Building a Rock Waterfall for Tiki pool area - Other Crafts

BB Bamboo Boyd Member Phoenix, AZ Joined: Apr 25, 2006 Posts: 37	BB Bamboo Boyd Posted posted on Thu, Jun 8, 2006 9:52 AM Hi SneakyJack, Sounds like a great project. I'm a landscape architect so I'll give you a few pointers on the design/construction of the waterfall and hopefully will get you started on the right foot. When we build permanent water features here in Phoenix, we use real boulders so I assume that it will be similar to what we build. Basically start with a few of your larger boulders at the base, we call them pancake boulders because their dimensions are, for example, 2'x 3' 2', or 4'x 3'x2'. Basically you want ones with a flat surface on the top that you can "stack" smaller boulders on around. The key is to get a good solid base. We typically dig a 8"-12" footing for the base of the boulders, use 4" mesh wire set on a a few broken brick pavers to elevate the wire 2"-3" off the ground and then fill the footing with concrete. We fill the footing to within about 3"-4" of the dirt level so that after we place the boulders, we can backfill against them and hide the footing and the bottom few inches of the boulder and make it look more natural. Once the concrete starts to set up, we place our base boulders in place so that they are set with the tops somewhat level and they won't move on you as you build the rest of the water feature. Once you get the base set, you then add boulders and shape the water feature to your taste. You asked about using a black spray foam to hold the boulders in place. I'm not familiar with that. We use standard mortar and you can buy coloring additives to add to the mortar mix if desired. Check in your yellow pages for any masonry supply store. As for the pond, you can use just about anything you want. Most people out here dig the pond about 20" deep and to what ever shape they want. Plumb it with PVC pipe for the pump. And then they use the wire mesh and concrete to build the pond and then do a rounded berm edge to make it look a little natural. Almost like a bond beam on a swimming pool. Then after the concrete sets and cures, you can seal it to help prevent leaks, and line it with river rock or whatever you like and then you should be all set. There are a ton of different things you can use for the pond, you can do what you were thinking, or you can get the plastic inserts from home depot or Lowe's. You can also use a rubber liner. The possibilities are endless. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi SneakyJack,

Sounds like a great project. I'm a landscape architect so I'll give you a few pointers on the design/construction of the waterfall and hopefully will get you started on the right foot. When we build permanent water features here in Phoenix, we use real boulders so I assume that it will be similar to what we build. Basically start with a few of your larger boulders at the base, we call them pancake boulders because their dimensions are, for example, 2'x 3' 2', or 4'x 3'x2'. Basically you want ones with a flat surface on the top that you can "stack" smaller boulders on around. The key is to get a good solid base. We typically dig a 8"-12" footing for the base of the boulders, use 4" mesh wire set on a a few broken brick pavers to elevate the wire 2"-3" off the ground and then fill the footing with concrete. We fill the footing to within about 3"-4" of the dirt level so that after we place the boulders, we can backfill against them and hide the footing and the bottom few inches of the boulder and make it look more natural.

Once the concrete starts to set up, we place our base boulders in place so that they are set with the tops somewhat level and they won't move on you as you build the rest of the water feature. Once you get the base set, you then add boulders and shape the water feature to your taste. You asked about using a black spray foam to hold the boulders in place. I'm not familiar with that. We use standard mortar and you can buy coloring additives to add to the mortar mix if desired. Check in your yellow pages for any masonry supply store.

As for the pond, you can use just about anything you want. Most people out here dig the pond about 20" deep and to what ever shape they want. Plumb it with PVC pipe for the pump. And then they use the wire mesh and concrete to build the pond and then do a rounded berm edge to make it look a little natural. Almost like a bond beam on a swimming pool. Then after the concrete sets and cures, you can seal it to help prevent leaks, and line it with river rock or whatever you like and then you should be all set. There are a ton of different things you can use for the pond, you can do what you were thinking, or you can get the plastic inserts from home depot or Lowe's. You can also use a rubber liner. The possibilities are endless. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Post #236753 by Bamboo Boyd on Thu, Jun 8, 2006 9:52 AM