Ponds, koi, filters and gardens: Playlists including: Pond and Garden, How to make a Japanese Tea House, Past adventures including travel & skiing. How to videos on topics for the garden, Koi keeping and garden buildings. This channel shows exactly how to do things DIY and potentially save money. Ex Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, who learned how to live life happily.
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hi! Im watching all your videos in how to make a japanese tea house and decided to follow everything step by step. Amazing craftmanship
Thank you. If you are thinking of building one your self, my tip is to trust in your journey. There is no end, only moments in time that hopefully bring happiness and a sense of achievement. Having said that - I experienced a few “oh no, what have I done’ moments! At the moment, nature is continuing the journey and helping to blend the tea house into the surrounding area (with a little help here and there). All the best, live life to the fullest!
Amazing. My husband is building one. This will be his guide. Thanks 😊
Glad to be of help. Hope he enjoys the build as much as I did.
Absolutely stunning
Thank you! Cheers!
beautiful work!! did you have to apply for any planning permission or anything?
No planning permission was required. I looked into the government guidelines (local and national). Basically, the guidelines were as follows: provided the building did not exceed a certain height, was far enough away from a permanent residence and road, was not designed for sleeping or residence or had foundations of a certain depth or close to other permanent residence, then no planning permission was required. At the end of the day, the building is a temporary building and does not interfere with planning permission in my part of the World.
@@Veterankoi thanks, yes i had a look too as i may build something on this style and was surprised to see there are some restrictions with the “veranda” or platform around it. First it says they’re not allowed as they’re not permitted development, then it says it’s ok if less than 300 mm from the ground..
Great job! Love the whole setting
Thanks. The tea house and pond are now used regularly in the summer. The pond has just gone through its first year and is still going through an establisment period. Hopefully next summer the water plants and other natural vegetation will start to become fully established. I have introduce various types of fish albeit not Koi. My existing Koi pond is well established including the filter system. There are no plans to put Koi in the Tea house pond as I am attempting to allow it to develop naturally with the exception of introducing water tolerant plants.
the whole build is totally amazing...
Thank you. A lot f effort did go in to it, but well worth it.
Your skill is very good, but your presentation is very poor.
I will take that on the chin. Always looking for constructive criticism. I am aware that the early video audio was not particularly clear. I used an IPad and it tended to muffle my voice. Hopefully, as the series of videos went on, my presentation did improve a little👍
Hi any updates on this how have thing's been this season?
Things have changed a little. The filter system has recently been modified, the tea house and the pond have been updated. I have made a video record of it all, however life has got in the way a little and I have not had the time to edit and put everything together. I must have enough content for 2 maybe 3 videos. I will try to get an update out around the middle of August. I won’t be able to anything earlier unfortunately but having said that, I do have some interesting stuff to put out. 👍
@@Veterankoi that would be great been struggling this year with bacteria 😢
Love the design! What’s the pitch of the roof? I’m going to try to cover my koi pond with your roof design. Awesome project!
Due to the curved design, it’s difficult to say the exact pitch. I designed it by deciding on a height of the roof from the base of the barge board to the top of the ridge. I am sure I mentioned the height in the video where I discussed how I made it. Bare in mind if you decide that the roof has a total height from the base of the barge board to the top of the ridge of 1 metre, then the measurement of the length and width of the roof will alter its pitch. All that I did was to construct the 4 walls first, then created a jig on top of the barge board to temporarily hold the ridge in place. I kept altering its height until I felt the height of the ridge looked good. After that, I constructed the rafters with an eye pleasing curve and fixed them into place. It’s all in the videos. My tip is not to be too clinical about the pitch of your roof. Decide on an eye pleasing height for the roof then go from there. Hope that helps👍
@@Veterankoi Thank you. I've just finished my rectangle box. I'll just eyeball the ridge height and measure the rafters to fit. It'll take me a while but should be worth it. Yours is amazing.
Where do you live? Can I hire you to build one for me?
I live in Wales. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to build one at the moment. Initially, I started the project has a gift to my daughter who had just gone through a major surgical operation. I also built it to compliment a Koi pond and garden that was slowly developing into something more akin to a full time job! Anyway, thanks for your interest in the build and I hope you enjoyed the series of videos.
You’re not an amateur. Garden is looking neat. Have a great koi keeping summer.
Thank you for the encouragement! I am putting more effort into the garden side of things this year, so hopefully it will start to take shape as the weather warms up. The temperatures have just dropped a little again around north wales, but it looks as though they will perk up a bit in a weeks time.
What is the link to Tony’s Chanel ? Web site ? I can’t see one attached. Regards Rob
If you watch the video where I talk to him, his business card appears at the top right of the screen. It contains his contact details. Unfortunately, I can’t find a direct link to his eBay shop
@@Veterankoi thanks that’s enough keep the great work up👍 regards Rob
I know Tony he's a cracking bloke and very fair I gt pond items of him when he as Down south
He is very approachable. I wish him all the best in his efforts to restart his business. Hopefully it won’t take too long for his website to get up and running again at which point I will definitely visit it👍
nice video hope the pond clears up for you soon dropped you a sub and look forward to watching more
Thanks for the sub. It will probably take until the end of April to see a marked difference as there is no traditional filter system on the pond. Although I call it a ‘wild life pond’ I do keep small fish in it. At the moment they are just Goldfish, which I put in to get bacteria growing. Eventually I may put small native fish in it that can tolerate varied water conditions. I hope to grow enough water loving plants to keep the water parameters stable. At the moment, I do use an air stone to help aerate and circulate the pond. Having said that. I put in quite a lot of Hornwort-(Ceratophyllum demersum) which will start oxygenating when the water temperature warms up. Anyway thanks again for the sub and I hope to put another video out soon which may contain stuff relating to Koi.👍
I love how you make everything look so difficult!
Oh dear, I hope not. Ponding and gardening is an incredibly relaxing pass time. It can take a little effort now and again, but for me at least that’s where some of the rewards come from. Any how, keep commenting on my videos and I will strive to show how relatively easy it can be to make things DIY and to maintain a garden. 👍
That’s a lovely pond there mate 👍
Thanks 👍 with the spring months appearing, like many people I hope the warmer weather brings warmth and new growth. With that a new pond and garden year will begin👍
All looking good and good choice of placement of the plants 😉👍
Thanks 👍I hope you are correct. Time will tell and in a couple of years when they have established themselves I hope their position complements the pond and other planting.
The pond and garden look very atmospheric in the winter against the trees, shed and tea house
Yes, I agree. Hopefully, as the spring brings in milder weather it also brings with it a bit more colour especially different shades of green. This year will be more about tidying the garden and hopefully planting it to complement the tea house, and the ponds.
Still admire that board walk. Whats it resting on?
It rests on a frame made of pressure treated timber. The frame is also covered with a pvc weed control fabric so that will protect it a little from the elements. Its worth pointing out that from late spring onwards when the trees leaves grow, the ground tends to remain quite dry so I hope the base is proteced from rotting for a good 10 years. Time will tell. Where the ground is uneven, I put 4 inch posts embedded in a post aggregate/concrete mixture to support the main frame.
Thanks for sharing Alex. That Range Rover needs rescuing and some love too👍
The car belongs to my neighbour and has been in a state of disrepair for years. As you say, it needs to be restored and I’m sure it would turn into a great vehicle (not particularly environmentally friendly though)👍
leaks is something we all dont want
Absolutely. When I first discovered the water level dropping but not due to evaporation, I feared the worse. However, I just hoped it stopped dropping higher up and close to the side of the pond. After a few days, the level stabilised and that’s when I breathed a sigh of relief. Although the main culprit for the hole is probably mice (or worse!), I also suspect pigeons have been pecking into to the side when the take a drink or look for insects. I repaired the liner over a week ago and the level has not dropped. If anything it has increased with the recent snow and todays rain.
素晴らしい！
ありがとう、あなたのコメントは私の仕事に自信を与えるので、本当に感謝しています.
Made a catio and I'm building the roof after your design
I hope your Tea house completes as you expect. When you nave completed it, it would be good to see your end result!
just found your channel alex nice pond and garden ive just subscribed cheers martyn 👍👍
Thanks Martyn. Probably like yourself, I’m waiting for the cold and snow to disappear to start planting and preparing the koi pond for warmer times. I’ve already purchased 10kg of koi feed in anticipation! Although I don’t heat the pond the Koi don’t look to bad (as the video showed I got rid of the leaves that had got through the pond net before they created havoc with the fish. Anyhow, thanks for the comment - I always welcome them. 👍
@@Veterankoi your very welcome alex
Lovely pond and koi ❤
Thank you! It’s snowing at the moment, so the temperature has gone down. I am hoping it goes up again in a few days time ready for springtime and the real start of the ponding and gardening season.
The work begins ..soon be feeding again
Absolutely. Temperature has started to stabilise around 8 - 10 degrees and will hopefully start to rise in a few weeks time!
Great update 👍🏻
I rushed the video to be honest, so it is with a little bit of relief that you are happy with it. I put my clips together, but did not really listen to what I was saying. it does seem I got some of my words mixed up. Innocent errors, but I need to do better. Having said that, I hope you got the gist of how I maintain the pond and filter system. Thanks for the confidence in the update. Spring brings a new year in ponding, Koi keeping and gardening. It's going to be a 'good un' - I'm sure of it!
This is one thing I will be doing as well and I’m like how the heck do I do a circle lol thank you 😅 🙏
When designing the round window frame, use an extendible sliding mitre saw. If my memory is correct, I used 150mm x 50mm pine and cut 6 lengths at 60 degrees. See this image and link www.scienceabc.com/wp-content/uploads/ext-www.scienceabc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/hexagon3.jpg-.jpg The length of each section depends on the outside diameter of the window.
So I’m building one of these soon and I have zero experience building anything but I’m determined. This was very informative. Great video! Great job!
Thank you. Have a great time with you build. Let me know how you get on with it.
Alex I’ve watched each of these videos of your tea house build numerous times and cannot believe how fantastic this is. As a 62 year old I can actually see how I might be able to accomplish this solo, with minimal help from my wife. I’m planning to try. You may not be aware that KZread eliminated its direct message capability a while ago and so, unless you list your email in your profile nobody can reach you offline. I don’t want to burden your comments with them but-I have questions! -Jim from Texas
Don’t hesitate to ask a question on the comments. I am reluctant to put my email address on KZread as I might get spammed. Not so long back, KZread gave me the opportunity to have an handle which I understood allowed people to email Me via KZread. I will look into it, The handle should be somewhere on the channel)not sure where it can be found though) in the mean time and as long as you are happy to do so, ask the question via the comments. I will answer the best I can.
Have the 5500 eco and it seems bullet proof … went to bali for 26 months came back to find it was intermittently cutting out … pulled it out and cleaned it properly . I was about to cut the lead and throw it away As I put it back in only to find it was doing similar cut offs and on . Pulled it out again and gave it 4 Hail Mary,s .. back in the pond again and hasn’t missed a beat for 2 weeks so far .… oase are by far the best pump I’ve ever owned ..
I agree. They tend to be more expense than most on the market, but are incredibly reliable. I’ve had mine for over 5 years and it has not missed a beat. I suppose the key is to clean it once or twice a year.
amazing!
It has been a great journey. As a DIY’er I have learned so much. Your comment tells me you enjoyed the video and with that in mind, it gives me confidence I have the format correct. Many thanks!
Well done in your work to revive.
Tried my best. The fish appeared to survive, but the winter finally got it after a few weeks.
Love this walkway. A truly individual garden and I am betting a labour of love
I have put all my effort and my imagination in to it. Do it yourself, don’t complain, because if it goes pear shaped, the only person to blame is your self.
Hi Alex. Thank you for sharing these videos. Do you have the blueprint and the material list of this teahouse?
A blueprint does not exist as such. The build started during Covid lockdown, therefore the build planning was limited due to factors such as material availability, unpredictable costs and the fact I had no alternative but to carry out the build with absolutely zero physical help (with the exception when my wife held the windows in place as I secured them into position. Although I had an idea of how the tea house would look like before I started the project, the reality is I pretty much ‘winged it’. Regarding the roof structure, I carried out research using the internet and found a construction that looked pleasing to my eyes. The measurements I used, were dependent on the length of the sleeper timbers I used. In retrospect, I wished I had sourced timber a little longer, however due to the dwindling supply at the time I was limited in my choice. Nonetheless, I am still pleased with the overall look and feel of it. As for the total cost, Including decking, boardwalk and surrounding pond, I will ask viewers to estimate how much they believe I have spent in the next video. Bare in mind, I live in the UK there material were purchased using ‘Stirling’. Since it is a self build, there is no need to factor in labour costs.
Alex your doing a fantastic job it looks awesome , very handy diy skills buddy you should be very proud of that its stunning . Looking forward to more updates.
Thanks for that! I am doing a bit here and a bit there at the moment. Having said that, I will be concentrating on the rear of the build and attempting to finish the boardwalk off in the next few weeks with any luck. It all depends on whether or not the weather allows it to happen.
Another excellent job. The tea house series was really good. And it looks great with the pond. The path meanders beautifully around the garden. One word of caution. 9 years ago I built a deck about 60 cm above ground used treated timber for the deck structure and composite boards for the deck. I treated all the 6x2 joists with preservative for the cut ends. In this short time the structure is rotten. The composite boards are fine but 80% of the 6x2 is firewood. So disappointed with the timber quality I’m replacing it with a cobble stone deck. Much more work and cost but I don’t want to replace it again in another 9 years when I’ll be 81.
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, I may end up replacing the deck structure eventually if that is the case. The only other hope is that I have existing decking next to the house and that appears to have with stood the effects of time over the last 15 years or so. Time will tell with my fingers crossed.
Just made it through the entire playlist and really, Alex, the value of you taking your time to film and share your progress can't be overestimated. It's invaluable to new builders looking for inspiration, I learned so much from you, thank you so much! The level of attention to details is also a fine thing to see, and the reward is something that is truly beautiful. It only goes to show why one should aspire to do something fully without shortcuts. You should be proud of your tea house, it is really a piece of art and I look forward to seeing the full vision eventually.
Thank you so much for your kind comments. I work in Further Education, albeit not as a joiner. With that in mind, I have been mindful to show as clear as possible the methods I used to achieve each stage. I have no doubt, Professional joiners and craftsmen will be able to point out better and more efficient ways of achieving the build. However, the main point of the series is to show that we are all capable of achieving our aims and the objective they aspire to as long as they are realistic. I used the internet to research garden tea house designs and interiors. However, KZread has been instrumental in my belief I could transfer my existing skill-set not just to attempt, but achieve and build a relatively small scale, yet lovely addition to my family garden. Your comments are particularly welcome, as they do offer me encouragement that my efforts are able to go some way in encouraging others ‘just to have a go and trust your own self-belief in doing it your self’. 🙏
Veautiful Alex - You have done an amazing job.
Thanks Lau, you keep up the good work too. I look forward to all your videos. Merci beaucoup, tnank vous pour regarder 👍
Looks very Japanese
Very nice bud.
So impressed with all of your videos well done sir
Thank you. I hope I have encouraged you in someway to carry out a project of your own. Although DIY takes a little effort, I hope you agree the effort put in is more than rewarded by the results - most of the time anyway👍
Hello my new friend..beautiful koi you have.i have many koi also..i love them so much
Hello to you too. I am sure your koi look superb!
Love to see the happy healthy koi. My koi just had a new batch of babies, so we are in for a treat this summer. Excited to see the finished tea house video!
The main structure for the tea house is now complete. However, the exterior is being concentrated on. The pond and the surrounding garden is actively being put under scrutiny and improved. Having said that, I will put online content out to show the detailed improvements that are made as and when I feel the time is right. .
Nice catch up 👍
Cheers Graham!
It will clear up. I love your pond and the bridge, but the tea house is amazing.
The koi pond is usually crystal clear. I cleaned it out a few weeks ago with the pond hoover, then gave it a dose of cloverleaf blanketweed answer. That killed the blanketweed off, but it left a residue of dead algae. Hence the reason I put in the sludge buster. Although the filter system is removing most of it, the water is still a bit cloudy. As you say, it will clear. Hopefully over the next week or two.👍
@@Veterankoi my big pond I don't use UVs . My plants and filters take care of most, except blanket weed. I generally use a plastic rake to take it out. I do love your pond set up.. Mine is inground too with a few ponds that flow into my main pond
@@stubbsaquatics6080 I have been thinking for a while about introducing a bog type filter. Like you suggest, if there are sufficient plants it ought to consume the vast majority of nitrates thereby prevent water bourne and other types of algae from taking over. I have taken a look at your pond and it is admirable I have to say.
@@Veterankoi thanks.. I would suggest for bog filters iris, arrow heads , bog Arum and lilies.
The suspense is eating me alive
Hope the latest video is helping to alleviate the suspense :0)
It’s a thumbs up from me 👍 Lots of pond/garden related KZread channels now since lockdown so lots of competition. Have noticed a lot are “grouping” together and boosting each other’s numbers. Love your pond it’s different from the “norm” so please continue and maybe release a few “shorts” to help boost the ratings?
Thanks for the tip, it makes sense, Never thought about it before to be honest, I just made the video without thinking about the timing.
@@Veterankoi it’s something a lot are doing now to keep their subscribers interested and get extra content out.
have a good tea ceremony in this wonderful tea house! I like it, thumbs up!!! )) thanks for sharing )) !
As soon as it’s complete the ceremony will be the first thing My wife, daughter and myself will do. Thanks for the kind comment😀
hi Alex u r doing a good job keep it up thanks
Just trying my best. The channel needs more comments as that is how KZread algorithms work. The more comments the channel gets, the further up the search result pecking order it goes. Thumbs up or thumbs down bizarrely are all worth better ranking’s. Unfortunately, I get very little comments, so that goes against the channel. Anyway thanks for your positive feedback 👍