Reading the 'lake with a house' thread has got me thinking. There are a few posts that mention the difficult process of ceeating.your own lake.

I can't be the only person who has thought about it in those 'if I won the lottery ' moments, but realistically wouldn't have a clue.

So... there are members who have done it (it seems)

Anyone up for taking us through the process and pitfalls? It would be an interesting read

In reply to Post #1
i know a few that have.

i couldnt be bothered, so i bought a place with a 50 acre reservoir at the bottom of my field instead

On a very minor scale (roughly 1/4 acre), my Grandad just dug a hole at the bottom of a field, lined it with some form of clay, and then diverted an old clay drainage pipe into it. They then stocked it with some silvers and a few carp and hung a few dead ewes from the oak trees so the maggots would drop in and feed the fish. I don't think anybody has ever queried it but I doubt you could get away with it nowadays.

In reply to Post #3
The sheep killing bit might cause some problems....

In reply to Post #4
And the smell of rotting sheep flesh.

In reply to Post #1
If you're into YouTube there are a few films from people who have dug them. Not sure how much detail they give on costs but it might be of interest.

In reply to Post #1
There is a guy on yoube in the states that has documented his "5 Acre pond" being built for bass fishing. He hasn't done a full breakdown of cost yet but it is getting up to the $1million mark. Its utterly ludicrous, but he didn't have to get all the clay shipped in as it wasn't on the right kind of land, apparently.

It's a muddy hole in the ground that cost a million dollars, just to dig and line.

In reply to Post #1
An interesting thought.
I know of someone who did, but I can't remember where they posted about it.

I'll have a think and try to find out where it is.

In reply to Post #8
I'd be really interested

As for YouTube - that's purely for old rock songs and great whites breaching in my house

In reply to Post #1
Regarding cost, I remember reading a Kevin Nash interview ages ago where he said he was looking to buy lakes until he found out how relatively cheap it would be for him to dig them himself. You should look into it.

While I have no experience of specifically lake construction, I worked in general construction management all my working life. I think you will find that the biggest cost would be the disposal of the earth removed, if you employ an experienced engineer they should be able to design a lake so that you don't need to dispose of any material especially if you have space around the proposed lake that you reshape with what you excavate.

If you can get rid of the soil your laughing as that will be one of your biggest expenses, a lake local to me has had around 200 grab lorries worth of soil removed from site.

In reply to Post #9
Sorry Mate, I had a long look for it in 'offline posts' over the road.
My records go back 12years but at some point it's annoyingly been deleted, probably during an update.

In reply to Post #11
Exactly.
Some years ago I witnessed a few lakes being dug in an area of marshy ground.
As Christian no doubt knows there are swing shovels around with extra long reach that are suited to this.
Some spoil was used to make islands and the rest to build up the surrounding banks that made firm ground above the water table.

In reply to Post #13
No worries

Thanks for looking.

I'm still 6 numbers away from starting my project so I've plenty of time to research it.

Or I could take the frenzy approach and move in on the opposite side of his reservoir of course

In reply to Post #15
probably cheaper mate

plus the land i own that goes down to the reservoir, i own and CRT rent that bank space from me

Bonus !

I have just come across this video on YT which might help other people understand the process of building there own lake
funilly enough this not to far away from where i used to live in Oxon and i did use his fathers company on numerous occasions
as other people have said getting rid of your spoil is the hardest / most expensive part if you can keep it on site making bunds / islands etc i'm sure people are more upto date on these prices than i am now for muck away and hiring plant etc etc
your next big cost could be importing the blue clay to line your pond if its needed

video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzAh8w9ejAc

This guy started documenting building his own carp lake, planning permission is one to think about as it can be classed as engineering work.

THATCHERS ISLAND

In reply to Post #13
I remember that thread, it was a great read. I won't name the author, but is he still active? I enjoyed many of his threads/comments.

In reply to Post #19
He's on my FB friends list and still active, proper outdoorsman.


He does occasionally still post, but as with many groups, Facebook has taken over

In reply to Post #20
I hope he finds his way here, as that thread had everything

I bought a house with some land about 20 years ago.
Always a dream of mine to dig my own pond so one day I thought life is to short I'm going for it. I purchased a used digger and started digging. I picked an area that had a few trees and was a natural gully on the land. More of a marshy area really.
Had no idea what I was doing but spent a year having an absolute blast . Got stuck a few times,... Local farmer always available to pull me out lol.
My Mate was a landscaper , tree guy so he took any topsoil and the remaining material was spread around the land. I rented a skids steer every now and then to clean things up and create flatter areas.
Deepest part was about 8ft with a few trees and dotted island.
I hit a couple of water springs that filled the pond slowly and with its location it always seemed full. I guess it was 1/2 an acre, maybe less.
I left it for about two years with the intention of learning as much as could before stocking any fish. Unfortunately life changed and I ended up selling the property without ever fulfilling my dream.
Probably not helpful to the original question but I thought I'd share.