Hi it’s Lee from the Japanese Water Gardens. This is part 3 in my series of short videos detailing the construction of quarantine a system at the Japanese water gardens. 

In part 2 we trenched out and installed the bottom drains then built up the 4 by 1 timber frame. 

The plan is to get the system up and running before the new season starts in the spring.  So we have been working hard over the last two weeks. 

The timber frame was lined out with sheets of 9mm exterior grade plywood. 

Each of the panels were measured out then cut with the circular saw. 

We held the panels in place then secured them to the frame frame with several short screws.

Behind the panels I packed the voids with loft insulation. This will help reduce any heat loss from the system.

We then cut more plywood to form for corner pieces for each of the bays. 

The edges of the plywood were cut on a 45 degree angle to aid in the fitting. 

To hold them into the corners I just held them up and fastened them with several screws.

The corner pieces are not essential to the design but they do have advantages. 

They will provide additional support and strength to the structure.

Most importantly they round out the corner and help with the netting of the fish. Being able to efficiently and safely net the fish is essential to the whole operation.

When all the panels were in place the structure was extremely stiff and rigid.
At this stage you could appreciate just how strong this structure was going to be. 

We wanted to create a dish shaped bases that gently slope into the bottom drains. 

This helps to prevent accumulation of sediment on the bay bottoms.

The method that we used is a fool proof and inexpensive means of achieving a good dish shape base. 

We visited the builders yard behind the toton park and ride and found a selection of reclaimed bricks and a broken slabs. 

They were just a what we were looking for. 

The bricks were stacked 2 high around the edge of the bays. Then next row was stacked 1 brick high. Then we filled the centre section with the sections of broken slab and rubble. 

We then scattered a dry mix concrete across the bottom and worked it in to fill all the voids. This would not be possible with a standard wet concrete. 

I was very tired after all four bays, so we left for home to get some rest ready for an early start the next day. 

The next morning I left home early to beat the rush hour traffic.

We had four bays to be concreted and I didn’t want to rush things. 

Since the side panels had been put up I had been struggling to see clearly and it was necessary to bring in some additional light. 

The lights are little led feestoon pods, daisy chained together perfect for a job such as this. They are just screwed into place or can be held with cable ties. 


We then started mixing up some concrete. The ratio was roughly 5 parts ballast to 1 cement. 

We made sure to keep it quite thick so it would not slump forward into the bottom of the drains. 

 
Whilst one of us mixed the other worked the concrete down with a board to form the slope. 

The finish was not critical any small holes would be filled afterwards left unfinished  so we could make a clean smooth transition.

After all four bases were down I was as ever completely filthy, covered in concrete. When I got home realized that my knees were red raw through kneeling in the concrete all day. 

A hot bath, loads off e45 cream and early night helped to put them on the mend. 

The next day I called at the builders merchants and picked up some bags of buidling sand to render the bases. 

Thanks for helping loading the sand guys.

I mixed up the sand with some cement to make a render for the bases.

There were lots of holes that needed filling, around the edges I filled the gaps and smoothed it into the bottom drains.

The only thing that was awkward was working into the corner I kept putting my feet into the render and messing up were I had smoothed over. 

In the end after some hanging over the edge huffing and puffing I left it all the dry out. 

Over the next week we are going to be getting the bays ready for fibreglassing. 

I hope you enjoyed watching this video and if your not already subscribed to the channel then please do so. 

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Its bye for now from Lee at the japanese water gardens.