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I am having a pond built! Need help please | |
goldfishgeek Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003 | Hi The pond will be 6 by 4 foot and 2.5 feet deep. I want to keep goldfish. It will be made with a pond liner and will be surrounded by a rockery, have a waterfall and a row of evergreen shrubs planted along the back. I wil have a filter a pump and some plants including all of the above and the labour the cost is £1200. Is this too much? Am I being ripped off? if any one from England could answer I would be very grateful. GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
Posted 17-Jun-2006 19:04 | |
blazeybird Banned Posts: 62 Kudos: 24 Votes: 2 Registered: 01-Jun-2006 | well Im not sure if its a rip-off or not, but That is AWSOME! I SOOO whant a big pond, I just have a small 35gall pond with cattail, iris, and 2 water lillies!! |
Posted 17-Jun-2006 20:27 | |
ophie99 Fingerling Posts: 23 Kudos: 16 Votes: 0 Registered: 15-Jan-2004 | well congrats, I'd say its steep, considering you can get a liner for around 50 and a pump for 25 and then just rig your own filter, plus from everything I've heard you want 3 feet, just to make sure its deep enough they dont get frozen in winter, but I guess it depends how well its designed, and how little labor you want to expend! I'm building my own as well, really no price is too too much for fish!! |
Posted 17-Jun-2006 22:29 | |
goldfishgeek Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003 | thanks for the comments/suggestions. really I am looking for some one like LHG to answer? I am not sure if this is expensive or not, I shall be getting other quotes etc, I just wanted an individual opinion/experience cheers GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
Posted 18-Jun-2006 17:48 | |
longhairedgit Fish Guru Lord of the Beasts Posts: 2502 Kudos: 1778 Votes: 29 Registered: 21-Aug-2005 | Well bearing in mind someone else is doing it for you, ive seen worse quotes.It does seem a lot though. The biggest bit is digging the hole, for which I personally would hire a mini-digger for a few hours and chuck the soil on my dads trailer and dump it thus saving the best part of £500. The other expenses will be the filter if its huge, but I see no reason why that couldnt be done for less than £200. I guess youll need at least £100 of pond liner, maybe more. I guess it could be done yourself for much less, but it depends on you having the time to and experience to do it. Id guess at least £600 or more is going into labour costs, but if they offer guarantees etc, it might be worth it, if it saves you the effort. I think for £1200, id be wanting it brick built lol. Yep it seems expensive bearing in mind its just a lined hole with sand on the bottom, some rubber lining and some sealant. But then the problem is always finding a labourer for cheap these days.lol. Personally Id get an itemised materials quote before having it done, bearing in mind they probably get them at trade. I reckon materials probably come to under £500 total, so if there workrate seems extortionate id get someone else to do it. Yours involves some landscaping by the sounds of it, but I would expect the quote to be cheaper. I recently had a friend have a 20x8 x4 pool, brick edged, and filtered for £3500 or so (minus koi of course) so I would be looking at that quote closely to see where they justify the cost.For that price the membrane and the filter had better be top quality.They should also offer guarantees for the safety of the electrical fittings and some support for leaks and pump failure if things are not properly fitted. If you did it yourself you could do it for around £500 or less, so id be making damn sure where the other £700 they want goes. |
Posted 20-Jun-2006 05:28 | |
goldfishgeek Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003 | Hi LHG, mmm, it doesn't include fitting the electrics, which is worrying but it does include the building of the rockery, the fitting of the filter and pump, liner digging the hole, I guess I am writing this all backwards, but am trying to concentrate on "24" as well. I am still not convinced going to get another quote on saturday. I did wonder about digging the hole myself but I don't think I could. cheers, GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
Posted 22-Jun-2006 21:11 | |
DwarfGourami Hobbyist Posts: 132 Kudos: 83 Votes: 6 Registered: 01-Aug-2005 | Iv seen pond kits at wal mart here for $54.74 it come with the filter and the fountain spray thingy (LOL) and alot of other lil things i was going to get one but im i want to make a kids pool i have a lil pond |
Posted 01-Jul-2006 18:37 | |
goldfishgeek Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003 | Right after getting a second Quote for ...wait for it..... 2500 pounds. and finding out that the first bloke was a rip off merchant I have decided to dig the thing myself. so that is my summer sorted! I am thinking it will be crazy but doable. any advice? GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
Posted 08-Jul-2006 15:21 | |
dan76 Big Fish Always Reading Posts Posts: 343 Registered: 08-Jul-2003 | get a price for someone to dig the hole , take the dirt away and deliver a meter or so of sand for the bottom. that way you can go bigger deeper etc and all that s left to do is the fun stuff of setting up the pond cheers dan one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen, thats all you need |
Posted 08-Jul-2006 23:36 | |
goldfishgeek Fish Addict Posts: 667 Kudos: 412 Votes: 38 Registered: 27-Oct-2003 | Nope have lots of pent up anger, will be digging the hole AND laying a patio as well........................ he he my Dad is going to FREAK! ho hum. wish me luck and remember i would appreciate any advice or experiences of what not to do. thank you GFG Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. Harvey S. Firestone |
Posted 11-Jul-2006 22:49 | |
longhairedgit Fish Guru Lord of the Beasts Posts: 2502 Kudos: 1778 Votes: 29 Registered: 21-Aug-2005 | If youre digging a big hole over a long period of time , dont forget to shore up the edges with planks , or when it rains youll have a lot more digging to do when the edges collapse. Its best to get the digging done in one day ( hence the suggestion of a mini digger or some extra hands) and get the sand and the liner in same day. It sounds like a hell of a job, but its better than just ending up with a soggy bog in your garden.If you end up bailing water out of the hole, you have to dunp it at least 20 yards away just so it doesnt seep back in. Dont forget to get the water in quickly too once the liner is ready, cos the pressure of that is the only thing that stops water and collapses happening below the liner. If your not careful the pool can end up much shallower than you originally intended! Its better to plan the whole operation to go as smoothly as possible before ever putting your spade in the ground.Everyone needs to be clear on the plan and the levels of jobs, ie digging, shoring, laying sand, and how to fit the liner before they start .Make sure you have all the materials ready and placed conveiniently before you start digging. If you hit it with gusto theres no reason the pond cant be completed within 12 hours, and the pond filling overnight while you take a rest. |
Posted 13-Jul-2006 17:47 | |
Sideburns Dave Enthusiast Posts: 168 Kudos: 105 Votes: 21 Registered: 29-Aug-2003 | big tip I got from my Laguna Rep this spring, it is often overlooked; do not have walls at 90degrees up and down as it may tear the liner if it freezes. make sure walls are at 120degrees or greater. |
Posted 21-Jul-2006 00:27 |
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