It took nine years from groundbreaking, to get it right, after Francie said we needed a pond. As a pro in the industry, my friend Joe will attest to the challenging aspects of stone masonry, but that was not the most difficult part of creating this little hole-in-the-ground ecosystem. Keeping the water inside of it was always the biggest problem forming a uniquely shaped liner like this. Search “pond” for all the details from years past if you’re interested. The final word is a product called “Pond Armor™,” It’s a 2-part epoxy paint, designed specifically for this purpose.
Downtime in the off-season over the past four years involved re-coating the liner with numerous layers of truck bed liner to build a sufficiently stable base for supporting the final Pond Armor top coat. I tried the stuff at one point five years ago before it was ready, and failed miserably. The epoxy forms a hard plastic-like surface. But it cracked and leaked badly that first time because the base was not solid enough yet. Time will tell if we have it right for the long term. It hasn’t leaked much the past couple years, as the liner improved. It’s looking really water-tight prior to this year’s fill-up.
The biggest Pond Armor issue is the difficulty in working with it. I spent the entire day yesterday making quite the mess, resting in-between mixing six separate batches to apply in the 20-30 minutes it takes to start setting. It’s thick and difficult to brush on. $350 for enough to do a proper double-coat on this particular project is a not insignificant expense, to me. After coming this far over the years, I may do it again next spring, just for insurance.
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