PIERCE
LAND
CLEARING
Bandera County is the hardest ground we work for holding water. Glen Rose limestone, thin soil on top of it, and rock that is fractured rather than solid. A pond out here is a sealing job before it is a digging job, and anyone who quotes you without saying how they plan to seal it has not thought about it.
This is limestone country with a thin skin of soil over it. That is what makes Bandera beautiful and what makes a pond here an engineering problem. Water does not soak away evenly through rock. It finds one seam and goes.
Glen Rose limestone runs under most of Bandera County. It is layered, it is jointed, and those joints carry water. You can dig a basin that looks perfect, fill it, and watch it drop a foot a week through a seam you never saw.
The soil above it is often less than a foot deep, and it is rarely clay. There is usually not enough native material on site to line the pond with what is already there, which is the assumption most pond pricing quietly makes.
This is why a Hill Country pond quote that matches a Blackland Prairie pond quote should worry you. The dirt work is similar. The sealing is not, and sealing is where the money goes out here.
There are two honest ways to hold water on this ground. Haul clay in and build a compacted liner, or work bentonite into the basin so it swells and plugs the pores when it wets. Both cost real money and both work when they are done right.
Which one we recommend depends on what the site gives us. If there is a clay seam anywhere on the property we would rather use that than truck material from town, because haul distance is a large part of the bill out here.
What we will not do is dig a nice looking hole, take your money, and let you find out in August that it does not hold. If the site cannot be sealed for a sensible number we say so and you keep your money.
Published, not hidden behind a form. Prices and build times are based on 6 feet of depth at center with a 4:1 bank.
| Pond Size | Starting Price at 6 ft depth, 4:1 bank | Build Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 acre | from $12,300 | 2 to 3 days |
| 1/2 acre | from $19,200 | 3 to 4 days |
| 3/4 acre | from $23,300 | 4 to 5 days |
| 1 acre | from $27,000 | 5 to 6 days |
| 1 1/4 acre | from $30,400 | 6 to 7 days |
| 1 1/2 acre | from $33,800 | 7 to 8 days |
| 1 3/4 acre | from $36,800 | 8 to 9 days |
| 2 acre | from $39,500 | 9 to 10 days |
The published prices above are the dirt work. On Bandera County ground you should assume a sealing line on top of that, either hauled clay or bentonite, and we will not pretend otherwise to make the quote look better. What that line costs depends on how big the pond is and whether there is usable clay anywhere on the place. We tell you the number after we walk it, not before.
Size it, tell us what to do with the dirt, then draw the pond right on a photo of your land. Your estimate comes back by email, along with a preview of the finished water.
Real ponds, real day counts, photographed on site.
Dam graded on limestone ground, Lampasas
Dam work on a Burnet County build
Water that stays, once the basin is sealedFull process, statewide services, and the build standard: our Texas pond construction page.
Already have a pond that will not hold water? Start with why a pond will not hold water, see what a rehab involves and what one cost, and if the soil is the problem the bentonite calculator gives you the load count before anyone comes out.
Bandera County runs cattle, horses and hunting leases, and most of the calls are for water that has a job. A stock tank does not need to be pretty, it needs to hold through August and be reachable by stock without them caving the bank in. That changes the shape we build: gentler slope on the access side, steeper everywhere else to cut evaporation surface.
The cheapest pond on this ground is the one that catches runoff from a draw that is already carrying it. We would rather move the pond two hundred yards to sit under a natural catchment than dig where the house looks at it and then argue with the hydrology forever. On a place with real terrain, siting is worth more than size.
A shallow pond in the Hill Country is a summer puddle. Six feet at center is our pricing baseline for a reason: it is about the shallowest you can go and still have water in a dry September. If someone offers you a cheaper pond, check whether they are quoting you four feet, because that is usually where the saving is hiding.
Plenty of Bandera County already has ponds, and a lot of them do not hold any more. We chase leaks, we enlarge ponds that turned out too small, and we rebuild dams and spillways. What we do not do is dredging, cleanouts or silt removal, so if the problem is that it filled with dirt rather than that it lost water, we are the wrong call and we will say so.
Hill Country access is real. Narrow low water crossings, gates built for a pickup, and switchback caliche drives that a lowboy cannot turn on. We look at how the machine gets in before we talk about the pond, because a site we cannot reach is not a cheaper job, it is a job that does not happen.
Would recommend A++! Everyone throughout the entire process was a pleasure to work with. Job was done as scheduled and we are very pleased with the results! Our 5 acres never looked better!
Michael Lyons, Google review
They did a fantastic job clearing fence lines, opening up pastures and breaking trail in dense overgrowth. Taylor does a great job recommending the proper equipment for the job and being transparent.
Taylor Small, Google review
Just had a fence line for a 50 acre tract cleared. Some ravines, trees, trash trees. It is amazing! Will with his magic machine cleared that path and much more. Stumps, dead trees, things that the pioneers could have only dreamed of.
Jeannie Thurmond, Google review
We work Bandera County and the Hill Country counties around it. Pick whichever town is closest to your gate.
Because Glen Rose limestone is jointed, and joints carry water. The rock is not a solid bowl, it is layers with seams between them. Water finds the seam. That is why sealing is not an upsell out here, it is the job.
Yes, when the basin is prepared properly and the bentonite is worked in rather than sprinkled on top. It swells when it wets and plugs the pores. Where it fails is where someone spread it thin over an unprepared basin and hoped. We will tell you the application rate we are using and why.
The dirt work starts at $12,300 for a quarter acre and $27,000 for a full acre at six feet deep with a 4:1 bank. On this ground you should budget a sealing line on top of that. We give you both numbers separately so you can see what you are paying for. Minimum job is $8,000.
Yes, and it changes the shape. We cut a gentler slope on the access side so stock can water without collapsing the bank, and keep the rest steeper to reduce surface area and evaporation. Tell us at the quote whether it is for stock, wildlife or looks, because the three get built differently.
Usually. We chase leaks, rebuild dams and spillways, and enlarge ponds that came out too small. What we do not do is dredging or silt removal, so if it has filled with dirt rather than lost water we will point you elsewhere rather than sell you the wrong job.
Yes, and the counties around it. Pipe Creek, Lakehills, Medina, Vanderpool and Tarpley are all normal ground for us, along with Kerr, Kendall, Medina and Real counties next door.
Tell us roughly where the place is and whether there is any clay on it. That one answer changes the sealing plan, and the sealing plan is most of what a Hill Country pond costs.