Tried building a pond from old pallets. Big mistake.

Got this idea from a Pinterest board. Thought I'd make a cheap backyard pond using free pallets. $40 later with liner and nails, I filled it up. Water poured out faster than my hose could keep up. Learned pallet wood warps and splits when wet. Should have just bought a preformed tub. Anyone else try a cheap pond build that failed?

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3 Comments

max_ross4mo ago

Start with the lumber you already had on hand. That tarp was probably the bigger problem than the wood. Tarps aren't made to hold water under pressure. Even a cheap pond liner from a hardware store would've worked better. The wood swelling and nails popping is just what happens when you use construction lumber near water. You basically built a sponge cage and filled it with water.

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annas874mo ago

Tried the same thing last summer with scrap lumber from a shed demo. Lined it with some cheap tarp I had laying around. Water was gone in 20 minutes, just a muddy mess with a few stranded minnows. The wood swelled up so bad the nails popped out and the whole thing collapsed sideways. Ended up with a pile of wet, twisted boards and a muddy hole in the backyard.

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kim6934mo ago

Did you at least get a good story out of it before the whole thing turned into modern art? I built a little pond once and used those cheap pre-made liner kits from the home center, learned real quick that paying for the thicker stuff is cheaper than buying it twice. The minnows swimming in the mud is honestly a vibe I can relate to on a personal level.

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