Fibreglassing

After the render had dried, the TPR returns were cut back to around 1/2" proud of the render.

Having never worked with fibreglass before, I decided to let a professional undertake this. Having chatting to a great guy called Dave Arnold via the Koichat board, Dave kindly offered to do the fibreglassing for me. Dave is a true professional with fibreglass and knows all the tricks of the trade.

The TPR returns are ground back flush with the fibreglassed walls.

A good coat of Den Braven (or SIkaflex) mastic is applied around and inside the return pipe.

The sealed pipe then has fibreglass and resin applied over the whole area.

The TPR at this point is effectively sealed over

Each of the four returns are covered in the same way

Here, the fibreglass is finished (awaiting topcoat). Several tons of border soil have been added to the raised areas and the bamboo screen has been fixed to the top of the pergola.

Another shot showing the progress so far. At this point I have been working on the pond for most weekends over the previous six months!