Let Us Help With Your DIY Pond!

We are asked quite frequently if we do consulting work for do-it-yourself ponds, or if we would just provide instruction to people (outside of the seminars and classes that we teach). No, we do not. Yes, we did do that at one time, but found that the experience on both ends was less than satisfactory for many reasons. And we'd really rather do things that we're actually good at and have fun with: ponds built right, customers served right!

What we mean by "helping" you with your DIY pond is to make sure you're thinking this whole thing through before you "dig yourself into a deep hole." The humorous (hopefully) article below may provide you with some insight on the DIY vs. PRO debate in your household.
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Top 10 Reasons to Build Your Pond Yourself:

10.  You aren’t too terribly concerned with saving money, as long as you’re having a good time.  Folks often think that doing something themselves will save them a bunch of money.  There are a lot of hidden costs, though, so don't be so sure.

9.  You've got PLENTY of extra time on your hands with no demands from family or friends for that time.

8.  You’re not challenged when it comes to reading directions.  If you've never built a pond before, trust us, there's a big learning curve to do it right!

7.  You don’t care if you get it done in one day or one summer.  After all, you’re having a good time.

6.  You're sure that you can do a better job than the Jonses' pro that they hired.  That's just throwing away  money, right?

5.  You really can’t think of a better way to burn calories.

4.  You enjoy physical challenges and you look good in a sun tan, too!

3.  You love planning, tinkering with, and designing things.  So whether you get it right the first time, or forty-first time is fairly inconsequential.  It's just a hole with rock and water, right?  Yeah, you just keep tellin' yourself that.

2.  You take great genuine pleasure in creating something of beauty with your own two hands, and having others enjoy it as well.  This is absolutely a legitimate reason to do it yourself if you have the time, the ability, the expertise, and will.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON:
1.  Your spouse expects you to build a water garden!  (You really don’t have to confess to this one out loud, or anything like that.)
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Now, if this description fits you, then go ahead and have at it.  You may be fiddling around with it all summer (or winter here in the Southwest, because doing this in the summer might kill you), but you’re the one who will enjoy the process immensely.  That means that you are, in effect, a pond installer!  Welcome to the club.

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So, now here are some reasons to skip the above and just enjoy the fruits of OUR labor.

Top 10 Reasons To Hire a Pro to Build Your Pond:

10.  In your day job you’re a business tycoon, you’re used to running your own corporation, or you're a professional of some kind.  But you’re NOT A WATER GARDEN INSTALLER!

9.  You’re 42 years old, 30 lbs. overweight, you haven’t been near the gym in many months, and this is HARD PHYSICAL LABOR!

8.  You would much rather be spending your time with your family or your friends because you work hard and deserve the time off to enjoy life.

7.  But you’ll save two or three thousand bucks by doing it yourself, right?  That’s what everyone says, anyway.  But who the heck is this "everyone?"  Are THEY pond builders and know the actual costs, labor, and expertise involved?  Hmmm...

6.  You know that a well-trained crew can put this thing together easily in less than a week!  You know down deep in your heart it will take you at least four weekends - minimum.  And you’d still be just hoping to get it right.  Think about the last time your tackled an unfamiliar home improvement project yourself.  You might have ended up calling in a professional who had to clean up your mess before he could get started anyway, which made the project more expensive than hiring a pro to do it right the first time.

5.  Impressing your spouse and kids with your ability to multi-task gets lower and lower on your list as you consider all the possibilities.  And you'd rather treat them to a weekend of your undivided attention, and maybe an ice cream.

4.  Impressing your neighbors, the Joneses, with your ability to multi-task, or anything else, has never enjoyed a position of priority in your life.

3.  Your 9-year-old son who loves to play in the mud, provides you with all the fishing worms you’ll ever need.  So digging a big-ass hole in the yard wouldn't really help with that.

2.  You’re not a sado-masochist!  Fact: the average do-it-yourselfer builds three ponds (or the same one three times) before they get it right.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON TO HIRE A PRO:
1.  What the heck would John Wayne do?  What would Clint Eastwood, or Bruce Lee, or Rambo, or General Schwarzkopf, or Arnold Schwarzenegger do?  I’ll tell you what they’d do.  THEY’D HIRE A PROFESSIONAL TO DO THE JOB.  THAT’S WHAT THEY’D DO!  Now these boys (John, Clint, etc.) are all rugged individualists for sure.  But they aren’t stupid, and they know when they'd be in over their heads!

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So, what do you want to do next?  Dig in . . . or:

CONTACT THE POND GNOME FOR A PROFESSIONAL POND INSTALLATION