Introduction: Back Yard Fountain
A local store had these cool ceramic pots on sale, so Ii decided to make a fountain. finished fountain. If I were to redo this project, I would have picked a slightly larger pot to prevent splashout. my solution for this one was to place ferns in pots around the fountain - they love the constant tiny splashes.
Step 1: Sealing the Bottom Pot
I used two saucers to seal the bottom pot so water would not escape from the drain holes. I used this saucer for the bottom.
Step 2: Sealing (cont.)
add a good amount of silicone I sealant
Step 3: Sealing (cont.)
place the bottom pot in the saucer and fill the drain holes of the pot with sealant
Step 4: Sealing (cont.)
put the smaller saucer on the inside of the bottom pot to make a good seal. this keeps the water from draining out of the bottom pot through the drain holes
Step 5: Drilling the Holes for Water Flow
these carbide hole saws that are made for cutting glass do a great job of cutting holes in ceramic pots.
Step 6: Drilling (cont.)
cut water movement holes in the support pot so the water can circulate back to the pump in the middle of the fountain
Step 7: Drilling (cont.)
cut the holes in all of the top pieces for the plumbing using the same size hole saw for all of them
Step 8: Assembly
secure the support pot into the base pot using short pieces of pvc pipe.
Step 9: Assembly (cont.)
fit the plumbing to the pump
Step 10: Assembly (cont.)
start assembling from the bottom up. run the plug for the pump through one of the circulation holes cut into the support pot.
Step 11: Assembly (cont.)
add a little bit of petroleum jelly to the pipe so the silicone sealant doesn't stick to the pipe, but makes a decent seal
Step 12: Assembly (cont.)
add the first pot
Step 13: Assembly (cont.)
apply sealant to the top so the next saucer will stay attached and the water will not flow back down the center beside the pipe
Step 14: Assembly (cont.)
put the saucer in place. when you need to disassemble the fountain for cleaning, the pot and saucer will come off as one piece
Step 15: Assembly (cont.)
add the control valve so you can regulate the amount of water that bubbles up at the top
Step 16: Assembly (cont.)
next pot just sits in the previous saucer - do not apply any sealant bc you want to be able to take them apart for maintenance.
apply petroleum jelly to pipe and sealant to pot just like the last time
once the sealant cures, this saucer and pot can be removed as one piece when needed for maintenance.
Step 17: Assembly (cont.)
add decorative cover for plumbing and fill 'er up.