DIY Waterfall Pond Project by a Pinterest MOM!

 So, I'm making progress on my pond project. I have spent hours reading through Pinterest and I finally realized I needed to turn to YouTube to watch videos. Family Handyman had some good stuff to offer me as well. I also found good advice on Passions for Ponds ! Glad there are resources out there, but as I found when I was doing this, it is more about trial/error and what resources you have--or what resources you are willing to spend your money on. I am CHEAP, squeaky kind of cheap. So, I found most sites were awesome if you have endless money, which I do not.

One of my ponds had a waterfall--I inherited this with my last house. It was a pile of dirt with a pond liner with rocks around it. It leaked and was a mess. I removed it within a month of moving into the house. I knew I needed to find a good way to build a waterfall. I found a picture similar to mine (on the left) on Pinterest, but alas, when I clicked on it I discovered it was only an image. What good is this? HA!

I inherited over 30 cinder blocks with my house on the Knobs. I have used them for my raised garden and still had a lot left. I made a base of six blocks, then stacked three on top of the back to give me stair steps. I even used a level! I put it towards the back because my electrical is going to be dropped at the back of the deck by the drain spout. I also knew I wanted a good drop between the last step and my pond. I wanted to hear the cascade of water. Like I said, a lot of personal preference goes into a pond.

The new Golden Retriever puppy, Kendyl, is a true helper. I have coined her Helper Harry. She is not helpful at all, but is always in my way!

Once the steps were level, I filled them in with dirt and placed carpet scraps on the top. You can buy a high-end underlayment, but like I said when I started writing, I'm cheap. I bought a 8" Spillway as I knew I didn't want a very large waterfall. Actually I wanted a HUGE waterfall, but price changed my mind pretty quick on this decision.

I had been shopping and price checking on items needed to make the pond run. I went to two local pond places, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight and Amazon for my prices. I have linked them to the cheapest places when I was looking/shopping. I really wanted to support my local places, but I just couldn't justify the almost double prices.

Items for my "SIMPLE DIY WATERFALL"
*Spillway for Waterfall
*Pump to get a good flow
*Pond Liner for waterfall
*Pond liner for pond --garage sale find $10
*tubing to make everything work
*Skimmer for lower maintenance
*Extension cord (already owned)
*Cinder blocks (already owned)
*Dirt used from the hole! (Free! If you don't count the back-breaking work....)

This roughly totaled $190! This is before I even add in the rocks and landscaping....my simple Pinterest project which said I could do it in a weekend and under $200. Pinterest is a LIAR. :)

Now I could have spent less money on a pump from Harbor Freight, but to get the gallons per hour (GPH) I wanted to have a good, fast and LOUD water flow, I had to have a pump which would do 1000 GPH. This made my pump a bit more. Also, I want a lower maintenance pond, so in doing this you need to add a submersible skimmer. This adds on to your price as well, but after 10 years of doing "simple DIY" ponds this is necessary for my peace of mind.

Okay, so now that I have my waterfall liner in place, I cut off the access. I started hauling dirt to build up around it. I needed to bury my tubing from the pump up to the waterfall, but I couldn't do that until I knew the waterfall was working and could cut off the excess of tubing. You get a LOT of tubing for $24.00. So, it is time for the placement of the rocks. Once you get the rocks in place you can use this foam sealant as ALL the articles I read stated you could. I bought a can of this from Amazon. (THIS WAS A FREAKIN' NIGHTMARE. I will add more details about this in the next post. You don't need this black poopy mess of foam......