Making A Pond Building Plan
Making a pond plan has great advantages. Putting your design down on paper allows you to organize your pond building ideas, anticipate problems, and think of ways to improve your pond. Of course, the larger and more ambitious your pond ideas are, the more time you’ll spend elbow-deep in measuring tape and paper. You could skip this step, as some lazy pond builders do, but remember that the effort pays off.
Obviously, a pond plan helps you secure building permits, but it really shines when you are working with other people. Work groups require coordination. Having a pond plan provides a reference point to which your workers can go to for answers. It gives your project a clear direction, allowing it to progress much faster than if you had to devote yourself to issuing orders all day.
Steps in Making the Pond Plan
It is quite easy to make your pond plan from scratch although you can save yourself a little time by looking for your house’s original blueprints. Either way, you’ll be spending a lot of time measuring and drawing so be patient; your work will pay off. Make sure that your pond plan accurately shows the condition of your pond’s site as well as the changes you are going to make to it.
Property lines and permanent features, such as your house, should be clearly marked along with paved paths, trees and gardens. Understanding the limits of your building space will allow you to better position your pond’s main features. Coping, walkways, fountains, streams, and waterfalls are a few of the things that you should carefully draw into your plans, especially if these features need to be approved before being built.
Most building codes forbid you from building a pond too close to neighboring property. Overstepping this rule is tantamount to trespassing, so it’s a good idea to clearly mark the minimum building distance from the property line. You’ll also want to find out where underground utility lines lie so that you don’t accidentally dig into a gas line. If you need to move or extend any electrical or water lines, make sure that it is properly indicated on your pond plan.
Drawing a Cross-Section
There are times when your pond design will need a wall or two, such as in a raised pond or a pond on sloped ground with a retaining wall. In these instances it is important to add a cross-sectional diagram of the proposed wall. You should show as many pertinent details as possible. This includes the wall’s dimensions, placement of planting shelves, built-in plumbing, and materials to be used in constructing the wall.
Learn more about Pond Building. Visit Michael W.’s site where you can find out all about building an outdoor pond, with practical tips, tutorials and inspiration.
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