Making of a Fountain

We wanted a fountain off our patio.

Just imagine hearing the soft trickle of water to soothe the soul. Ahhhhhhhhh!

But how can we make it without spending much money? Here we go with trial and error...

Above is the final look that we currently have, but we didn't start there so forget that you just saw this picture to get an idea of how we did this.

First, we dug a hole deep and big enough to bury a large plastic tote used for storage.

Here I was cleaning out the tote like I have to do every spring.

Then I purchased three bar-b-q grill replacement grates at the local discount store. I used these grates to cover the top of the plastic tote.

I put a fountain pump in the bottom of the tote before I covered it with the grates.

I topped the grates with small decorative rock. This hid the grate and the grate kept the rocks from falling through. Be sure that your rocks are big enough that they won't fall through the grate.

I then put a Shepard hook at the back middle of the area and ran the water tube up the hook and into an old watering can that hung from the hook.

It was like a science experiment trying to get the water to flow from the spout of the watering can instead of overflowing out of the top of the can. We had to drill some bit bigger holes in the spout to compensate for the water flow rate.

This worked for a few months but notice the water splashing on the cement patio above? What would happen is, the wind would blow the water flowing out of the can and it would overshoot the holding tank under the rocks and make the water go dry. This is not a good design because that will ruin a pump and they are not cheap. Ours was about $40.  So I knew that I had to come up with a different design.

I surfed the internet (eBay) and found a guy selling fiberglas made rocks for fountains. I purchased a rock-looking shell with a hole in the top for only $17. I took it to the hardware store and in the plumbing department, I found PVC fittings that would work in the hole of the 'rock' and then be able to attach the hose that would feed the water from the pump. I hope that I am not confusing you too much here.

Anyway, our fountain became a nice sweet sounding bubbler fountain. I pour Clorox over the rock periodically when green mossy stuff begins to grow and that takes care of it. I have to fill the water tote periodically due to natural evaporation. And I only have to clean it out every spring since I take the pump out and store it for our winter months.

This is a sweet soft sounding water fall...

I've got to tell you it is so fun to watch the birds land on the 'rock' and take a bath in the fountain instead of using the bird bath close by.

I put landscaping lights pointing at the fountain so we can enjoy it at night, inside or out.

Here's a little friend that found a home in the rock wall by the patio!

NOTE: You should be able to click on most of the pictures to enlarge to see further details.

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