How I Design and Create Your New Patio Paradise Fountain
Design Consultations
When I visit your location to design a new fountain, I bring my portfolio that contains the photos from this web site and more. Before we sit down and review the photos, I like to see the location or locations were you might want a fountain. That way, I can begin getting ideas and know what to concentrate on when we look at the photos. If you have already watched my videos and visited my website then you most likely have a head start; I might refer to specific photos found here to convey what I see for your location.
Now the fun part begins. I have a vision of how I could maximize the area with my Patio Paradise concept. It is my job to convey that vision to you. Along the way, I listen carefully to your input. Perhaps you like more sound, more plants, or less. Maybe you will really enjoy the fountain at night and want a built-in twelve volt lighting system integrated in your water feature’s design. Then again, you might have certain size planters for your special plant collection, like orchids, bonsai, etc. I will make templates so that your plants or any type of accent, a Buddha, The Virgin, etc., fit perfectly in your fountain. So the final design we arrive at is really a marriage of my ideas, the location, and your very own ideas. Once I have a pretty good idea what your fountain will look like in my mind’s eye, I will work up a very simple plot plan for your fountain, using small geometric cut outs, that approximate the basic shapes of the fountain “pieces” that will comprise your fountain. I will show you the plot plans of several fountains in my photos, so you can visualize best what your new fountain will look like upon completion and installation. All the pieces of the fountain are portable. I make them in my studio, and transport them to your location. They go on a dolly and through any doorways or gates necessary, and are put together, stacked, dug in the ground, or whatever the design calls for. Then we simply fill the fountain up with water from a hose and plug it in. That’s it! I have done all the hard work in my shop and the installation takes minutes, or an hour or so for the very large fountains.
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Creating your fountain- My construction techniques
Below is a description of my constructions techniques similar to what you see in the above video, with more detail
Patio Paradise Fountains are made from the finest lightweight concrete materials. The official name of my base material is “Styropor”: Styrofoam Aggregate Concrete. It consists of Portland cement, builders sand, perlite, Styrofoam beads, fiberglass shreds, and several chemicals that make those ingredients do the right things. It gets quite technical: air entrainer, and a water reducer. I make a depression in my sand box, a shape that will be the bottom of your fountain piece. A diamond mesh wire lathe basket is made to fit in that depression. I pour, or place my Styrofoam concrete mix in the sand box, embedding the wire basket inside several inches of the mix. So, the bottoms of the pieces are very strong as they come out of the sandbox. THEN…I create what I call “biscuit” like stones in the sand box, that I will use to create the inside framework of the fountain design. It is like how one makes ‘drop biscuits’ or cookies on a cookie sheet. Small stones are several inches in size, large ones up to 18 to 24 inches in size. They are roughly rectangular in shape. They are flat on one side because I pat them out by hand, wearing gloves, but the side from the sandbox has a very nice undulating bumpy shape, from the sand; that gives your fountain a very natural appearance on all sides. I ‘lay’ these stones ‘up’, as masons say, a few at a time over several days to several weeks, using a high grade mortar (fortified with acrylic bonding agent), till I have ‘reached the top’ then work back down, carefully directing the flow of the water in interesting falls, rivulets, and even small separate pools with bubbling springs. The PVC plumbing is contained in the framework of the fountain and is not visible. The pump, likewise, is hidden from view in a variety of ways, depending on the design: under a planter, a stone, or a custom rock that lifts off to reveal the pump, for cleaning or replacement. Most of the engineering in my fountains is hiding the pump from view and making it easily accessible. Once the fountain is finished in “gray” then I fine tune the sound and flow for the most pleasing effect. A layer of two inch fiberglass cloth is embedded in a layer of mortar over all the edges so that no cracks will appear between the laid up stones that form the fountain framework. Finally , my hallmark Coquina veneer is applied. This is a very labor intensive step. The pool finish material with the color from concrete dyes incorporated or plain white is applied by a spray tool, then, quickly, the shell finish is hand thrown, to reach all areas and give a completely finished appearance to the final work. There are a few final steps to clean and cure the fountain. Each fountain is made over a week to two week period. When your fountain is completed, I call you and set an appointment for installation. All the pieces come apart and are loaded into my van and/or trailer for delivery to your location. In an hour or so, all the pieces are assembled at your location. We are now ready to fill the fountain with water and plug it in. It is always wise to follow electrical codes and plug the pump into a GFCI protected outlet (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). Your new water feature will give you many years of enjoyment.
Call 813-263-2989