Why use GRP?

Almost all of our new enquirers say they have only read excellent reviews about our service online on one forum or another or have been recommended by a fellow pond owner.  My jovial response is they were all bribed to be complimentary towards us.

Truth is this. 

I have been doing this job for a very long time and no matter how big or small the pond I work on ,  I have to get it right every time.  The goal I set to myself is not only to make the pond waterproof but also to make sure the work we produce is to the standard befitting to the project knowing the amount of work already gone into getting us in to do our bit.  If we leave a pond that leaks (we don't by the way) then we'll not only have let the customer down but also the other people that recommended us in the first place.  For me this is all about my reputation of being someone who can be trusted and it's a reputation I have built over many years that I protect at all costs by delivering what I promise, that being a waterproof pond and an unrivalled level of assistance from the moment you contact me.  It's actually a very simple concept.

You might be thinking this is all blurb, spin and it all sounds good but.......  Here's some feedback via text and email from some of our great customers this year so far.  If you want any more fedback take a look at the koi forums in the UK, you'll find more glowing references.

Facebook.

Facebook page.

I have reactivated our facebook page more so as another vehicle to showcase our work rather than it be a social thing. 

Large marine aquarium.

Huge aquarium.

I've fibreglassed ponds intended for koi smaller than this aquarium!  A few years ago I glassed an aquarium for stingrays and that was sunk into a floor, this build is absolutely fascinating to read at nearly 100 pages long.

The customer created the 3D graphics you see on the homepage of the website.

Water!

You've chosen fibreglass to line your pool or water feature with.

You've chosen GRP to do the work, thanks.

Let's talk about water.  Great for koi, not good for fibreglass.  You may be thinking what am I talking about, fibreglass is the best way to waterproof something?????

Yes, it certainly is BUT, and this is a big BUT..... the materials in their raw and uncured state cannot tolerate water either ingressing through your pond walls as we are working or from above (hence us needing a weatherproof cover to work under and to keep things dry for a few days afterwards whilst the grp is curing.

Once cured the fibreglass has all the properties you want.  It's 100% waterproof, 100% safe and 100% reliable (old logo from our old website, you'll see it elsewhere but we used that one first :)

Questions.

Water is ingressing through the walls, what can I do?

Call us and we'll guide you through the process.

Can you fibreglass my pond/water feature if there is water ingressing from above or below.

No.  This is emphatic.  We will not entrtain the risks involved with water coming into contact with the raw materials.

This is a pond we worked on recently during heavy downpours of rain.  Without the cover the job is impossible.  This is the stage we like to get you to, a big step forward for your project. You must allow the cover to be tested against bad weather, wind and rain.  If it fails, fix it and test it again.

With the price of fuel these days we simply can't go back to jobs where the cover is erected on the basis of 'it looks ok' or 'it should be water proof'.  It must be tested.  Only once you confirm it is 100% reliable (like us) will we attend.

I have other questions, can you help?

Of course, just call us and we'll gladly help you.

Quick update.

Update April 2012.

Here is a koi pond built to an exceptional standard in Essex. PU foam lined and fibreglassed by GRP in April 12.

But it isn't just koi ponds we are asked to work on all over the UK.  This is an indoor water feature in central London.  Again, completed in April 12.

And a rather smart looking pond that spans the entire frontage of the clients house, what a great view to come home to every evening, a pool of this stature.

Finally for this update a project we are scheduled to work on next week.  A most interesting pool which used to be a well.  A paint/render option was used just a couple of years ago and has predictably failed leaving the pond leaking.  It's 7 feet deep with steps going down to the floor.  There is a very particular technique to fibreglassing a pool of this depth and if we get time on site I may do a video of the process to add to this blog.

The above was finished 4/5/12 after water ingress issues on the proposed day of our attendance. No risks.

Japan trip winner update.

Japan update

We sent Jim to Japan after he won our fabulous competition.

He has updated his blog to show the koi off.  Take a look, they're beauties!

Nice one Jim.

Answers to the basic questions.

Koi pond settings.

The above link shows how to set your skimmer, bottom drain and flanged pond returns when using our foam lining system.

The bottom drain should be set flush within the concrete, everything else 12mm proud into the pond.  Leave the rest to us and we'll seal everything flush with nothing for the fish to snag themselves on.

We seal down into the bottom drain by 2" and apply an belt and braces seal of silicone at the meeting point of our grp and the ABS plastic drain.  The same applies to the skimmer.

These are the basics we get asked a lot but if you have any specific enquiries simply let us know and we'll answer promptly.

14,000+ views to GRP Koivista.

GRP Koi vista gallery 2005 +

Our gallery of some of the koi ponds we have worked on over the years has been viewed more than 14 thousand times making it one of the most popular on Koivista.com

The gallery is by no means an exhaustive list of ALL of the ponds but it showcases some of the very best ponds built in the UK and of course GRP fibreglassed them.

It gives me the owner of GRP great satisfaction that after all the hard work tht goes into the construction of a koi pond that GRP is chosen to install one of the most critical aspects of the build, the waterproofing.

Now that the daytime temperatures are favourable for outside grp installations we'll be looking forward to updating Koivista and this blog throught 2012 starting this week with a trip down to Surrey.

Best wishes to all future customers and those since 1994.

Matt Williams

Our competition winner is in Japan.

Jim Shaw from Castleford won our fabulous competition to visit Japan and the koi dealers, view koi harvests and experience the trip of a lifetime.

He's blogging his travels and you can follow them here.

Jim's Japan blog.

Jim has been sending me updates on a daily basis and he's having a thoroughly good time in Japan, 'The Mecca of koi keepers.'

I'm so pleased the trip so far has been every bit as good as you expected, see you when you get back Jim!

Site update.

The koi pond lining site has been updated.

New site update

Essex, Essex, Essex.

3 visits to Essex.

Barking.  Extreme Koi forum member Mr Kahlon had his new koi pond foam lined and glassed by GRP a few days ago.

Thank you very much to you Hardip for your hospitality during our visit and for building such a well built pond for us to work on!

Stanford le Hope.  Graham is a member of A4 Koi forum, Koimag and Koi Quest forum.  The pond has been been built for exatly a year and we were called in to apply our grp system onto an immaculately laid render.  Our website shows most ponds we work on having our PU foam lining system installed by us first but this pool goes to show that we will of course still fibreglass rendered ponds.  When the render is as good as we arrived to the fibreglass is bound to turn out 100%!  Great pond, 7 feet deep, a well planned and thought out filtration room out of sight in the garage too.

Follow this link to what shows a true koi keepers dedication to koi keeping.

Grahams pond diary.

If you view the entire thread you'll appreciate the massive amount of work that goes into a project such as this.  We are always delighted to be the chosen contractor to install the water proofing system after so much hard work has gone in.

Great pond in the making you have there Graham.  May you have many years enjoyment from it in the future and thanks for choosing GRP.

Our final visit for the week was to without doubt the best pond I have ever had the pleasure to fibreglass in the entire country.

I've spoken so highly of this koi pond so many times over the years and I couldn't resist a visit to see Dave again today as we were working nearby on Grahams pond in Stanford.


Lucy and I were welcomed with a cup of tea as usual and a walk through of the main pond, the breeding tanks,filtration systems and the beautiful garden surroundings for it all.  This year we see everything blooming in it's full splendourwith new grape vines, banana trees and the ever gorgeous acers......

Dave was showing us his koi. Some of them he spawned himself.  Well not himself exactly, the fish did the technical bits, Dave grew the fry on then moved them into the main display pond and it's really clear that Dave is truly dedicated to his koi keeping, filtration and water keeping and doing things the best way possible in all aspects.

Dave built the pond back in 2006 and if you click this link

UK's best koi pond

you'll see how this brilliant koi pond has progressed over the years.

Dave and I. Always a pleasure Dave, always will be. 


Matt

Kent, Derbyshire and Warwickshire.

Had a great week with visits to Kent, Warwickshire and our hometown of Derbyshire.

Bruce in Kent had been in touch with us for several months whilst he was building his brilliant pond near Hastings.  Our second visit to the town in as many years saw us complete his foam lining and fibreglassing over two days.

Here's the pond.

Sorry the picture doesn't do Bruces work justice but take it from me it's a really good pond with hardscaping around it planned for later this year to compliment it all.

I did a solo visit in Derbyshire to seal this water feature which was partly full of water on my arrival!  Soon sorted that and went on the same day to leave a fully sealed mirror reflection pool as seen here.

The Warwickshire job was so well built it was a dream for us to work on.  Meticulous planning by the client, excellent communications between us and a site visit prior to our attendance as we glassed a pond 4 miles away the week before we came saw Ian with his pond and water cascades fully glassed and awaiting filling with water at the weekend.....

This is the pool we did the 3D filming on.  See our blog for the footage when I get chance to edit it.

All in all we had a really enjoyable week, met some great people as always and look forward to updating the blog with pictures of their finished projects......

Huge thanks as usual to Lucy, Fanjita, Nick and the customers that trust us to do this critical work for them.

Matt.

3D video shoot.

I'm not sure if too many people have 3D capability but it's an experimental thing, no disruption to the job and offers another aspect to interactivity via the website.

Click the link below to view the video.  Please note it is in 3D.

3D Fibreglassing video

Thoroughly delighted!

Todays clients kindly took the trouble to send a very warming email.

I am not sure who is more pleased.  Me for receiving such a great email or the clients?
To be trusted to work on a pond that to date has taken 18 months of very hard work is the real compliment.

Matt, a very happy owner of GRP!

Important announcement. New email address.

Our email address has changed to grpspecialists@gmail.com

The old hotmail address will be shut down at the end of July 2011.


The website has been updated with this new gmail address.

Japan Competition winner.

Mr Shaw of Castleford, West Yorkshire won GRP's  'Trip to Japan' competition earlier this year.

Jim rang me personally to say how over the moon he was to have won the competition that was hosted exclusively by the Yorkshire Koi Society and it was planned for April 2011 but due to the March tsunami wreaking havoc in Japan it was decided that we and Darren from Absolute Koi who is his guide for the trip ought to postpone until a more suitable time.

Hopefully things will have settled down in Japan so Jim can finally look forward to and I quote him here "The trip of a lifetime.......Japan, the place I only ever dream of going to as a koi enthusiast but I actually won!"

Jim's win was posted on the forum back in February and I believe he'll be posting pictures of his trip on the forum from Japan so definitely one to watch out for in October. 

Well done again Jim Shaw.  By all accounts you are a most worthy winner of the competition.


GRP Fixed it for Jim :)

Being talked about :)

One of our new customers asked if this was us when they saw it online so I had to take a look.

Anyone used GRP?

Very satisfying that previous clients say good things about us.  Gives me great confidence going into  tomorrows job (not that I need it of course) which you can see here.

Daz and Helens pond

There's a header pool attached to the main pond PLUS we'll be glassing Britains youngest koi keeper's pond in the same two days!

Daz got in touch with us way back in March and has kept in touch not just to ask for build advice tips but also to keep us informed of the build progress so we can be there when we are needed rather than have to wait for our diary to clear.  We glassed a pond 30 miles away from this job last week for a member of Daz's koi club East Yorkshire Koi Society.  (Link on page right.)

I'll add some pics of the job when we get back in a couple of days.

Matt

Update 20/7

It rained.
Then it rained again.
Rained some more.
Rained again very heavily.
It changed to persistent rain.
Rained again.
And again.
And then some.

The cover held up. All three ponds are now foam lined and glassed.  A return visit to site tomorrow to inspect the job, sand down and to apply the topcoat will leave the ponds fully waterproof.

The build quality of the pond is very good.  A slight exception is on the floor near the drain but I fixed that with the foam.

It rained so heavily that water worked its way through the block work walls and underneath the foam at the end opposite the window.  Once this was dealt with I carried on working.  At about 4:30 it was time to seal Keiran's pond that I foam lined yesterday.

By the time that was sealed I called it a day. A fresh day tomorrow will see the ponds topcoated in black.

It rained most of the way home too.

Daz and Helen's pond foam lined and glassed.

and Britain's Youngest Koi Keeper's pond :)  Also the smallest koi pond we've ever glassed!

I had a fantastic time yet again in Yorkshire and a huge thanks to Helen's hospitality and tea making skills! 

Next stop for us is Fleet in Hampshire on Tuesday, a small water feature to work on in Derby Wednesday then on to Warwick on Friday.

From Devon to Derbyshire.

I had an interesting solo trip to Devon to seal this very small water feature on Tuesday.

A day off to go sea kayaking in Brixham was followed by a two day installation in our home county of Derbyshire on an absolutely brilliant pond.

I visited the site about 4 weeks previously to snag (advise on the prep) the job for the pond constructors.  The build quality was so good that there was barely any snagging to do, just a sample of foam left with them so they could configure the 12 LED lights built into the walls was all that was required along with advice and reasons for a weatherproof cover.

Applying the PU foam to the pool was a straightforward affair but carried out in punishing temperatures.  This was completed by 2pm and I ruled out starting the grp work due to the excessive heat at that time of day.  We attended site early on Friday morning to start the grp proper.  By 2.30 and with temperatures at stiffling temperatures the grp work was complete with Lucy installing the majority of the surface tissue application on her own.  She has a great eye for this work, real attention being paid to the attention required to achieve the enamel like finish we pride ourselves on. It dawned on me then that Lucy is, as far as I am aware the only female grp laminator in the UK working on ponds!

We took some r&r away from the job allowing daytime temperatures to drop to comfortable levels and went back to site at 5.30pm, greeted with some more hot refreshing tea provided by the pond owners.

A 7.30pm finish left the pond waterproof and in immaculate condition just as the rain started, the cover holding up to perfection.

All in all we had relatively quiet week by our standards and worked on what is possibly one of the best built ponds we've been invited to so far in 2011.

Here are a couple of pictures from the perfectly built pond.

Foam lined and fully glassed, sanded down and ready for the topcoat.

One of the 12 LED light fittings, sealed, masked off to protect the lens and ready to be very carefully flowcoated around!

Here you see the complex shape of the pond.  Split level, lights, tangental returns, fillets and a surface skimmer ALL left in a 100% waterproof condition.

The header course of bricks are being fitted tomorrow and I'll pop a couple of pictures of this completed pond in due course.

3D trial video

This is the first trial of a 3D video we are toying with the idea of. 

End of May '11

We had an interesting week with three installations in Norfolk, Leamington Spa and Ludlow, Shropshire.

We were treated to fantastic views during the drive to Ludlow especially over Clee Hill, the views from the top were awesome.

During the Ludlow installation the weather turned quite nasty with high winds and very heavy showers.

Unfortunately the protective covering failed and we had to abandon site in the name of safety.

We decided to make a short video of the Norfolk job and the Ludlow job to show you the difference a good cover makes. 

If you have any queries on how to build a suitable cover we'll advise you but hopefully video gives a very clear example.  The first cover survived the entire winter of 2010 in fact.

We'll be returning to Ludlow next week to finish off.  Not an ideal situation for the client who would like their fish in the pond quickly.