yet another pond
- Thread starter OkeeDon
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Junkman
Super Member
Where are you going to put all the dirt that comes out of that huge hole when it is done? Do you have any idea of how many yards you are going to be moving?
Actually, we really didn't want a pond in the first place. Extra maintenance, extra costs, potential mosquito breeder, danger to the grandchiildren, attracts unwanted wildlife. All of this, however, was overshadowed by the cost of hauling in at least 1600 cubic yards of fill - estimated before the record rainy season we had this year. I really don't know how many yards of fill we'll need now to get the drainage working - it could be 2000 yards or more. The plan is to dig the original pond layout, move and grade the spoil as fill, then take at look at where we are. If the property has not been raised enough, we'll keep digging, even though it may be a budget buster.
In a way, I consider myself fortunate that we had the record rainfall in the past 3 or 4 months - if I had not seen how bad it could get (4 out of 5 acres were under at least 6" of water), I would not have known how much to build it up.
Our house alone has to have a minimum elevation 4' 6" above the present ground level. We won't be building the dirt up that high; even though most houses in Florida are built on monolithic slabs, we're going to build the house area up about 2', and then put the house on stem walls. The barn area will be built up about 2', and the entire road (about 800' x 12' has to be raised at least a foot.
While this pond will cost between $6K and $10K, the fill at local rates would have been at least $15K, and that's without the grading and compacting costs.
As you can see, getting rid of the dirt is the least of our problems.
In a way, I consider myself fortunate that we had the record rainfall in the past 3 or 4 months - if I had not seen how bad it could get (4 out of 5 acres were under at least 6" of water), I would not have known how much to build it up.
Our house alone has to have a minimum elevation 4' 6" above the present ground level. We won't be building the dirt up that high; even though most houses in Florida are built on monolithic slabs, we're going to build the house area up about 2', and then put the house on stem walls. The barn area will be built up about 2', and the entire road (about 800' x 12' has to be raised at least a foot.
While this pond will cost between $6K and $10K, the fill at local rates would have been at least $15K, and that's without the grading and compacting costs.
As you can see, getting rid of the dirt is the least of our problems.
Junkman
Super Member
just hope that they don't find any dinosaur bones!!!!!!!
Now we get to the good stuff. Like everything else, though, nothing is as simple as it seems, and there is always preliminary work. In this case, they won't start to spread the fill until all of the organic material has been skimmed from under the house pad. I staked out the actual house (minus porches and pool), and they skimmed the grass.
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These guys think of all the details. They only want good, clean fill under the house and barn, so first they skim all the grass off the top of the pond and use that for fill in less important areas, like the low spots out along the highway. This also gives them (and me) and good outline of the pond.
