The Big Pond Build (Part 2)

This is the second catch up post on the pond build. For those that missed part one, you can catch up here.
Since Christmas we have been able to push on with the project, benefitting from the mild winter weather (there were a couple of cold snaps but nothing that lasted very long), and have finished off a lot more of the pond build and surrounding landscaping.
The filter house roof was finished late December/early January, which was a great relief as that meant the building was basically watertight. We added guttering to take the water away to a soakaway, and will add water butts to collect water later on, with the drought conditions and hose pipe ban in the UK we should save all the water we can!

Fortunately the roof was finished before the snow came

With the roof finished we were also able to get the insulation inside the building, using a recycled glass based insulation that has been added to the roof space and walls, with the internal walls being clad to give a neat finish. This has been started although as the weather has mostly been kind to us we kept finding outside jobs to do. There is no great rush on that part of the project as its not holding anything up just yet.


Externally the filter house cladding was finished off and the windows fitted into the frames. Fitting the double glazed units back in was a lot more fiddly than expected, and involved plenty of cursing from me!! Minor adjustments had to be made to the beading to get them all back in, but they are all in place now and again bring the filter house one step closer to being finished.

Outside the filter house we have completed the small water feature (more on that on a separate post later) and raised bed three. This one was taller than the others, and we had to bring in some top soil to fill it up - which is a shame as we still have some of the chalk and sub soil to get rid off. However as we are intending this to be a lush, rather than arid bed, we need good quality soil for the plants to thrive. As with the other beds this was topped off with a blue/silver sandstone coping, the walls rough rendered and painted white.

Imediately next to the Filter house will be a small gravelled area, this has been terraced using more of the clay/chalk we dug out from the pond and will be covered in blue slate chippings in the near future.
The biggest change though is the pond itself, this is now mostly at the final height, with nearly all the remaining blocks laid. The return pipes and surface skimmer were fitted in as we built the walls. The remaining opening in the wall will house a window that will be an inch thick, the remaining blocks will be laid to fit the window frame which, weather permitting will be fitted in the next week or so.
Getting the block work finished killed our old dependable angle grinder, and the timing wasn't great when it did fail - mid way though a Sunday afternoon, so with time limited we had to think quickly. Fortunately the gardening and DIY section at Argos came to our rescue and with a quick trip to a nearby superstore we were back in action.

Close up of the surface Skimmer

So that brings the pond project up to date, there are still plenty of jobs left to do, but we are now on the home straight.
Gaz