A New Home

– not for us – the reptiles. ’twas inevitable that they would outgrow their toolbox home. But, not so soon. They are voracious eaters of goldfish pellets and now the largest is bloody big, heavy and powerful. So, either cook them and have some tasty soup? Let them go into the local park? Or build them a new home?

Guess which two ‘er indoors was not too keen on. The first option was a plastic pool on the stoep but I thought it would take up too much space and look distinctly temporary. Second – a plastic pool in the veg area? The veg area is a 10ft by 6ft area beneath the stoep whose original purpose was to be well, a veg area. However, we had not counted on the insects and monkeys so it lasted as such but a short time.

Since the assholes cut the trees down, I have dumped palms in there – and doing a great job because the soil is first rate. There are also two curry trees that have really got going after ten years of dwarfism. The general plan would be to build this up to stoep height and put a pond in.

The second guy I got to quote suggested a purpose made pool rather than a plastic one – which would have the added advantage of being deeper than the 370mm plastic ones. The retaining wall for the veg patch was not designed to retain anything substantial and we would have to raise that wall by over two feet. And it had a small crack in it.

So, for a fee contractor 2 agreed to do everything. I needed a real filter for this so I bought one from Joburg and a submersible pump from Cape Town. Because of the tiny area, I had to balance the pool and the surround. As I intended to have plants and lights on the surround, it had to be a minimum of one metre in width whilst still leaving a decent sized pond.

Incidentally, because of the cost of this thing, the project was to be a water feature that would be pleasing to look at and an asset to the house – in which there happened to be three turtles.

In order to shore up the retaining wall, three buttresses were to be built. Across the buttresses a lintel would be located – on which, pavers could be placed, thus giving me an additional foot or so on that side of the pond. A sort of ‘flying bridge’. One curry tree remains in the corner – to hide more of the foul neighbour and to supply curry leaves.

The turtles’ current abode – a tote box with a very smelly haulout log. They get stuck between the side of the box and the log.

This is the area under the stoep – awash with vegetation.

 

After one day – the vegetation removed with the exception of the one curry tree – and a slab thrown.

Day two – blockwork up to the required height. The water will come right up to the stoep.

Day three – the outline of the pond is blocked and…

… the three butttresses start to appear. The lintel will be laid across the buttresses and the pavers over the lintel.

There will be access from the deck to the pond using planking. I have cannibalised the balustrades and had some spare planking that has been sitting under the deck for ten years.

The weather has closed in but they managed to fill in the walkway areas, attach the two lintels across the back over the buttresses and plaster the inside of the pond. A few tiles on the edge of the stoep have bust need to be replaced. They have left far too little room for the curry tree so will have to chip out when the screed starts to dry.

The pavers won’t be delivered for another five days. As the plaster dries, the waterproofing of the pond can be done which takes a week to polymerize.

Day 7. The inside is waterproofed, the hole for the curry tree has been enlarged and the support lintels at the back have been levelled. What you cannot see is that the buttresses have been cleaned up and a drain pipe and tap have been added just under the stoep on the left.

 

I’ll add an elbow and a length of 2″ pipe so that the drain goes straight down the garden and not straight under the deck.

Day 8. (Saturday) The connection between the deck and the pond was made using spare wood from the deck construction. The planks at this end are spare wood and those at the other are spare balustrade uprights.  The entire deck will be sealed after the pond is finished. One of the planks at this end simply lifts off to allow access to the drain tap. The planks were cut square and in line with the deck because the wall – as you can see – was not square. Should make a good spot to feed from.

The contractors plastered the side wall at the other end. They didn’t put the final waterproofing coat on as the other was still wet. On Monday, the pavers are due to be delivered and can then be laid and the final waterproofing coat applied. They also enlarged the hole around the curry tree so it is now much more in proportion.

Some tiles came loose on the edge of the stoep and will be replaced from spare tiles under the deck.

Day 9: The pavers arrived yesterday. The truck was far too big but there were three blokes to carry them in by hand. Today, was paving day. The guys also applied the last coat of sealer, tiled the edges, connected a downpipe to the drain and erected the plank that will house the electrics.

With any luck, the weather will stay dry until then and dry the sealer. The extra long paver that I was going to use for the turtle haulout – I now won’t. However, the guys used it at the end of the planking where it fitted nicely.

Day 10 – Finished.

On the day that water restrictions are introduced, the pond was filled, pump started up, all the electrical connections made, the submersible light bought and fitted and plants moved onto the pavers.

I thought I would take the first photo at night, just using the light in the pond. The flickering of the light against the trees and the burbling make it really nice. I got a special Thank You from Sonali. As a kid, she loved the water at the Japanese Water Garden in Durban North and now, she says, I have brought it home.

I will leave it a couple of days and throw a turtle in. If it’s not belly up in the morning, I’ll throw the others in and a few guppies.

… and with the bollard lights –

And finally, a day shot. TickTock on the haulout. There’s constant traffic all day. HissyFit tries to get out of the right corner so I’ve had to drop the water an inch. TickTock patrols the perimeter all day. They’ve already toppled over the haulout which only has a small concrete block bottom so I’ll have to glue a tile on. Sonali has found her spot on the left in the shade of the curry tree and has installed a chair there.

I have to paint the filter and reorganize the pump line and it’s about done. All the hundred or so guppies have survived.