
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      266
      I dont have money to burn and I can dig a hole, but I am not a plumber and "afraid" of cutting into the liner to put in the bottom drain/etc so not to cause leaks. The pond I have now is basic, a box mostly above ground with a salvio waterfall and skimmer (I did cut in the liner for that), but no bottom drains, no mid returns, no fancy plumbing.

      I guess I could get started and then ask for help with the plumbing and liner, maybe that is the cheaper route?

    5. #5
      Just Jessie's Avatar
      Just Jessie is offline Supporting Member
      is Loving Life
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      Mar 2006
      Location
      Arlington, Washington
      Posts
      13,918


      Jessie
      I SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
      I support and will defend my right to bear arms

      MY FAVORITE COLOR IS SHINY
      Lifetime Diamond Member #5 WWKC


      BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN

      www.TickerFactory.com

    6. #6
      JoesPonds.com's Avatar
      JoesPonds.com is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Sep 2005
      Location
      USA
      Posts
      1,621
      You definitely want a bottom drain, but you don't necessary have to make a hole in the liner to accomplish this. Building a pipe boot is a cheaper solution than using bulkhead fittings when doing plumbing through a liner. Personally, I still resist making holes in a liner if at all possible. Retrofit bottom drains work just as well and are relatively easy to setup. Just my two cents...

    7. #7
      richdeer3 is offline Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Mar 2007
      Location
      iowa
      Posts
      57
      You can now get pond kits on layaway for spring on our site. 20 k seems high and if you do most of the work it should be much more reasonable. I would look into using a software designing program and read up on constructing a pond before you decide if you are ready to DIY. Are you a member of your local pond club? They maybe able to give you a referral or discount. Let me know what area you are in and I'll try to find your local club. Good luck and dream big, Gail

    8. #8
      FishOCD's Avatar
      FishOCD is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Ohio
      Posts
      3,601
      Are you crazy to think about paying someone to build your pond? No -- and think through this well before going DIY.

      Building a pond is as similar to "just digging a hole" as an appendectomy is to "just cutting a steak". The labor and plumbing knowledge needed to create a 7k gallon pond best for the size and poop output of koi while keeping your maintenance tasks manageable is tremendous.

      Skill:
      There are people here who have prior experience in construction or plumbing but I have utterly none so the learning curve is long. Yes very kind and generous people here will go above and beyond to help you, but you will receive twenty different opinions on each minute component of the pond build. Many will work (there is more than one way to build a pond), but some won't work at all. How will you evaluate which will work best for you if you don't know anything to begin with? And when you are in the middle of things, with PVC glue drying and the feeling of panic rising, who is going to help you that very second?

      Strength:
      The sheer physical demands are extensive. For something the size of yours, a backhoe is needed for excavation and the dirt has to go somewhere. Then there is pipe trenching, buying and toting PVC pipes and connectors (much more than I ever imagined), concrete collar pouring, concrete/block/screenings under base of filters (some heavy themselves). It is not a job for the weak.

      Stress Level:
      This pond redo that was supposed to take a month, has taken SIX months now and turned out to be one of the most stressful events of recent memory. When you hire someone to put in the pond it is DONE in short order.

      Cost:
      And here's the shocker: I did not find it all that less expensive to do it DIY. Since I had never built anything before (and never will again) I had to buy all the necessary tools and special tool attachments: mitre saw, sawzall, hole saw (I've lost count of all the 'new' tools I needed). PVC pipes, fittings, clamps glue adds up. (I've spent more than $3000 at Home Depot.) Backhoe, trencher, buggy cart (to remove dirt from backyard) plus the workers to operate the above: $3100. Pumps, liner, underlayment, skimmer, waterfall, 55 gallon drum, static basket, bottom drain, TPRs, knife/ball/check valves, media like K1: $4300. My unknowns now are labor charges for the landscaper wannna-be pond builder who stops out a few hours a week alone or with others (and cuts apart most of the PVC work I do b/c I've done it wrong), his team's concrete framing and concrete pour, and assisting with the huge liner placement. I'm guessing another $4000. (I haven't even bought lights yet.) Oh and b/c the pond is STILL not done I am at risk of losing many thousands of dollars in shrubs that are dug up and have been struggling to live in plastic bags around their roots all summer -- they must get replanted before frost or die. And I have no economical way of keeping my fish alive through the winter if they can;t get out of the small QT in an unheated garage and in to the pond. OOps forgot the price of the stone and rock border: another $1200.

      IF I KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW, I WOULD HAVE HIRED SOMEONE TO DO THIS BACK IN APRIL AND BEEN ENJOYING IT ALL SUMMER.
      Last edited by FishOCD; 10-16-2007 at 08:48 AM.

    9. #9
      birdman's Avatar
      birdman is offline DIY Savant
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2005
      Location
      Palm Springs, CA.
      Posts
      21,812
      There's no easy answer to this. Depends on what kind of pond you want, gunite, concrete, block, polyurea, or liner. Depends on style of pond, and your time and DIY skills.
      Then there's always compermises. The last two jobs I did the owners had the hole dug, I did the piping, filtration, and liner. Then they finished all the coping , waterfall, and cosmetics.

    10. #10
      John's Avatar
      John is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2007
      Location
      OHIO, Buckeyeville
      Posts
      4,172
      I am planing my Dad's pond for his new house and we are looking in the 10K to 12K range depending on the filters. That will be Block Walls coated in bonding cement, some sort of Pond Armor or Spray Liner, Top of the line easy to maintain professional filters and really nice rock work all around the 9k to 10k gallon mark.

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    11. #11
      Yen is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2007
      Location
      North Jersey
      Posts
      479
      For me, I had never done anything concerning plumbing, mortar, concrete, blocks, etc. before, and I'm not strong I was hesitating for a few days after I got my hole dug in the middle of my backyard. I was afraid I would not be able to do the footing, building the pond walls, etc. But then like you, I got some crazy quotes, one quote $4000 and another $8000 just to build the walls so I decided to do it myself and I'm almost finished only the cosmetics left.

      I say don't worry, go for it. You will get many opinions, read them all, choose the ones that suits your situation best. It won't take you that long, one to two months the most. You'll find it to be not that hard As far as the cost is concerned, I think the avarage is about 2000 to 5000 DIY. For me it's about $3000. You will have to buy the tools, but then you got to keep them or even you can sell them back on Ebay, Craiglists, etc after you've done

      Yen

    12. #12
      carrie's Avatar
      carrie is offline Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2006
      Location
      Kentucky
      Posts
      6,768
      I`m with OCD....We started off doing it ourselves. I did buy my filters from Gene, but they less expensive then the two Nexxus we thought we would need. Still I was well over 5K for filters,pumps,skimmer,UV,bottom drains,liner,air pumps and such.
      I ended up hiring someone. I won`t qoute the exact price.With all the rockwork and our pergola, is was quite a bit more than we planned. I don`t regret a bit hiring someone.
      So I guess I`m one of "those insane" people. Because even without block walls on three sides of the pond.(we do have a collar all the way around) it was WELL over 20K.I don`t see how we could have done it for less or ever finished it ourselves for less.

    13. #13
      Yen is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2007
      Location
      North Jersey
      Posts
      479
      And this is my pond, I didn't think I could do it 3 months ago

      Name:  img003.jpg
Views: 4019
Size:  76.2 KB
      Yen

      Quote Originally Posted by Yen View Post
      For me, I had never done anything concerning plumbing, mortar, concrete, blocks, etc. before, and I'm not strong I was hesitating for a few days after I got my hole dug in the middle of my backyard. I was afraid I would not be able to do the footing, building the pond walls, etc. But then like you, I got some crazy quotes, one quote $4000 and another $8000 just to build the walls so I decided to do it myself and I'm almost finished only the cosmetics left.

      I say don't worry, go for it. You will get many opinions, read them all, choose the ones that suits your situation best. It won't take you that long, one to two months the most. You'll find it to be not that hard As far as the cost is concerned, I think the avarage is about 2000 to 5000 DIY. For me it's about $3000. You will have to buy the tools, but then you got to keep them or even you can sell them back on Ebay, Craiglists, etc after you've done

      Yen

    14. #14
      mike pfeffer is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2004
      Location
      Louisville, KY
      Posts
      514
      I don't think $20K is unreasonable. What I would be afraid of is after spending $20K- do you have a koi pond or a water garden? Most of the builders are creating water features which they claim will support koi. But koi produce tons of waste. You better understand the concepts of waste removal and bio-filtration as a two part system. What I see constructed is trap the crap bogs and skimmers used as filters.

    15. #15
      Oldstyle244 is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2007
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      266
      Quote Originally Posted by mike pfeffer View Post
      I don't think $20K is unreasonable. What I would be afraid of is after spending $20K- do you have a koi pond or a water garden? Most of the builders are creating water features which they claim will support koi. But koi produce tons of waste. You better understand the concepts of waste removal and bio-filtration as a two part system. What I see constructed is trap the crap bogs and skimmers used as filters.
      No, they are koi pond builders. In the initial plans we went over, he had suggested vortex, bead filter, UV, TPR (may have the initials wrong, but you know what I mean), two bottom drains, etc to ensure proper filtration.

    16. #16
      FishOCD's Avatar
      FishOCD is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Feb 2007
      Location
      Ohio
      Posts
      3,601
      Write the check, get the pond.

    17. #17
      Dwight is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Nov 2004
      Location
      El Paso , TX , USA
      Posts
      2,612
      Liner or concrete ? $20K is quite resonable for a concrete pond with all that filtration ( which is absolutely necessary )
      Disclaimer : I am no expert and anyone taking my advice might be as big a fool as I am.

    18. #18
      vipldy's Avatar
      vipldy is offline The Fish Whisperer
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2004
      Location
      Milwaukee,WI
      Posts
      25,158
      We did most of the work ourselfs and we are totaly insane I guess...We spent way to much but have alot to show for it. I would have been real happy at $20,000

      Marie
      Marie

      Have You Hugged Your Koi Today Ruby's Keeper

    19. #19
      Oldstyle244 is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2007
      Location
      Texas
      Posts
      266
      Quote Originally Posted by Dwight Floyd View Post
      Liner or concrete ? $20K is quite resonable for a concrete pond with all that filtration ( which is absolutely necessary )
      That is with a liner (digging hole, putting in a footer, blocks, etc), he may come off the price a little, but who knows, I think at $10,000-$15,000 I wouldnt even bat an eye, but when it was $15,000-$20,000; then I started thinking of all the other stuff we will need in a new house and how that other $5,000 could be put to better use, that is why I posed the question to see if I was just being cheap or if that seemed reasonable.

    20. #20
      Yen is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Apr 2007
      Location
      North Jersey
      Posts
      479
      For me, it's worth to be realistic. For anything above $10,000 I would put that toward the house, i.e. finish the basement and increase the house value at least two folds of that money.

      Yen


      Quote Originally Posted by Oldstyle244 View Post
      That is with a liner (digging hole, putting in a footer, blocks, etc), he may come off the price a little, but who knows, I think at $10,000-$15,000 I wouldnt even bat an eye, but when it was $15,000-$20,000; then I started thinking of all the other stuff we will need in a new house and how that other $5,000 could be put to better use, that is why I posed the question to see if I was just being cheap or if that seemed reasonable.

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    Page 1 of 5 1234 ... LastLast

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •