Your backyard pond is a beautiful addition to your home. You’ve put the time and effort into making it look great, but isn’t it a waste putting in so much work yet not having to indulge in its beauty all the time? That’s why you should have the pond close by to your house.
But you might be wondering, “how close can a pond be to the house” or “how far should a pond be from a house”. There are many factors that go into answering this question.
First find out any concerning rules and regulations. Next, test whether the soil can hold water or not! A large pond (1000+ gallons of water) should be at least 100 to 200 feet away from your home, whereas a small pond can sit about 50 to 100 ft. far.
Let’s dig deeper to understand more…
Let’s find out how close can a pond be to the house
Pond placement is one of the first concerns of people who are thinking about building a pond near their house and rightly so. You are saved from a lot of trouble later if you set up your pond at the right distance from your house.
Of course, the very reason you are building a pond near your house is so that you can enjoy the beautiful view and the soothing sound of water from your house.
As I’ve mentioned before, you’ll have to first verify local building codes and regulations. Then you must ensure that the place is suitable for the type of work you want to perform there, as well as the amount of rainfall. Because ignoring them may lead to serious difficulties in the future.
To give you a broad view, if you want to create a small pond with less than 1000 gallons of water, it is best if the pond is at least 50 to 100 feet away. If you’re thinking about creating a bigger pond, the minimum distance should be 100 to 200 feet from your home.
Why is it important to maintain distance between your house and your pond?
If you keep your pond too close to your house you risk damaging it. Because with ponds there always remains the risk of water leaks or flooding. You may find water is harmlessly being absorbed by the ground but it could very well reach your house’s foundation and cause some serious damage there. Plus, if this water freezes then it can expand and even cause cracks to your foundation.
Also, if your pond is too close while you have a basement or an underground garage then there remains the risk of flooding as well. In rainy seasons, you will always have that risk to worry about. And if it causes flooding by any chance it could damage your properties and it will also require a lot of hard work to get things back to normal.
So, these are serious risks that you should not ignore and you must follow all the local guidelines and building regulations in keeping required distance between your house and your pond.
Even after you have set up your pond according to the rules, there are a few things you should do that can help you in further minimizing your risks with regards to flooding and leakage. Like adding some berms, they will help you in redirecting the water away from home if it ever floods.
And as for leakage, you should use plastic or rubber liner before filling it with water. Try to have the liner all in one piece as it is more effective this way.
You can get these from home improvement stores and any reliable online marketplace. Use rocks over the edge of the liner that will hold it down and also give your pond an aesthetic look.
Leaking water can cause much more damage to your house than flooding as it is much more difficult and expensive to fix. So, please don’t neglect that.
Some additional tips to consider while installing a pond
Just because you have decided to build a pond by your house, you shouldn’t just go and start digging on your own without contacting the local authorities. Not only because of the reasons mentioned above but there could be other similarly important factors as well.
Like the place you have chosen to build your pond might have electric wiring or the gas line of your house running beneath. And ignoring that could create serious trouble for you.
Now if you want to have fish in your pond you should provide your pond with good shade as exposure to too much heat can fry them.
Keeping the temperature regulated is very important for fish. But you also have to make sure that your pond isn’t built directly under trees or large bushes as this might swamp your pond. And this spoils the ecosystem of your pond as well and makes it unhealthy for your fish. So you must be careful in choosing the right spot for your pond.
And if you live in a place where the weather goes below freezing temperature in winter then you must dig your pond at least three feet deep if you wish to have fish in it. And if you intend to put some big fish in there then you should dig even deeper.
To sum up
As you can see, there are lots of things to consider when thinking about how close a pond should be from your home. If you have any questions or concerns in regards to the size of the pond and its proximity to your house, speak with an expert before making a decision.
You want this investment in landscaping for years to come so it is worth taking the time now to find out what will work best for your needs long-term.
