The pond finally got off to a good start on schedule this year for a change. Forming that liner like I did over the past few years was an arduous, problematic process that eventually paid off. It’s been a textbook example of the project that became too big to fail. We’ve got this big hole framed in nice stonework that can be used for the one purpose only, so it had to work, one way or another.
I started re-coating the liner as soon as it was dry after shutdown last fall. That began with a thick, 2-coat underlayment of fibered roof coating. That stuff literally almost never dries. The manufacturer instructs to use only on flat or gently sloping roofs and to not top coat it for 3-4 months, so that’s what I did. The top coat was 5 more layers of truck bed liner, followed by a finish layer of 2-part epoxy Pond Shield. The Pond Shield cures to a medium-hard plastic-type material. This fall I will begin repeating that process to include the sump, just for good measure. Next spring should mark the end of OTA (operational test acceptance).
A good thing learned from the early start this spring was freezing behavior. We had one night dip down into the low 20s a few days after it was filled and running. It froze the entire surface about an eighth-inch thick in just one night. That means 365 ops are out of the question. It would be liable to freeze a foot thick and crack the reinforced concrete surround. Glad I learned that before it was too late.