Not your typical basement pond

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C

Celastrus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 14, 2009
12
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Roanoke, VA, USA
First post!
I have an idea. A spectacular idea. It's a long ways off right now (we just bought the house) but if it does come into being I will post in-progress pics here.
Anyway, my house has a full basement on a slope. The south side is low with a walkout and the north side completely buried. On the northwest side (back yard) I want to put a pond, and bring that pond all the way to the side of the basement. I then want to cut out part of that wall (and put a hefty header over) and make it glass looking out into the pond. Maybe with some acrylic on the inside for kid safety since this would be in a game room? The idea right now is for the pond itself to be 8-10 feet deep and the "window" looking into it to be up to 8 feet tall (basement will have 9' ceilings, after we raise it) and I'm not sure how wide yet. What's the limit on strength of a sheet of glass for a price and heft within sanity (ie, not tens of thousands and not requiring a crane)? Because I have a slope I intended for a spillway/waterfall to go to a very large lower pond further out in the yard to drain excess rain water.
Is this even possible? What would it take for waterproofing against a basement wall or would it just be too much pressure for my little house to take? Would I need to pour a second wall for support? I realize that only some of this is truly DIY and I would contract out much of the work but I want to get an idea. ANYONE ever done this before? I know some folks have added onto their basement but I'm talking about modifying an existing basement. The walls are solid poured concrete, house was originally built in the 60's.

With my head in the clouds - er - water.

Ellie
 
sorry i cant help i just had to say that that would be awesome great idea if doable good luck hoss
 
Ok so your looking at a 8' submerged window... thats going to be one Bada$$ sheet which I hate to break it to you is going to blow your budget.

Taking into account the fact that your foundation wall will need to be specially re-enforced, the header will be a pain in the *** and I do mean the $ in that cause it will be a pain to do with the fact that you will have to have it cross over the span of the window but it Will need to be able to handle the forces put on it vertically AND Horizontally, This will be a engineering nightmare!... it's one thing to build this into a house during construction.. something else all together to do it to a pre-built house.

I really look forward to seeing this done however should you decide to go ahead with it, but little piece of advice, call a engineer to consult, and don't get a rinkydink contractor to do this either... you'll need someone who really knows their stuff, defiantly not a DIY project IMO as you could bring your whole house down.

I would love to see the face of the guy at the permit office when you try to explain this one! :eek: :ROFL:
 
Can it be done ...sure.

Has it been done ...sure. (remember the old James Bond movie, window out to the swimming pool and others), I think one was posted on here a year or two ago too.

This is a little different http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=190778

You may not need a crane, you can probably use an all terrain 5 ton forklift.

Check out...

http://www.reynoldspolymer.com/Details/Private-Aquarium-Pool.html

Call and ask for pricing.

And I'm pretty sure you can handle it all... right after you hit the Power Ball :D.

Dr Joe

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What may be more of a doable idea would be to have a company Dig a hole behind your house then build a what ever size rectangle of poured concrete when building the forums they would put an area for the window. Then you could put the window in and have them use a forklift/crane to slid the poured retangle up to your existing foundation. You could cut a hole in your existing foundation and put a thinner less expensive piece of glass in your house, hell maybe a bay window or something. The glass would have no pressure on it from the tank. basically i'm saying to build a tank out of cement and have it up against your house and look threw a window to see. iIt would not have any structural influence on your house.

You could hire a crane or loader and lift it up and out 5 years from now or when ever and put it on a flat bed and take it to your new house if you would ever move.

I see this being the more pratical build.

your guys thoughts ?
 
I had figured that this would either be a long-term thing or lottery thing, but I do have little concept of how much big projects cost, which is why I asked (at least I think I did, er, maybe not... hehe) Usually I estimate low, way low, but hey at least I know I do. :)

Iafishkeeper, that sounds like a great idea, taking all the guesswork out of the foundation completely other than the header for the window taking the upstairs load on the house itself. Wouldn't it be less expensive to pour in place though, than pour in forms and move? My only other worry with that is the double layer of glazing making seeing sharpness and color more difficult and maybe being a pain to clean, but maybe it wouldn't be an issue at all if butted close and well sealed.

Ooooh, getting excited.

Thanks muchly all.
 
it wouldn't be less expensive in my opinion. it could actually be more. with pouring concrete you have to use forms to get the shape. Having it away from the house during the build would save on labor. besides this would give you the chance to take care of the foundation. they could actually build the concrete tank anywhere and just lift it into place.

and as far as the double window... you could actually not have 2 windows at all. you could just finished the inside upto the tanks glass. it could be a small ledge or something. that way you didn't have the double glass issues.

I think you are on your way...

good luck and glad i could help.
 
Iafishkeeper, I admire your ability to think outside the box so to speak but.... your idea simply isn't that easy... if you take into account the forces which are at play in a structure like this it isn't as easy as pouring some concrete slabs and fitting them together, This type of thing could be catostrophic should it fail... I mean there is nothing like having XX Tens of thousands of gallons of water gushing out around your foundation walls to ... well cause a really bad day.

There are alot of things to consider before getting ahead of yourself on a project like this, What is the state of your current foundation, the earth around the house... is it stable? is it able to handle something like this with out busting a years salary on preping the site? What are the state regs for building near your foundation wall?

Personally I would find a pool company that does indoor / outdoor pools... tell them that you are thinking of adding an indoor/outdoor pool and you would like to know what the process is, they can give you a good idea as to what is required legally (keep telling them that you want it to be legal and to code, they won't mind trying to add to the price but who cares since your not ordering the pool anyway :ROFL:)

I think your going to find the modifications to the foundation will be FAR more than you expect... and that 8' sheet of acrylic will be a monster bill which will most likley scare the crap out of your bank account... or at least give it nightmares for awhile
 
Iafishkeeper;2794833; said:
What may be more of a doable idea would be to have a company Dig a hole behind your house then build a what ever size rectangle of poured concrete when building the forums they would put an area for the window. Then you could put the window in and have them use a forklift/crane to slid the poured retangle up to your existing foundation. You could cut a hole in your existing foundation and put a thinner less expensive piece of glass in your house, hell maybe a bay window or something. The glass would have no pressure on it from the tank. basically i'm saying to build a tank out of cement and have it up against your house and look threw a window to see. iIt would not have any structural influence on your house.

You could hire a crane or loader and lift it up and out 5 years from now or when ever and put it on a flat bed and take it to your new house if you would ever move.

I see this being the more pratical build.

your guys thoughts ?
Click to expand...

I don't think the word "practical " belongs in this project :ROFL:, fun ...yes.

Dr Joe

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