8'x4'x4' made out of 2x12's. Will it work?

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piscavore pisces

Candiru
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Nov 23, 2005
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I want to construct and indoor pond in my garage that is 8'Lx4'Wx4H' tall. I'll fill the water up 3'H so I think that is around 700gallons. Anyway I have no wood working skills and do not trust myself trying to hold that much water if I am to cut the wood myself. So I was thinking I'd get make a box out of 2x12's that are already come 8' from the store and just get some of the boards cut in half (for the width of the pond) at home depot or Lowes. Then I'll screw the box together with deck screws and use corner brackets as well as metals brackets that run from the top board to the bottom board every two feet. There will be no viewing window. Will this hold water fine if it's filled about 3' high?

The way the box will be contructed is that the 2" side fo the board will be on the ground making the 12" width facing out. So it will be 4 boards high on each side. I'm not sure if that explination makes sense but I hope you get what I'm trying to say.


I also plan on placing on the floor and sidewalls insulation board. Then I'll put the liner underlayment and then finally the liner.

Anybody see flaws in this plan? Any suggestions?
 
This most likely will not hold water if you do it that way, but have seen success using the boards with the 1.5" (not a 2" board) facing out instead of the long part, in which case 2x4s are more cost effective.
 
yea i forgot its actualy 1.5" not 2". you really think it wont hold? i thought i saw a post on here where someone had did it but I'm not sure. i'll try and look for that post.
 
Oh really, hm. Well that is good news it might work okay. I would love to see the link! I suppose if you built it up like a plywood tank build, it would actually work the same way, so maybe you should build something like the plywood windowless tanks and just add a liner instead of a sealant.
 
here's the thread:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?404048-First-600-plywood-build-(pics)

i was going to try and build it similar to this except with foam insulation and with either glass or pond liner wraped wood for a cover. i tried pm'ing that member but it looks like he hasnt been active for months so i was hoping somebody else had built something like it or knows somebody who has. to me this is the easiest way to put one together and not have to do any cuts yourself.
 
Oh wow, that looks really nice. I would be really curious to see if it was still holding today!

I'm going to be building mine in about a year, and I'm still not finalized on the design, that's for sure.
 
yea i want to know if that thing is still holding water today too. i would just go the easy route and buy a steel framed pool but my garage isnt big enough to fit the circular or rectangular ones i've seen.

anybody else have any input about building a pond in this fashion? any reasons why it wouldn't work in the long run? is it safe to go ahead and build it this way? any criticisms and or suggestions will be much appreciated.
 
I wouldn't trust the pressure, 3rd is a lot of depth and that's what really pushes out but good luck
 
What do you plan on keeping in the pond? If you plan on keeping warm water fish (especially if it's in your garage), definitely consider what it's going to take to heat so much water.

In regards to the design of your build, If it were me, I would be more comfortable laying 2x4's (4" side down) for more stength. The 2x12's on end don't look very sturdy.
 
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