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Cost to Build a Pond

By Melissa

Last updated 29th March 2023 - Reading time: 13 mins

In this guide, we’ll explore not only the costs and timeframes involved but also related subjects like what’s involved in building a pond and whether you can construct one DIY.

Average Cost of Building a Pond:

Depending on the complexity of the job, it usually takes: 1-5 days

£3,000

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Pond?
- Pond Prices
Supply Only Costs
Additional Costs
Labour Costs and Timescales
Cost Factors of Building a Pond
What's Involved in Building a Pond?
Can I Build a Pond Myself?
Building Regulations & Planning Permission for Pond Installation
Hiring Contractors to Build a Pond Checklist
FAQs
Sources
Sources

How Much Does It Cost to Build a Pond?

As mentioned, the cost of a pond installation will vary depending on the size and type. To have a small garden pond constructed would cost around £500 to £1,000.

A medium-sized garden pond is priced at about £1,500 to £3,500 and a large garden pond might cost you between £4,000 and £6,000.

If you want to replace an existing garden pond with a new installment this will likely cost several hundred pounds more.

The cost of having a garden pond constructed would depend not only on the type and size of pond. It would also depend on ease of access and the location of your property since labour prices differ across the UK.

Pond Prices

Size/Type	Supply Cost	Labour Cost	Total Cost
Small Pond	£500 to £700	£300 to £600	£800 to £1,300
Medium Pond	£1,500 to £2,100	£900 to £1,500	£2,400 to £3,600
Large Pond	£3,200 to £4,500	£1,800 to £3,000	£5,000 to £7,500

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Supply Only Costs

We'll now move on to the cost of supplies only. This is part of the total price but excludes the cost of labour so relates to a DIY pond cost. These costs would be especially pertinent if you were to purchase the materials from a retailer directly as part of a DIY job (more on this later). These are essentially the overall estimated costs of building a pond by yourself.

The supply costs for a small garden pond stand at around £500 to £700 whereas it would cost about £1,500 to £2,100 for a medium pond and £3,200 to £4,500 for a large pond.

Size of Pond	Supply Cost
Small Garden Pond	£500 to £700
Medium Garden Pond	£1,500 to £2,100
Large Garden Pond	£3,200 to £4,500

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Additional Costs

In this section, we'll discuss some added costs you may face upon having a garden pond constructed. These costs may or may not apply, it would depend on whether you want extra jobs undertaken or not.

Garden Clearance

When having a garden pond installed, you may consider it a good time to have your garden cleaned and remove waste. This can give your garden a new lease of life, a fitting refurbishment to go with your new garden pond.

The price of garden waste removal would largely depend on the scale of the removal. We measure these in terms of the approximate number of bin bags and the size of the skip.

Our estimated garden clearance costs:

2-yard skip (20 bin bags) - £70 to £100
3-yard skip (30 bin bags) - £75 to £110
4-yard skip (40 bin bags) - £100 to £260
6-yard skip (60 bin bags) - £120 to £275
8-yard skip (80 bin bags) - £160 to £370
10-yard skip (100 bin bags) - £180 to £400
12-yard skip (120 bin bags) - £220 to £440
14-yard skip (140 bin bags) - £230 to £450

New Decking

You may be interested in having garden decking installed. The cost of a decking installation can vary greatly, depending on both the size of the decking and the material used.

Let's look at some popular examples and their respective cost...

Softwood:

Small Garden (15 Square Metres) - £1,000 to £1,200
Medium Garden (30 Square Metres) - £1,600 to £2,000
Large Garden (60 Square Metres) - £2,200 to £2,800

Hardwood:

Small Garden (15 Square Metres) - £1,500 to £1,700
Medium Garden (30 Square Metres) - £2,200 to £3,000
Large Garden (60 Square Metres) - £3,400 to £4,200

Composite:

Small Garden (15 Square Metres) - £1,900 to £2,100
Medium Garden (30 Square Metres) - £3,400 to £3,700
Large Garden (60 Square Metres) - £4,900 to £5,400

New Garden Shed

Should you wish to have a new garden shed constructed, the cost will largely depend on the size and type.

Here are some common garden shed prices:

6ft x 4ft Budget-friendly Shed on a Simple Slab Base - £600 to £800
8ft x 6ft Shed on a Slab Base - £750 to £950
12ft x 8ft Large Shed on a Concrete Base - £1,000 to £1,200

Labour Costs and Timescales

Moving on to the price of labour, this is part of the overall price but excludes the supply costs. The daily labour cost for a garden pond construction is around £300. However, as mentioned earlier, this would depend on where you live.

The excavation phase would likely take somewhere in the range of half a day to a full day's work. The actual installation of the pond itself would likely last around two to five days but it would depend on the size and type of pond being built.

As for the full timeframes of building different-sized ponds...

Overall, it will probably take one to two days to build a small garden pond, three to five days for a medium-sized garden pond or six to ten days for a large pond.

The labour cost and timeframes would vary depending on the size and type of pond being built as well as ease of access to the work area. Whether you undertake some work DIY (e.g., excavating the area) would also influence the cost of labour.

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Cost Factors of Building a Pond

We'll now take a closer look at the cost-affecting factors of constructing a pond, whether it be the size and type of pond or the location of your property. Ultimately, garden pond prices with the cost of labour and supplies can vary a lot.

Size and Type of Pond

The most important cost factors are the size/type of garden pond. The larger a garden pond is, the higher the supply costs will be. Of course, beyond that, a larger garden pond would take longer to build and would therefore bring up the cost of labour if hiring a contractor to perform the work.

Type is relevant too, as, for instance, the type of materials used can come with different supply prices. Pond types could also be categorized based on their design and shape. An ordinary shaped pond would be more budget-friendly than say having a fancy ornamental-styled pond constructed.

Ease of Access

The level of accessibility a professional has to the workspace could also shape your total bill. This is because easier access could make the work easier and faster and thus likely keep labour costs down.

Location of Property

Labour prices are generally above the UK average in the southeast (London is especially known for high labour costs) whereas they tend to be under the national average in Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.

Cost of Additional Features

If you wish to have extra features like a water fountain or/and a pump added, this will increase the overall cost of having a garden pond built.

Of course, the prices of these specific features can differ a lot. For example, pond air pump prices/pond filter prices can differ a lot depending on the quality among other factors.

What's Involved in Building a Pond?

We'll now break down the steps needed to install a garden pond. The methods can vary depending on the size and type of pond. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions or if in doubt, hire a professional.

1. Planning and Hiring a Contractor

Plenty of planning must go on into building a pond before any work can get underway. For one, you'll want to decide on how deep the pond should be. In the case of a decorative pond, you'd want a water depth of about 0.6 metres or so. However, if it’s going to feature fish it's a different story.

If it's going to feature small fish, we'd suggest a depth of about a metre but if it will feature larger fish (e.g., Koi or Carp), then a depth of approximately 1.5 metres would suffice.

You'll also want to decide on the shape/design such as a regular design vs. a fancy ornamental design. Planning would also involve hiring the right contractor for the job, assuming you want someone to build the pond for you. We'll look more at hiring the best person for the job toward the end of this article.

2. Excavation

The first practical stage of a pond installation involves excavating the area. As discussed in the previous step, how deep you dig will depend on the size/type of pond in question. This is the most suited part for DIY work.

Before digging up an area for a pond, the shape of the pond should be marked out with a spray or string. It's best to begin digging at the perimeter and work inwards from there. In some cases, a marginal shelf will be included for plants before the inner deep-water area can be excavated in full.

It's important the sides of the garden pond slope inwards in a gradual manner. This is to avoid soil collapse. In addition, a small perimeter trench could fit around the pond’s top region as a means of stopping the surrounding soil from being saturated by the water.

As touched on, the exact process will differ depending on the size/type of pond among other factors.

3. Adding the Pond Materials

Once the area is excavated, it’s time to add the pond materials. First of all, pond-liner materials would be needed as a means of creating a water-tight barrier between the inside of the pond and the ground around it.

The options would include relatively cheap materials like plastic or more expensive options such as flexible rubber liners.

Protective underlay should also be added first before you lay liner down to protect against stone damage and root penetration.

Beyond the work discussed so far, the other materials and features can then be added before the water is added to the pond. In many cases, a pond needs a functioning filtration system and a means of air circulation (e.g., a pump).

This would be also very important for the health and well-being of any fish in your pond in most cases. Sometimes a filtration system will not be needed but it will depend on the type of pond and the fish being included.

If you are having fish, you may want to consider investing in pond netting to protect your fish from large birds.

Can I Build a Pond Myself?

Yes, it’s entirely possible to construct a garden pond DIY but it’s important that a) you have the right skills and knowledge and b) you understand all of the necessary safety steps as well as the elements of constructing a pond that are necessary. If in any doubt, hire a professional.

As discussed, excavation is the most suitable part for a DIY enthusiast, but you may wish to undertake the entire project and this would save you several hundred to several thousand pounds in labour costs, depending on the size and type of the garden pond. The DIY man made pond prices are one core advantage of building a garden pond by yourself.

Some of the hazards/dangers of building a garden pond include:

Working with heavy materials
Tripping or falling
Building the pond incorrectly*

*An incorrectly built pond would leave you needing to pay for a professional to come out and fix it for you and overall, this would be more expensive than having a contractor build the pond in the first place.

Building Regulations & Planning Permission for Pond Installation

In general, building regulations do not specifically cover building a pond. However, there are many regulations that relate to protecting wildlife. In terms of planning permission, you can build a pond at any time of the year so long as you do not disturb any protected species.

It is best to contact your local authority and explain your plans in detail and inquire as to whether building regulations apply or/and planning permission approval is needed.

When approval is required, building regulations cost about £100 with planning permission approval being priced at approximately £200. It can take up to eight weeks for planning approval to be given if necessary.

Hiring Contractors to Build a Pond Checklist

If you'd prefer to hire a professional to construct your garden pond, there are various points worth taking on board as part of the hiring process.

Our recommended checklist:

Are they qualified? (Not necessary but a plus).
What experience do they have?
What is their previous experience like?
Take a look at any online reviews they have (if applicable).
Ask friends and family for their own recommendations.

FAQs

How much does a pond cost to run?

For a pond with a pump, it may cost around £0.50 to £2 per day to run. Of course, the cost will depend on the type of pump which will in turn depend on the size/type of pond you have.

Ultimately a Koi Pond costs might differ from say a bass pond running cost and so forth.

What is the best pond liner material?

One of the top options is high-density polyethylene liners or HDPE liners. This type of liner is a great type of flexible pond liner with high levels of puncture resistance while also being lightweight.

However, how suitable it will be will depend on what sort of pond you’re going for. Pond liner costs can vary a lot too and this is an important consideration in that any given material matches your budget.

How long does garden pond liner last?

This will of course depend on the material. Some materials like PVC and polyethylene tend to last around two decades while EPDM/rubber pond liners or RPE pond liners can last for 30-40 years or longer. It will also depend on how well-maintained your garden pond is.

How deep should a pond be for bass fish?

For bass fish, the pond should preferably be around 3-4 metres in depth. Really the depth shouldn’t be anything under two metres for your bass fish to flourish.