Keeping character, or restoring a pond

[wroughtn_harv]

You might have a point. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Actually we got there this morning and evidently she'd had enough ponding.

Because when I tried getting her out she did more than her fair share. It didn't take two minutes and she was a bucking and roaring for work.

I believe one of the most gratifying things a person can do is share a dream and watch others take the dream places one never thought about.

This has happened on the stone work on the wall. The day laborers evidently aren't used to being just turned loose with a concept and allowed to run with it. They were tentative at first, a little unsure of just what and how. But once they got on a roll they developed their own system and pattern and for me it was like a proud papa on graduation day.

Here's their start.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

It was a great day. We all have days. Some are just days. Some are good ones. But every now and then we have great ones.

Great doesn't necessarily mean easy. In fact difficulty is probably one of the basic criteria for greatness.

I picked up two day laborers today who didn't work out. Right after lunch we parted ways. Keeping them on the job insulted the other laborers who were carrying their fair share. Their ways insulted me and my job. And it demeaned themselves, something they have every right to do, just not in my presence.

Then there was the flat on the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

But when you look at the big picture, it was a great day.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

They got all that done without my help. I made some suggestions on style but they laid it out and finished it based up their ideas of what it should look like.

I was busy backfilling behind the wall and making sure it was leveled out and power tamped.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Here's a shot of their system. The rocks were drilled and rebar stubs expoxied in Monday and Tuesday while I was working on the brackets for the building connectors.

They figure out where they want the rock. They mark where the stub contacts the block wall. They drill a hole in the block. Then using a rubber mallet they drive the stub and stone into place.

Two of the guys follow applying concrete. We're using portland cement and a pea gravel-sand mix. I got the pea-mix (sand and pea gravel mixed at the plant) for the grouting of the wall. The guys suggested using it for the wall and man they were right.

The first guy concentrates on getting material in and around the stones. The second guy adds material, layering if you will.

Following them by about fifteen minutes it a guy with a piece of wood to scrape the excess material away from the stone and smooth out the appearance.

The fourth guy has a wire brush in one hand and a wisk broom in the other. He's the difference between good and fine.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

It's amazing what a little pride and craftsmanship can do, isn't it?

 

[wroughtn_harv]

The water line will be about the middle of the stone section of the wall. That way you'll see stones above the water and in the water.

 

[bmac]

Harv,

I've been too embarrased to ask this question, but curiosity has gotten the best of me and I can't put it off any longer. So, with all due respect to the Master Fabricator:

How does a concrete blook wall hold water?

Afterall, in building our house, we put in a poured concrete wall basement, applied water sealant to the exterior, placed gravel and drain pipe at the footing, etc. to keep water from infiltrating into the house. You have a block wall with mortar joints and no sealant. Hydrostatic pressure out the wazoo when this pond is filled. What keeps it from leaking?

OK, you can stop laughing now and educate me on the finer points of pond making. BTW, it looks great.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

No reason to be embarrassed. It's a perfectly logical question, especially with your experiences with water/blocks.

We are not trying to keep the water in. Our concern is keeping the clay-dirt out.

We have a dirt/clay basin. Our wall is about defining that basin by inserting a barrier to keep the dirt/clay out of the basin.

Here in north Texas we have some of most expansive (clay) soils on earth. A friend of mine has his home on a slight elevation (we have no hills or mountains, best we got is slight elevations). His elevation varies six inches between the dry and wet seasons.

It's because of that I placed the stable fill behind the wall. Not to strength the wall so much from the water as to keep the expansion/contraction of the soil from breaking the wall.

Our Halite blocks are for all practical purposes forms for the concrete. We have a retaining wall that has water on one side and soil on the other.

I hope this answers your questions. If it hasn't please speak up. Just between you and me your questions have probably been statements by some who didn't have the whatevers to speak up publicly.

We are going to seal the stonework btw. But that's more about appearances than integrity at this point in time.

This is a shot of the north wall's work they accomplished today.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Today we got the pier and column poured for the new deck.

Those pieces of rebar sticking out the top are what's left of seventeen feet.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

We lined up all these rocks on the concrete portion of the pond.

We then explained that we needed volunteers to look good for a long time while clinging to a wall. They'd be either in the water most of the time or assigned to a location just above the water line.

It made us proud.

Some of them even raised two hands.