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Pond upgrades · Richmond, VA

Pond remodeling and upgrades in Richmond, VA

Jordan's Water Garden Solutions remodels existing ponds in Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County and Charlottesville. Jordan Blanton, an Aquascape Certified Contractor, adds skimmers, biological filters, wetland filters, fountain bowls and lighting to ponds he built and ponds he did not. A waterfall added to your pond starts at $950 per linear foot, and most upgrades can be done during a maintenance visit.

$950per linear foot, a waterfall added to your pond

A waterfall dropping over mossy boulders into a pebble stream
A waterfall added where there was still water.

Pond filtration upgrade

Why every pond needs a skimmer and a biological filter

A pond that is always green, or always needs the net, is usually missing one of two things. The first is a mechanical skimmer. It sits at the edge with the pump behind it and pulls leaves and wind-blown debris off the surface before they sink, then holds them in a basket you empty. Without one, everything that lands on the water ends up on the bottom, where it rots and feeds the algae.

The second is a biological filter at the head of the waterfall. Water from the skimmer is pumped up into it and spreads through filter pads and media where bacteria grow. Those bacteria eat the nutrients algae would otherwise eat. The water comes back over the falls clearer than it left. The two pieces work as a pair, and that pair is what lets Jordan's ponds stay clear with a few visits a year.

If your pond has neither, this is where the remodel starts. Everything else on this page builds on it.

A sheet of clear water sliding over a flat stone, with bubbles caught at the edge
Water leaving a biological filter, clear enough to see the stone under it.

What you can add

Upgrades you can add during a maintenance visit

Jordan is already at the pond for a spring clean-out or a fall visit, with the water down and the pump out. That is the cheapest day to add something. Each card says what the piece does for your pond; pick one and the calculator takes it from there.

Filtration

Fountain bowl

More circulation and filtration, less algae, more surface for beneficial bacteria. A bowl set at the edge pulls water through its own pump and spills it back, so the pond gets a second filter and a second sound.

Priced on your consultation call

Filtration

Wetland filter

Crystal-clear water. A planted gravel bed beside the pond that the water passes through on its way back. The plant roots and the gravel do the work, and the bed looks like a garden, not a filter.

Priced on your consultation call

Filtration

Skimmer

Wind-blown debris is caught and held, ready for removal, instead of sinking to the bottom. If you are netting leaves off the surface every weekend, this is the fix.

Priced on your consultation call

Sound

Waterfall or stream added to a pond

New falls on the pond you have, with the biological filter hidden at the top. You hear it from the house, and the water picks up oxygen every time it drops.

$950per linear foot, to start

After dark

Aquatic lighting

Designed around the pond you have: underwater lights for the falls and the fish, landscape lights for the edge. The pond is still there at nine o'clock.

Priced on your consultation call

Filtration

Intake bay

A planted shallow where the water enters the pump area. Debris settles in the gravel and the plants take up the nutrients, so less reaches the pump and the water is cleaner before it is filtered.

Priced on your consultation call

Add a waterfall to a pond

Still water into moving water, from $950 per linear foot

A lot of ponds were built as still water. A waterfall changes what the pond is. You hear it from the kitchen and the fish gather under it. The biological filter goes in at the top, so the falls do the filtering as well as the talking.

The price is the length of falls and stream times $950, measured on the site visit. A short drop at the back of the pond is a few feet. A stream that wanders down from the corner of the yard is more. The estimate calculator asks the length and shows a range either side.

A waterfall pouring over a stone ledge into a pool of amber pebbles
A single drop over a stone ledge. The sound carries to the house.

Pond remodeling

Settled edges and an aging liner

Edges settle. After a few winters the rock along one side drops and the liner shows above the waterline. Jordan lifts the edge stones, builds the ground back up under them and resets them so the liner is covered and the water sits level again.

A liner that is losing water is a different job. If a patch will hold, Jordan patches it. If the liner is old enough that one patch leads to the next, he replaces it, and that is the moment to add the skimmer, the biological filter and the depth the pond never had. The fish go into aerated tubs for the duration and come back to a pond built the way Jordan builds a new koi pond.

Not sure whether the pond is leaking or just evaporating in August? Start with leak detection and repair.

Questions

What Richmond pond owners ask about remodeling

Anything else, ask Jordan on the call.

How long does a pond remodel take?

A few days for most upgrades. A skimmer, a biological filter or a fountain bowl usually goes in on the same visit as a clean-out. A new waterfall or a wetland filter takes longer, and a full rebuild with a new liner longer still. Jordan's Water Garden Solutions gives Richmond homeowners a timeline for their pond on the site visit, once Jordan has seen the access and the rock.

Can you work on a pond someone else built?

Yes. Jordan's Water Garden Solutions remodels ponds in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield that were built by another contractor or came with the house. Jordan looks at how the pond was built, says what is missing, and adds the skimmer, filter or waterfall it should have had.

What happens to my fish during the work?

The fish come out first. Jordan's Water Garden Solutions holds them in aerated tubs filled with their own pond water, shaded, for as long as the work takes, then returns them once the pond is refilled and the water is ready for them. It is the same routine as a spring clean-out in Richmond, only longer.

Is remodeling cheaper than starting over?

Usually, when the liner is sound. Adding a skimmer, a biological filter or a waterfall to a pond that holds water costs a fraction of a new pond. When the liner is failing in several places, Jordan's Water Garden Solutions will say so and price a rebuild for your Richmond pond instead, because patching a liner that is past it costs more in the end than replacing it.

Which upgrade makes the biggest difference?

A skimmer and a biological filter, if the pond has neither. Those two pieces are the reason a pond in Richmond stays clear with a few visits a year instead of a weekend of netting. Jordan's Water Garden Solutions adds them first; a waterfall, a wetland filter and lighting come after, and each builds on that pair.

Keep exploring

Based in Richmond, working across Richmond, Charlottesville, Chesterfield County and Henrico County.

Estimate calculator

See what your pond upgrade would cost

A few quick questions, one at a time, and a price range on the spot. Then pick a time for a free phone consultation with Jordan.