Koi Pool Close Down

Just the paving slabs to be laid after a lot more "whacking," and the laying of about a ton of sand. The slabs are a sort of "dirty yellow" colour and though new, look old, so will blend in. I didn't want anything "bright."



I had to rescue those hebies which had got covered with hardcore etc., with so many trips with a barrow up the ramp. I've removed five rocks that were sitting on the paving over the pool collar forming part of the bed, I'd only "pointed" them in so they didn't need much shifting. I found some rock to form the end of the two beds. They need to be cemented in.



There'll be just the orginal two steps up to the level of the paving for my wife to negotiate.




I've made two sand and cement barriers to contain the soil in the former waterfall. You can't see it properly as I've "dirtied up" the barrier on the lip of the waterfall, the soil is below it.
I used my big 1" drill to put a hole through the paving stone that formed the lip of the waterfall and the concrete collar below it. So any excess water can drain away and won't run over the end barrier on to the paving. I might add a few small rocks to these two new beds, but eventually the phox we've ordered should cover it.





Hopefully everything should be finished by Saturday night.

 

The job's finished.
Two and a half days.
Very pleased with the result and what it cost. The paving's a bit bright at the moment, but it'll weather in a bit. I've damped it down and spread in a bit more sand in the joints. I'll wait until it's rained and brush in some more.

Ten of my wife's roses are now in position. They're on pot movers so we can ring the changes,
This leaves just six roses in ceramic pots on the patio with a load of other stuff on the steps.







One of the three men filling it with twenty tonnes of hardcore etc. wanted to know how it was excavated.
"By me, at the age of forty-six, on my own, with a spade!"

I think he was suitably impressed.

 

Looks lovely, and no more hard work.

 

I bought a circular stepping stone from B & Q to cover the top of the pump sump. It'll provide a firm and level base, without having to be cemented in. But I might darken it down a bit and make it look as if it's set into the sump collar by raising the collar with some mortar, but still be able to pull out the stepping stone if necessary, which would be unlikely.
This is where the 71kg Massarelli Bella stone fountain I've ordered will be going. It might be four weeks before it arrives as it's coming from the USA and is not expected at the supplier's until 30th April.

I've yet to sort out the wiring. I've a mains supply from the garage through conduit set under the path and in the pool collar that terminates with a Blagdon waterproof connector at the top of the sump. But I don't want the mains supply to be above ground. So I'll probably drill a hole in the stepping stone and pass the low voltage wiring through it, connect it to the Blagdon and have the transformer in the old filter room and connect it to the mains in there. My wife will be able to turn it on from one of the four garden lights switches behind the lounge curtains.

 

Very well done. Impressed.

 

Played golf in the morning and started dismantling the pool and quarantine tank filters this afternoon. Finished at 7.00pm.
As both the filters and the quarantine tank have valved drain pipes. I had to also remove the pipe work and blank off where they joined the pipe that goes to a house drain. So now there's just the waste for the sink in that room.
I've the five 40 gallon tanks and a lot of polypipe to take down the tip tomorrow. It'll be about five or six trips.

I sometimes find one job brings another. The quarantine tank filter was powered by a central heating pump. I've saved that and might use it to power my lawn sprinklers. United Utilities are enjoying a lot of revenue from new builds, but haven't increased the water pressure to compensate for higher usage locally. So my sprinklers don't spread as far as they did when I put them in.
Tomorrow, I've the quarantine tank to take down. It's just a big wooden box with a preformed liner. I'll have enough timber from it to make a base for the extra decking I'll need for the areas previously taken up by the filters and quarantine tank. I'll have a measure up tomorrow to see how much decking I'll need.

I'll give this room a coat of emulsion. When we had the house redecorated about five years ago, my wife chose a specific colour for the two reception rooms, hall and landing, but after the decorator had painted one wall in one room, she decided she didn't like it and chose a different colour. So we've three five litre cans of Dulux, a sort of off white, which cost an arm and a leg, which was never used.

Yesterday I went on line to look at the fountain I ordered. There was a "pop up" telling me if I ordered a fountain today, I'd get a 5% reduction.
I e-mailed the supplier and told them I didn't see the pop up when I placed the order the day before, What's the chance of having a 5% refund? I got the "just this once" response and it might take a few days. But it didn't, I got a £25 refund in my Paypal account this afternoon.

Checked the assembly instructions for the fountain, they have them for dozens of their fountains on-line which you can download as a pdf.
Bit miffed, as the transformer is one of those that sits on the back of a 13amp plug.
So I'll have to lean into the sump to fix an outdoor 13amp socket to the side of the sump just under the rim. Not as bad as when I built the pool. The socket for the standpipe at the bottom of the sump is secured by a big plastic nut, about five or six inches in diameter. I had to make a plywood spanner to fit it and dive down into the sump to secure it.

 

This is where I was up to with clearing the former filter room by 7.00pm last night.




Early start this morning 10.00 am. It took me five trips to the tip to dispose of the tanks and filter medium.






Then I started on tearing down this. It was substantially built as 300 gallons weighs 3000 lbs.



By 6.00pm I was down to this.



I re-arranged the decking squares and parts thereof, from the "dogleg" around the filter and quarantine tank to all against one wall. I'm going to make two large decking squares using all the 2" X 1" I've salvaged from the tank cover, to fill the hole. I've enough 3" X 2" and bricks to support the frame below it.

Gave myself a break half way through and installed my new Hoselock reel.

I had to cut up all the Stirlingboard side panels and base of the tank with a jig saw to get it in my car when I take it to the tip tomorrow.




I'll give the walls a good brush down and vac tomorrow after removing pipe clips etc., and give them and the ceiling a coat of emulsion. I've to measure up how much decking I need to complete the floor. I bought an external 13amp socket today, to fix to the inside wall of the old pump sump, to power the fountain when it arrives.

 

Here's the Massarelli fountain I ordered, lugging 71 kilos around was child's play at the age of 79. Alright then I used my sack truck.








Video of the finished project.

 

Update, you could be forgiven for not recogising that there was ever a pool here

 

All very nice. Not a ‘tinge’ of sadness?

 

No not really.

I had to be realistic. Replacing the liner would have been a lot of trouble and I didn't like the idea of having to put the fish in a 300 gallon quarantine tank, whilst I found someone to do the job. Or I did it myself.
Koi were always just part of the ambiance of our garden. They were just one of my several hobbies.
My fish are only two doors away, to be honest although I can any time, I've not been round to see them yet.

 

Looks lovely. Seeing this thread had given me the final push to re-home our Koi and fill in the pond. I inherited it from the previous owner but just do not have the time or money to do it justice!