I Made A Rookie Mistake On The Pond 

After 70 years I've finally learned that the best thing you can do in these situations is to stop kicking yourself and get to fixing the problem. Smart careful people like you will avoid thousands of mistakes like this in a lifetime but a few will get you despite your best efforts. Forgive yourself and move on. You'll never make that mistake again.

You could have easily hidden the mistake,fixed it and never let us know. But you didn’t! That makes your video series all the more relatable. Great work again!

Neil, the best advice I ever received regarding failure is that "if you haven't done something dumb, you probably haven't ever done anything at all". When we feel bad about it, that just helps us remember to do our best next time. Thank you for sharing this... up until now I thought you were perfect!

One thing I've learned over the years with RU-vid DIY projects, many of them show the final result all polished up without ever mentioning the troubles they ran into. To me, this is not realistic. Don't be afraid to show your mistakes as one might learn something from it. I applaud you for telling us as no one outside your friends or family would have ever known, had you not put out this video. Kudos. Well done.

Don t beat yourself up! This is one of the nicest ponds I have ever seen! You did a great job!

I just find it so intriguing that the farmers down there in flat/clay America figured out this drainage problem. I had no idea that there was such a huge infrastructure of drainage tile under the ground in all of those fields. But that 100% makes sense. Thanks for opening up and let us follow the highs and lows of the build. Great video series, great production, great story. Much appreciated. My mistake: I'm sure there is a ton but the first one I thought of. When building my deck, I made assumptions about the height of the joists and beams with relation to the elevation of the ledger board. After I got all of the joists installed, parts of the deck were not level. Ended up having to jack up the main support beam, remove the posts to cut a small bit off the end of the posts to make them a touch shorter. All is well now, but I know I felt the same way as you.

Heck! I wouldn't even have thought that the drain tile could be the water loss problem. You noodled it out and did the right thing to fix it. So now you look at your pond and look over your shoulder and think, Good Work! And good video showing how you identified the problem and how to fix it.

Neil that’s why I keep watching your channel . Nothing is perfect in an imperfect world. I’ve messed up many projects in my life & have corrected most myself or with the help of experts. You are still young & learning. Again I watch your show because of the human aspect not because you are the expert on everything. Remember grass will grow in the summer.

Neil, the man that’s never made a mistake has not done anything, it’s about how we learn from them, bounce back and improve the situation (exactly what you have done). I am sure when we see the area in spring time with the grass grown back no one will remember the tile issue 😁. Seasons Greetings to you and the family from Bristol, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

My Grandmother had a saying - "Them that never do ought wrong never did ought at all" (Yorkshire/Lancashire UK Saying). Well done on admitting to a mistake we all make them and always will. Takes a big man to admit. Really been enjoying the channel.

Neil I am a 77 year old lady so I do not have a big failure story to tell but I am here to say I love watching your videos. Your projects are interesting, love the big family interaction and your expert explanations. Merry Christmas!

Thanks for sharing the whole story. It takes a strong person to publish mistakes in public. It’s not if you make a mistake, it’s how you deal with it.

I had a very similar instance, we have the same heavy clay sub soil as you here in southern Ontario. I built my house and didn’t want to go deep with the basement because I new it would cause sump pump problems, so the basement was dug shallow enough that it went right over top of a field tile and did not know it. For the first summer the sump pump was bone dry because any water would leach and go towards the fall of the tile, but that spring when the ditch water got high it back feed the tile into my sump pump and then I realized I had a problem. My first fix was to dig out 6 feet of the tile on either side of the house thinking that would be enough to plug it, but the water still pushed through from 2000 feet of head pressure when it was draining the field and the head pressure from the high ditch would still push through. So then the next year I dug all the tile out to the ditch which was about 200 feet and then I had to reconnect the tile draining the field into a newer plastic tile. My problem tile was and old clay one and the field had since been fully retiled so I thought just my 6 foot plug would be enough because I didn’t think that old clay line was doing much but it still was. So one I redirected the water from the back and fully deleted the line to the ditch my problem was fixed. I did notice it took about 2 years for things to really settle out and shut off that hard pan where the old tile layed just like you were talking about, but I never went to the effort you did with the benzonite and plate compactor

After we have all been through building this , I am so sorry. I know you got right on it, am error you will never make again. Don’t feel bad , we’re all on your side, great work.

7 trips to Home Depot is my record. I replaced a kitchen faucet as one of my 1st plumbing DYI projects 25 years ago. The combination of hose diameter, male/female fitting and length kicked my butt. Every time I was sure I had the RIGHT part NOW! I've learned to allow myself time for mistakes when doing something the 1st time. Also, you don't buy the bin, you buy the part in the bin. Don't reach in the bin and assume the part in the bin matches the bin.

As a former Industrial Arts teacher I aways told my students that you have not learned anything until you have to fix someone’s mistake, especially your own. Fix it move on and try not to make a similar one. Your dedication to family, business and property are exemplary and I commend you for that. Nice video and what’s next?!;)

There is nothing wrong with making mistakes as we learn from them - just don’t make the same mistakes twice…thanks for sharing and happy holidays.

I am so grateful for you and your honesty and transparency. Your humility makes your channel worth it all! AND your backhoe skills are great for not doing it everyday Mistakes happen to us all. We remodeled our kitchen and replaced all the floors in our home with click together laminate. We didn’t put in the effort to confirm our floors were level prior to installing it ourselves. Over 6 months the floors started braking apart. Now all our floors are duct taped together to buy us time to replace it (again). We then also learned our foundation is sinking in the south west corner. We paid $36k to lift that corner and sure it up. And they discovered we don’t have enough supports under our home. So we installed those too. And it’s possible that didn’t fix the problem. Feeling pretty defeated with our first house fixer upper. Feeling pretty stupid for investing time, sweat equity and over $50k on a home that is possibly still sinking and not worth the investment. Pretty tired over the last couple years of this that we are praying about it, thinking and waiting before spending anymore time and money on the possibility of no remedy. We feel your pain. Thank you for being such a great creator and role model.

Two weeks after buying our house it flooded due to poor foundation drain tile and a failed septic leach field. I spent weeks in the winter (NE Ohio) digging around my house and yard, finding pipes and figuring out where they start and end. Luckily the pipes were not as deep as yours, but I did have to hand dig in heavy clay soil. I felt so stupid for purchasing the house. I quickly put that aside and carried on. Just like every problem, you push through, find a solution, and have a great story to tell when it’s all done. Love the channel, keep up the great work.

I hear my grandfather reminding me: measure twice, cut once. There’s no shame asking for directions, etc, etc. I hope your efforts will pay off. I love the pond and your persistence in resolving your issues. Nice work.

It’s not a screw up if it can be fixed, It’s just a set back. Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s Christmas time enjoy the holidays. Have a merry Christmas.

I do know how you feel. I made several "Rookie" mistakes building my inground pool 6 years ago. It was my first time tackling that large a project and I know I would do a lot different if I were to build another one. In the end, it turned out nice and my family truly enjoys it. And i feel a lot wiser now. I think your family will get a lot of enjoyment out of your pond.

You persevered and fixed the problem, Neil! That’s a success in my books!

I feel this pain bud. I made board games for ten years and when my manufacturer made them I was always printing 5K-10L copies. So much anxiety to make sure hundreds of details were correct. You can’t catch them all even with half a dozen layers of systems designed to catch the errors. I published 18 board and card games over that ten year span and I quickly learned to accept that mistakes were inevitable and I could learn from each one and hopefully avoid making the same mistake. Mistakes are fantastic learning opportunities. Fail fast is what I say.

Don't beat yourself up, we often do our best learning through mistakes of some kind. Don't be embarrassed one bit. You caught it, and addressed it, so come next year when it is time to use the pond the repair will be healed over and you can enjoy yourselves!

Great tutorial on drainage both laterally and vertically! Hey, I graduated yesterday. Now all I have to is make my way north and come to work with y’all!

Neil, any of us that worked on projects ourselves as a DIY share your pain, we learn from our missteps, thanks for sharing and you have a great show and great family!!! Merry Christmas 🎄

Don't sweat the small stuff mate. Your property looks beautiful & is only going to get better. Tuff times make tuff people. Cheers Kev.

One thing I have learned is “ain’t mistake if you can fix it” Pond looks great you did a great job. Don’t beat your self up over something you can fix.

The good thing about mistakes is that you learn from them. I wish you and your family a great Christmas time

Hi Neil. I have zero experience digging like that for drainage or anything else, but I've made plenty of stupid mistakes in other areas. Sometimes, that is how we learn. On the bright side, you have the knowledge and equipment to correct the problem. It would be worse if you had to call in some outside help and pay them to fix the mistake. I think, if it were me, coming clean, admitting the mistake and moving on would make me feel better. I hope making the video helped with that from your side. Thanks. -mike

Man. Looking at that old Terra cotta tile blows my mind. Thst had to have been laid by hand! Can you even imagine the effort needed to lay an ENTIRE FARM FIELD with that!? It’s mind blowing.

I started tiling a few years ago on the side. Locating old tile is the most aggravating and time consuming thing there is. You did it the easiest way in my opinion by just following it. Had a job go sideways this fall pretty bad and lost on it pretty good. It’ll definitely make you rethink all your life choices lol

I'll say you are a very very good backhoe operator. Pretty impressive

I call it living life. A failure is and always has been an opportunity to learn and gain wisdom we didn't have before. Keep smiling and enjoy the ride we call life. Love the channel brotha!!!!!!!!!

I'm 67 and I have learned far more from my many mistakes than my successes! You fixed it so there is nothing more to do but move on. I enjoy your videos!

The only person who doesn’t make errors never learns or accomplishes anything. I learned more by making mistakes than I ever did by not making any.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Hindsight is always 20/20. Clearly you have the knowledge, skill set and ability to tackle these problems and projects. I think its all very well done, including the fix and in all honesty I am rather envious.

Having lived construction for my entire life, I learned along the way that I didn't want people working with me that didn't make mistakes. (Because they are not doing anything.) I wanted people who knew how to fix mistakes. Everyday you go to work you are going to make a mistake (or two or three). Don't hide or bury the mistake. Just fix it and hopefully learn from it. The best workers are the workers who know how to fix mistakes!! Neil, you are damn good!

Amazing fix! Neal. You just made a great video with real content that can help thousands of people. The only mistake you made was haste and oversight. Happens to the best of us. Remember mistakes are never made if you never venture out to achieve, and now you have future content for amazing videos. See you on the next one Neighbor!

Thanks for this video. You are a great mentor to us all. We all make mistakes. It’s how we address them. Being realistic, staying positive, fixing the problem and moving on shows wisdom and maturity.

Neil, I have some of that straw matting I pulled up almost 10 years ago, set it in the woods and it still has not decomposed. That is why I pull it up after the grass has germinated to either reuse or dispose of it. As you found out, it is terrible to dig through. Great fix on the drainage and great video!

I like your honesty it takes character to admit your mistakes. This transparency is what makes me want to click on your videos well done keep that up and I will keep watching!

Great job! From researching photos and figuring it all out, to getting it done and cleaning it all up.

Keep your head up, stuff like this happens to the best of us.

Hey, Cheer up! You've never been anywhere or done anything if you've never made a misteak, ya know. You're fixin it, that's the important thing! Besides, now you'll have all those areas to rake out come springtime. Thanks for sharing. Blessings 👍🏁🇺🇸

Neil: giving detailed explanation Cat: I concur with your plan hooman

I feel for you and your grass.we all have things we wish we had done different the first time.

Perfect timing on this video. Ran into a big problem on a project yesterday and spent most of last night bumming about it and trying to figure out what to do about it and feeling pretty dumb. Once this video is over I'm gonna get outside and try to do something about it.

I think you will see how many of us have been there before Neil, we are always learning and what you provide to us in the documentation of your various projects is another way to learn. Thank you and now stop kicking yourself.

I understand feeling stupid, but I always remind myself that feeling means you're learning and improving. You came out of this smarter, better equipped for the future, and you're teaching a lot of people. I guess that's easier to say sitting at a computer than it is when you're spending days of hard work actually doing it. As a side note, make sure to not abuse your joints. My parent's generation are starting to get titanium knees and foot problems, and it really limits their range of motion. They are still hard workers, and it's difficult hearing them explain how they feel less adequate because they can't do things they used to.

Wish u much success in stopping the issue. Awesome pond.

Hey Neil, we have all made those mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up over it. That’s how we learn, as I’m sure you tell your kids every day. 😊 The important thing for them to see is you worked through the problem to success. A much more valuable lesson in the long run.

I think you've done a fantastic job with your pond, Neil. You made me laugh when you said, "It's a bugger, isn't it?" We say that all the time in England 😆. Best wishes from the other side of the 'pond' 😊 🇬🇧.

Neil, thank you for the video. I had a bathroom remodeled. It was almost totally gutted. I live in a 75 year old house with no insulation in walls. While the bathroom was gutted, I didn't even think think about insulation because that sheetrock wall was still good. Realized it a year later.

Pro tip: They make a netless seed blanket /straw mat called Futerra F4. It works great and doesn't have the nasty netting. I think it works better than the normal straw mat.

I can relate so much to this 😂 Great video, Neil. You handled a frustrating situation well. It'd be nice if we had x-ray vision for these situations!

Not a screw up at all. A true teaching moment. I found it fascinating that you could go back on historical satellite imagery and actually see the locations of the tiles. My initial solution was to 45 the lateral back into the field and avoid the grass but the turn in the pipe and the dead end section would have made that plan not work.

I helped my brother build his pond. When we put the overflow in which was a 2'x2' concrete box. When we were back filling it , the concrete truck was there also ready to pour, the excavator operator tossed a scoop of gravely soil in 😮. Long story short this past summer we dug it back out to put clay in that area because it was leaking, so don't feel bad lol.

Your pain is our pain. You're doing an amazing job explaining everything.

Many years ago, my father had a pond dug at our house. He was very proud of this Pond and it actually held water for the first couple of years. Then the farmer added field tile, and eventually, dad's Pond never held water again. I should say it never held over 3 ft of water again

Not downplaying the screw up because i know that costs time AND money, but man.. look at what you've built! It's truly so impressive and super inspiring. I feel like i've learned a lot just by watching your videos. Thank you for sharing!

Live and learn! Pond still looks great

i had no idea that farm fields had these drains. This video has so much information in it. All to benefit of the future diggin drivin DIYers. Kind of makes me want to put more French Drains in my backyard.

Neil you saved someone in the future a mishap from your pond build . But more importantly that you are human just like everyone else. I really enjoy watching your videos and from my family to yours Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year .

Thanks for taking us along on your journey of exploring the history of the tile on your property. Those historic land views were awesome to see where the tiles are throughout the fields and across your land. We have a lot of that in our front field - we’ve always called it tile and I believe it is the real clay tile. It’s awesome that you have not only the equipment, but also the knowledge and history of the land, along with your personal skill set to be able to do this work yourself. Can you imagine paying someone else to have to locate that drainage and do that work that you completed just in this video? It would have been a pretty penny for sure. Great work!

Every single day of my life everything I try to accomplish I screw up so be thankful that you have accomplished things because every time I try to accomplish it it blows up in

All good man! I’m amazed with your abilities to do the upgrades you have! Lesson learned

Back when you were planning the pond build you had lots of decisions to make. This was one that was miscalculated at the time but you had limited knowledge. Currently Another decision was made before it became a giant problem. You have skills to know this and skills to correct it. That’s something to be grateful for.

Neil, making mistakes keeps us humble, and being humble goes a long way towards making you great! You have made it right, and earned our respect. Keep doing what you are doing, we thoroughly enjoy your work. Keep these videos coming,

Hey Neil, I really appreciate this video. This type of video is what makes channels like yours and others like watch Wes work relatable to me. I know what I know, from the mistakes I have made. Some major, some minor. When your trying to get work done on big jobs, often your flirting with analysis paralysis. Right or wrong, sometimes you just need to make a decision and get to work. And even if you know better, sometimes things like this will happen to remind you of what you had already probably known all along. We learn from mistakes even if we repeat them in the future. By making mistakes today, we are better for it tomorrow.

I’ve had this happen on so many projects. I always end up wishing I would have thought of this or that, or done more planning, or had a crystal ball…. What you had wasn’t too big of a deal, and should be resolved. At least you have the equipment and experience to deal with it.

That’s one thing I think we all need to realize, we’re going to screw up. Honorable that you brought us along to learn with you. I know how much it must have hurt to cut into your perfect new lawn. No idea there are fields with a web of drain tile like that. Take care.

I love this channel because you and your family reminds me of my father and grandfather who grew up on Farms in North Dakota and West Central Ohio. There is a willingness to always do the work yourself and there are always plenty of friends and family members willing to help. The best lessons come from trying something and failing, because you didn't actually fail you learned how not to do it!

Nice work! Glad you got to the bottom of this situation, and thanks for sharing the process!

I foolishly thought I was working ahead so I dug my trench for 4-inch water line mid-July. Pipe ended up on back order until October. And it was a rainy year. Not only did the trench collapse but I buried the excavator in sideways because the ground had become so unstable.

Hey, Neil, thank you very much, for your show...for a guy living in Brooklyn, New York, I am very much encouraged to consider your lifestyle ,even more when you show your learning experiences....I am truly grateful....oh, give the cats more credit, they are always there with you!!!😂😂😂

Heck man we all make mistakes like that as we work on projects. I’m probably just as hard on myself as you are but heck man you fixed it with your own hands and after a little grass sees things will look good again. Don’t beat yourself up. At the end of the day it made for some great content. 👍🏼

This is how we usually learn what not to do or conversly what to do. It's almost always a shortcut to let MURPHY onto the job if one puts off something or does not verify our assumptions first. Bottom line feel satisfied you have paid in full so this misstep will never be repeated and it was not worse. Wishing you and your family a very merry christmas and a happy new year. Ray Stormont

Thanks for the video. Appreciate you sharing your experiences!

Screw ups happen to us all! At least you followed through and fixed it. Great job and a good example to motivate those of us that have not yet fixed our own issue!

There isn’t enough room to list my dumb mistakes. Love the channel !! I look forward to watching each Sunday. Regardless of mistakes you still have a kick ass pond that will create an abundant supply of memories. If you ever want to dig another one in Seymour Indiana we’re ready.

this makes me like this channel even more. For a couple reasons. We have all done things like this in the diy arena. You own it, learn from it and move on. But more importantly, you didnt have to show us this. No one would be the wiser. The value of your videos are that we see it as common. As all being humans. So much fakeness in social media today its nice to see someone post "mistakes" as well. Thank you!

You made a mistake and then you fixed it. Sounds like life. Thanks for sharing.

Great video! Thanks for showing real situations and dealing with issues

Great content as usual. Love listening to you tell the story.... your attention to detail is awesome and you still have the best property in the USA. The McGyver of RU-vid you are the best! Thanks for sharing sir.

The amount of work you put into the pond project is very impressive.

I just found your channel! I am a Romanian living in USA and just about to retire in Thailand on wife's property. Your pond idea is what I was looking for long time and imagined the way you did it, except the concrete path around pond, still struggle to find a better option as long as Thailand is hot, very hot and extra hot 😁, and imagine the sun heating the concrete... I want as well the outer ring to be taller then rest of land and don't allow the rain water and debris pouring in the pond, but still in research of what I could use and diminish the heat during dry season when is scorching hot. It's rainy for a few months but mostly dry and and in dry season the soil dry like a rock and cracked and most ponds lose the water or just become bone dry. I will dig the well and hopping to be a continuous resource of water even in dry season (plenty mountains around and hopping for strong underground water stream). Then if the well will provide enough water will continuous refill the pond in dry time and from pond I was thinking to use those french drain or as you call them underground drainage. I never knew this thing exists in farms, as far as I know is not in Europe, they use irrigation system from water channels. I was explained to wife that I want to install those perforated hoses between tree lines directly from pond, she challenge me and I can't prove if works or not, but now seeing your problems (awkward right - you want them far away from your pond, but I want my pond feeding the water under trees with minerals and waste from fish that will grow in pond) I believe it might work 😃. Great project, congratulations🙏

Great video Neil. You sussed out the problem and solved it. What I also like is your knowledge of soils. Clearly you’ve taken a soil science class or three somewhere along your way. Cheers mate.

You're very talented and making such a mistake is something people who actually do things, do. Be proud. You built a beautiful pond.

Thanks Neil.. and hey, think about all the good things you've done for your family, your community, and how much you've improved your family's property. You have done much with the talent and resources you've been blessed with. As you well know, we learn from these situations and grow. Very best for you and the family in 2024 and beyond. Frank in Colorado

Always an education when watching your channel! Thx for sharing

Thanks for sharing this update! This was the best one so far in the series! I always say “patience and persistence” are the keys to problem solving and you showed plenty of that. I also realized why I’ve enjoyed this series so much.. the relentless positivity you show as you work through challenges 👏 Congratulations on completing another mission! 🙂

Another great video....my brother and i say, we alwYs do lots of things twice, but we always try and do them right. AlwUs learn a lot from you...inspired!

Thanks for sharing. So good to know that it's not just me in these situations.

Merry Christmas Koch family 🤶 the important thing is you caught this now and not in the warm months when enjoying your Beautiful pond. Good job as always on finding a solution and acting to resolve the problem. Hello from Iowa 👋🇱🇷

Great job. Great video. Made me smile every time you said running out of daylight. Something I'm always thinking about on a job site. Hope it all works out. Once you have a season or two of a full pond, you will see how much water loss you have from water migration through the soil and evaporation. If the preferred pond water elevation is higher than when it settles out at, you could add a pond liner or an additional layer of bentonite clay.

The whole time watching this, all I could think was, this looks EXACTLY how I would have done it! One small, simple mistake, that compounds into a huge mess. "Anything worth doing, is worth doing twice" should be my motto. As they say, misery love company. Thanks for sharing your pain, I could feel every scoop, and you are not alone.

Takes a big man to admit a mistake... Takes a bigger man to document, AND publish for the world to see! Kudos to you my friend and this may prevent the next guy from making the same mistake! Merry Christmas guys!

Much Thanks Neil. Quite the undertaking to fix the Problem. Mike M.