Hi all. Couple of months ago I read Cliffs story on his pond extension. I decided to rebuild my existing pond as my fish had outgrown it, ( 2.8 x 1.75 x .50 ). First I got in touch with Cliff,. He advised me to speak to Paul Viljoen, which I did. I arranged to visit him and he showed me around his setup, ( thanks Paul). Either Cliff or Paul told me to get in touch with Colin Hunt, who very kindly gave me 3 hours of his time. When I showed Colin the plans of the pond I had in mind, he asked what I thought it would cost.I had latched on to Cliff's expected cost of R9000, and this is the price that I gave Colin. He just laughed, and printed out a copy of what it cost him to build his quarantine tank. I won't tell you how much it was but I s..t myself. So I revised my plans from building a brand new pond of 6 x 4 x 1.6 to kocking down 1 wall of my existing pond, and adding an extension of 3.7 metres with a depth of 1.6metres, ( 2metres at 1.6 with a ramp sloping up to my existing pond). I estimated that this would cost me approx R15,000, and this is where the warning comes in. I have finished the pond, and am waiting for the right weather to seal it, and so far it has cost me R32,000, with the pump still to come. I followed Colin's advice and wrote down EVERY cent including petrol used driving around buying stuff, and gift's to the various people who helped me out. My main areas of miscalculation were on labor, (7,370), and cement (3,430), but basically my costing was way out and it only becomes apparent when one writes down every single expenditure. It is amazing how the bills add up with a couple of pipe fittings here, petrol for the mixer, tool hire, electrical cable and conduit for the power point, etc etc. The pond is looking stunning, and when the lawn and plants have been done, it will be well worth the cost. ( My neighbor, who is a builder, told me he would not have done this for less than R70,000), so I am not complaing. I would just advise anyone who is thinking of building, to work out their costs, and then add at least 50% on to their estimate. Unfortunately my camera was stolen ijn a burglary, so at this time I don't have any pics, but when the pool is up and running, I will borrow a camera and post some pics. Thanks to everyone who helped me, and thanks for a great site.
Home 
Calendar
