Water Feature- how much?

How much does it cost to build something like this in my backyard??

I want it to be a little deeper so you could sit in in the summer. maybe slightly wider too.

 

Depends. Are you doing it yourself or hiring someone? Where do you live? I could see it being upwards of $10000 for landscaping and the rocks and dirt. Plus pump and plumbing for the waterfall.

 

i’m in Atlanta. i’d like to DIY. i’m pretty handy but have not done something like this.

budget appx 5K or less

 

Do you have a shovel? You definitely have a truck; drive out to the woods and start stealing rocks. Dig it out, lay pipe, fill with bladder and rocks. Boom river in your backyard. That's what I'd do anyways, but I'm cheap AF.

Or pay someone a ridiculous amount to do it for you :/

 

Do homework, there is a lot that goes into it if you don't want nasty water. If no fish you can use chemical treatment. If me I would use and I do use UV sterilization methods. Been successfully using UV light for sterilization of our pool water for many years. You still need good frequent filtration system too. You can buy rubber roofing cheaper than pond liner and it is the same thing. Don't get suckered! Pond places will lie to you and tell you they have a special liner. BS they buy it from the roofing company and mark up the cost.

 

don’t want any fish but I see there’s a big debate online about UV treatment versus chemicals. Prefer not to have chemicals because we have little kids

 

I’ve seen a few guys on YouTube building these little backyard ponds but they charge about $50,000. I think they’re in upstate New York in that area. Not looking to spend anywhere in that neighborhood

basically want backyard water feature with very little maintenance

 

Me too, not so little anymore. UV and a good vegetable filter full of the water hyacinth bulbs is your best bet. I'd build a filter and waterfall base using a big stock tank. Inlet at the bottom, fill with filter media of recycled milk jugs in the bottom 6" for a good bio filter base. Not going to do it all for you, you'll appreciate more of it if you get to work!

 

agreed. Plus doing lotta research anyway!

 

If you get stuck pm me anytime. Been around the block a few times.

 

roger that. thanks

 

Look at Aquascape. They make kits that are very good quality. We use them at work often, build a couple a year. Something like you want, installed around $14k - $16k

 

When I inquired about replacing ours I had a company tell me $7,000-10,000. This came with the house we recently purchased.

 

i’ll check it out, thanks

 

that’s awesome! does it have fish? i don’t want fish but i know it’s popular with most

ps - it looks deep

 

4 grand, lots of labor, plus rocks and watch out for snakes while you are gathering.

 

4K is doable but i know rocks are expensive and labor to place them

 

Yes we have around 9 Goldfish. It's probably 3.5-4 feet deep in the middle.

 

Find a few big commercial landscaping jobs on the weekend or evening and ask the security guard if you can have a couple of rocks. Check around craigslist, find a few acreages that have an abundance and offer to help with free disposal. New housing developments, etc. There are numerous sources for free rocks, just have to be willing to work. Might I also suggest a hitch carrier, don't have to lift the big ones, use a dolly, roll them to the truck and onto the hitch carrier. Then around the yard with the dolly. Like I said, been around the block and did this stuff a few times on a budget.

 

In the City of Atlanta I would expect you to-----if playing by all the rules-----need to have a permit from the municipal government. The municipal government would likely require design documents for them to "approve."

YMMV.

 

Backyard, not a huge concern. My concern would be kids, horseplay and rocks. Just not a good mix.

 

We built this at a co-worker's house. It took two of us three days it's just over 3 ft deep it is an Aquascape pond kit and we added a UV filtration system for the coy fish his wife had to have. The racoons are happy. LOL

 

Truth. I bought my pond liner from a roofing supplier.

 

Unless you have a side yard you could throw the dirt, it cost me $900 to throw 10 yard of dirt

 

I don’t have a pic but my father in law has something like this connected to his pond with 2 streams going into one stream into the pond it’s about 40’ long.
Rent a dingo to help dig and such.
Kids will be ALL over it!!! Place, glue, or whatever so a rock doesn’t flip/fall.

I would budget $5000.
I dug a small fishpond in the 90’s for my mom and she used a sump pump nothing fancy.
Dingo rental, heavy rubber liner, pump system, rocks and your creativity.

 

If you did it yourself I think 5k is about right....a pond specialty company would run you 3x that or more.

 

yeah, but no more dangerous than walking down the street these days

 

Don't forget to plan for a decent electric bill increase if you want decent flow. You could also have two separate pumps and use good 120v hardwired timers. One for quiet night time filtration only, one for pleasure. Keep your high flow line split with two output lines, one for slow filtration only, one by pass high output direct to the falls.

 

that was my concern

 

I think it looks great for a DIY project. Pretty professional looking