Simply Koi and More Koi

Hi, can i start by saying that in the four weeks i have been on this site reading everything, i realise i know nothing!! and feel very lucky that you may let me pick your brains, so for the first question of many,
Could anyone give me any tips on fibreglassing, i have just built my second pond which is about 11000 gallon, out of 4" solid blocks that is laid on the side ( 9" ). i have never attempted fibreglassing and have decided to give it a go, it is being rendered this weekend so-

how long should i leave the render
should i coat it in anythging before fibreglassing
where is the best place for materials
how is it best to apply

Any other info you can think of would be great,

looking forward to your replies,

Dave, oh and what does pm mean or do !![/b]

happy days !! wrote:... oh and what does pm mean or do !!

Hi Dave, sorry can't really help on the fibre glassing front, I will leave that to the experts.

PM stands for Private Message. What it allows you to do is sent a message to a forum member that no one else on the forum sees. A bit like an email system that is confined to the forum.

Hope this helps, Brian

Hi Dave, welcome to koiquest. I can give you a great tip on fibreglassing your pond, leave it and get somebody to do it who knows what they are doing as it is a lot of money for materials to waste if you have never done it before,

Regards

Glenn

Glenn wrote:Hi Dave, welcome to koiquest. I can give you a great tip on fibreglassing your pond, leave it and get somebody to do it who knows what they are doing as it is a lot of money for materials to waste if you have never done it before,

Regards

Glenn

'at a boy Glenn

hi you need to leave render until completley dry and then i would get a pro such as dave a in to fiberglass as i did buget on about £20 per square metre then add 20% for overlapps etc. its a really messy job hope this helps

When you say £20 per square metre is that per layer or for the entire job e.g. 3 layers. I got a quote recently which was £18 per square metre for 2 layers of cloth and the flow coat. Seemed rather excessive to me.

Cheers

Jon W.

you say that this is excessive depends on what you are using what gram matt etc are you getting 450 or 300 some then use a tissue then the top coat i priced mine to do it myself but you have hidden extras buckets, rollers , acetone , cat, etc etc it all adds up if you get it wrong you then pay again i would let the pros do it plus you get a guarantee there are a few out there

Jon,

£18 per square metre, excessive? In what way is this excessive? Or are you saying £20 per square metre is excessive?

Personally I don't think either is excessive especially when you price up the material you need for the job yourself. £20 per square meter for a professional job is by no means excessive.

£20 per square metre for the DIY root is perhaps a little bit excessive. I have just recently finished fibreglassing a flat roof and a QT tank, I think the total area was about 20 sq metres, the cost of materials came to somewhere around £250, maybe a little more but not much more. So that makes it about £12.50 per sq metre.

So that extra £5 or so a sq metre extra for someone else to do the work whilst you have your feet up enjoying a beer and see the sweat drip off the guy is definitely a bargin. Personally I find it difficult to see how someone can make a living at that kind of margins but I guess they are a lot better than me at getting the material to go a lot further (not the matting obviusly) and buy bulk so cutting out the middle man and save some money that way.

Hi

Sorry, maybe I didn't explain it very well. When I say £20 per square metre per layer that would mean £60 per square metre for a complete job of 3 layers of fibreglass. I would be more than happy to pay £20 per metre if it was all in and rather than drink the beer myself, supply whoever was doing the job with an endless supply of beers!

Cheers

Jon

Hi Jon,

Dave A, I think was quoting £20 a square metre of finished fibreglass, don't know his current price though. I don't think he or anyone else will have time to drink beer while they are fibre glassing, as you really have to get your rear end in gear. I heard he drinks lots of coffee though. I doubt if a pint wouldn't be welcomed after the job is done though.

David.

Hi David

£20 for the finished job sounds nearer the mark than what I have been quoted here (I think the price goes up with some people once they hear my accent).

I had been temped to have a go myself but I think once materials have been bought and given the intensity of the job I agree it probably isn't worth attempting. I was up at Coldwater Collection on Sunday just as they were beginning to fibreglass a 250,000 gal (that isn't a typo!) growing on pond. It didn't look lie a job for the faint hearted!

Cheers

Jon W.

I always wanted to see if I could glass a pond so had a go with my growing on tank..

I’m happy with the result but would I do it again? NO !.

If you are doing it yourself then you need spare material that is wasted, consumables stack up and although the pros make it look easy its hard work!

Regards

Dave

I must admit I was tempted by the same venture - see how I go with the growing on pond. However after watching a couple of pro's at work I've decided life is too short. They also had the added excitement of having to run up the sloping sides of the growing on pond to get to the right spot (the pond was 9' deep). All in all it looked a tricky operation.

Cheers

Jon W.

ok sorry for the delay 20 per sq mtr is all in and a really good job.
seriously give dave a ring you won't regret it.
although price may rise with distance but not sure.
[img]http://www.koivista.com/files/daz2007/50279 ... s_done.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koivista.com/files/daz2007/49453 ... lassed.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koivista.com/files/daz2007/49173 ... lassed.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.koivista.com/files/daz2007/50823_Image4.jpg[/img]

Hi

That does look like a really neat job. My only problem is that I live out in rural hinterlands of West Wales where fibreglass pro's are relatively thin on the ground - hence the higher cost. Still I have yet to build either the growing on or the main pond, so I do have a bit of time to get some more reasonable quotes.

Cheers

Jon