Sealing Natural Stone

[MLMLLC]

Has anyone had experience using large boulders or large shale rocks in a water feature? We are looking at a job now where the customer wants to basically turn a natural shale/rock wall into a water feature.

A few items of concern:
Will the constant water cause the shale to flake?
Can an epoxy sealer prevent this?
Is there a commercial cleaner available for cleaning the stone initially?
Can the rock be bored run hoses/wires?

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.

[n2h20]

I dont know but am interested in what others have to say.
There is a spray on liner that may work with your situation

[sheshovel]

Yes rock can be bored or drilled with an impact drill and a big bit,just don't drill in the cracks and seams in the rock and start with a smaller bit and work up to a larger one.
You won't be able to seal the rock from water.It will leak and you will loose water.But you can put down a pond liner
on sand and stack the rocks on top,I wouldent recommend shale though as it will probably sluff of and clog up the pump.It is a soft rock.You could take a few pic's and post them and that would help show what you have going on.Then mabey help you figure it out.

[cgland]

boring shale almost always ends in disaster Try to avoid it.

Chris

[MLMLLC]

The boring is not that big of a deal, we can re-route the pipes and wires. My main concern is the shale.