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Garden Accoutrements
joycevallee

My Unusual Fountain

22 years ago

This is a picture of a fountain that I made last year using a type of mortar cement. I haven't put in any of the mechanics yet as I wanted to see how it would fare during our cold winter. It made it just wonderful, no cracks at all.

You will never guess how I built this up. This requires a bit of patience. It is about 3' tall.

Part 1

_____________________________________________________________

1) The base is and over-turned food tray with a pie plate on top. Both have a hole drilled in the center for the hose.

2) Placed and inverted old Tupperware lettuce container on top of that with a hole drilled in the center. Secured to pie plate with tape.

3) I made a cone out of strong cardboard and placed on top of the pie plate and taped into place using masking tape. You could use any plastic cylinder or pipe depending on what you want or even a cardboard cement form for pouring footings.

3) Placed a plastic flower pot on top of cone with a hole drilled in the bottom.

4) Place a rubber ball (hollow) but DO NOT drill a hole yet.

DO NOT secure the ball as you will want to get rid of this later because it collapses as soon as you cut a hole in the top. If I were to do this again I would use a hard plastic like a Halloween pumkin so it could be left in place. (Oh well, we learn by trial and error)


You can build up anything like this as long as you leave a hole down the center for the hose. It's fun to experiment with the different shapes.

Part 2

___________________________________________________________

Mix the mortar mix according to manufacturer's instructions.

I made enough to fill a large ice cream bucket each time. That gave me plenty of working time and not much waste if there was any. It was very smooth and nice to work with. Use latex gloves if this type of thing bothers you. Mix to a smooth consitency that does not drip. This particular brand had to sit for 15 minutes before using. I can't remember the name I'll have to find it.

Using your hands start smoothing the mixture over the entire fountain. Use the whole bucket and let dry over-night. Don't forget to leave a spot at the top of the ball for the hose to come out. Tape a piece of toilet paper role or something there. I did not do this and the opening is rough and jagged so I'll have to touch it up. :-(

Do this untill it is built up to about 1/2 to 3/4".

I did another coat in smaller batches and stuck on the half marble type glasses. I then did a final coat for grouting between the marbles. MAKE SURE YOU WIPE THE MARBLES CLEAN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AS THIS STUFF DRIES TO INCREDIBLE STRENGTH AND YOU WILL HAVE TO CHIP IT OFF IF YOU DON'T. HAVE LOTS OF RAGS READY AND KEEP THEM WET.

This mortar was dark grey but you can paint it any colour. I just used acrylic paint and wiped the marbles off right away just as you would with tiles.

It took about a week from start to finish. You have good working time with the mortar, an hour or more and it dries very hard and strong. This thing fell off my work table and didn't even crack, considering the fact that it was hollow, that is amazing.

It weighs about 45-50 lbs.

The cement is expensive ($17.00+) approx but it is extra fortified so no need to buy that separate and I used about half the bag. I think I used about 12 bags of marbles @ a $1.00 per bag. All the rest of the stuff was old junk from around the house

My friend told me that it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen but somehow I have grown to like it. I think it will be nice with a vine entwining it.

{{gwi:700}}



Comments (15)

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    That is really cool. I really am impressed with the items you used to 'design' the shapes. I am even more impressed with your patience to put it all together. You have a real artists eye. I am so glad you shared the instucts and picture.

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Hi, Joyce,
    WOW! How wonderful! One of the coolest
    fountains I've ever seen. Very creative use of containers and a cleverly original design.

    Thanks for sharing with us all. Could you please let us know the name of the mortar/cement mix that you used?

    Eva

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  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Joyce,

    Did you mortar the concrete ball in the flower pot after you pulled out the collapsed rubber ball?

    Love this!

    Eva

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Unusual & awesome! One of the prettiest I have ever seen. Great job! Betty

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    The name of the mortar mix I used is

    ULTRA/FLEX 1
    Polymer modified one step mortar
    by MAPEI

    I mortared everything at once even the ball in the center. I left a hole at the top of the ball where I didn't put and mortar mix. The material the ball is made out of is very flexible and when I punctured the ball after the mortar set and pulled it out. It takes a little wiggling but it can be done. As I said earlier, I would not do it the same way next time. I would choose something out of hard plastic and leave it there.

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    When I rig this up in the next few weeks and have water flowing through it I will post a picture.

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Thanks, Joyce, and we'll look forward to seeing your lovely fountain with the water flowing.

    Eva

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Ugly? NO way.. I think it is beautiful. And such an artistic eye..very imaginative.

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Joyce, a few more questions if you don't mind:

    * Did you use ULTRA/FLEX 1 for all three coats?
    * Did you add the acrylic paint to the mortar mix for the grout coat? Or did you paint on the acrylic after all coats of mortar were done?
    * Would you mind sharing the color of acrylic paint you used? I'm so terrible with colors of paint, but I really like your color. Looks almost verdigris.


    Eva

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Yes, I used the Ulta Flex for the whole project.

    No, I didn't mix the paint with the mortar but only because I didn't think
    of it. That might be a good idea. The mortar is quite dark though.

    Now for the colour. This was the most frustrating of all because I couldn't make up my mind. The half-marbles were light blue, mauve and light green so that had some influence.

    At first I painted it white but then the dark grey of the mortar showed up (through the marbles) in too much contrast to the white and it didn't look right. Then I decided to go green but that didn't look good either. Then I got all drastic and painted it totally black. It ended up looking like it had survived a fire. I finally decided on a slate blue with just a touch of mauve added to it and voila. It really was a lot of trial and error. So I guess I would say that the final colour was a slate blue/mauve mix. After it was finished and I was totally sick and tired of it, I also thought a nice pearl finish would have looked nice, but that will have to be for something else.

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Hey, Joyce: Be proud of your terrific fountain. Reduce, reuse & recycle. Can't wait to see & read how it goes when plumbed!

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I'm fascinated with this fountain and how it was made. I'd like to give it a try and finish the top with a purchased glass ball, the kind for fountains that has a hole drilled top and bottom. The water would flow up the colored glass ball in the same way it's supposed to do with this fountain. At our store we have these hand-blown glass balls, and I think it would finish off the rugged concrete nicely. If you're making your own ball, I would use rubber tubing or a copper pipe to keep the ball open from top to bottom, so that the finished hole is the right size for your tubing that will carry the water up from the pump.

    But I'm curious about the reference to a hose being used. Are you thinking of hooking it up to the garden hose? The fountains I work with (table top and small garden fountains) all have a pump inside, and the tubing carries the water up through the spitter, or in this case the hole at the top, and gets recycled from a catching bowl (like the area below your ball) and up through the inside again. I'm getting the feeling that this fountain's not designed for that kind of function...?

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Joyce, where did you get your Ultra/Flex mortar?

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    With friends like that, who needs enemies? It's cool. Jeanette

  • 22 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    That's quite a feat of engineering! I love it. Janie

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