CGCINC Project#3: 1000lb. water fountain Many, Many pics

My wife and I wanted a water fountain for our patio. We searched the internet and found one we like......

This one was $1200 plus shipping!!
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...ter_CIB270.jpg


So, I made the mistake of saying "I could build that for half that price!"
Needless to say, my wife jumped all over that, lol..

So here is my build:

I used Twelve 80lb. bags of concrete.
Twelve bottles of Charcoal tint.
18 bottles of cement fortifier.
Two sheets of 3/4" plywood for the mold.
A little chicken wire to reinforce the concrete.
I also used some other misc. stuff I had laying around as well as Buying some Faux rock wall board.
I bought a small pond pump to create the flow and I also installed three 20 watt underwater lights.

It all started by building the forms to pour the concrete into. Once I finished building them, I gave it three coats of gloss urethane to help with releasing from the concrete. After that dried, I sanded with 600 grit sandpaper all the way up to 2000 grit and then coated with a pure Carnuba wax to aid in release.
Next came mixing and pouring the concrete into the forms.
Then the tear down and the wait for it to cure. Once it had 60 days of cure time, I painted the inside walls with a concrete epoxy that is water tight and made for concrete ponds. At this time I installed the Faux rock wall and the Fiberglass weir/waterfall towards the top of the rock wall.
It was made in two pieces...Top and Bottom. It was a huge job moving it from my shop to my house but with a lot of help, we got it in it's place! A little wiring and installing the pump and it was working.
It is now a permanent fixture at this house and when we sell, it stays!


http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...blackstain.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...ricandhose.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...ust/img118.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...bust/forms.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...ackofupper.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...rbust/Back.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...bust/Front.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...IMAG0449-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...t/IMAG0452.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...IMAG0459-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...t/IMG_0305.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...t/IMG_0304.jpg

Fiberglass waterfall test fit....
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...t/IMG_0307.jpg

This is the only picture I have of it on the patio. I had a total of about $650 in this after it was done
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...t/IMG_1795.jpg

Very nice fountain, at that weight I guess you won't have to worry about theft and leaving itl outside at night, I really like your wood work on the forms, shows me you know what you are doing when it comes to working with wood and making forms, another thing I like is the metal wall finish in your shop, great way to have inside shop walls. all in all a nice and interesting project, thanks for showing it.,

The stone color and the look is great (last picture). It came out really nice.

What did you move it with? Geezer is right, it's safe outside in the yard, until kids put soap in it.

Are you gonna wait a little while before you surf the internet with the wife again?? :D Just kidding, it is very nice.

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Originally Posted by everlastsupport

The stone color and the look is great (last picture). It came out really nice.

What did you move it with? Geezer is right, it's safe outside in the yard, until kids put soap in it.

Are you gonna wait a little while before you surf the internet with the wife again?? :D Just kidding, it is very nice.

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I used a cherry picker to get it in and out of the truck. The top section wasn't too bad, me and a friend loaded it up, it was heavy but doable.
That PVC pipe is were all the wires and hoses are ran for the lights and pump. We have two small Koi in it and one Bug eyed Goldfish.

I have learned to watch what I say around the wife!! I get put to work, lol :)
That last pic is ok but it looks better in person.

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Originally Posted by CGCINC

I used a cherry picker to get it in and out of the truck. The top section wasn't too bad, me and a friend loaded it up, it was heavy but doable.
That PVC pipe is were all the wires and hoses are ran for the lights and pump. We have two small Koi in it and one Bug eyed Goldfish.

I have learned to watch what I say around the wife!! I get put to work, lol :)
That last pic is ok but it looks better in person.

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It came out good. Hope it is inside a screen and no raccoons in the area. They like koi and big goldfish. Ours has been emptied a couple times.

The wife started on me this morning, since I took the day off. fix tile, remove a fan, tear down a section of fence, etc.. I can relate.

Well, my wife took some photo's of the patio I didn't know about so here is a better look at it finished!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...C/IMG_1846.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...C/IMG_1903.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...IMG_1849-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...C/IMG_1896.jpg

That is really cool.
Did you dye the concrete to get the color to match the faux stone?

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Originally Posted by Spike

That is really cool.
Did you dye the concrete to get the color to match the faux stone?

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Yeah, I used the Charcoal dye and poured a sample and let it dry to make sure of the color.

That looks really nice.. I really like the stone touch in the top section. One thing I think I liked about the origional is the way the water is pouring out rather running down the back but thats a minor detail :)

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Originally Posted by Jason

That looks really nice.. I really like the stone touch in the top section. One thing I think I liked about the origional is the way the water is pouring out rather running down the back but thats a minor detail :)

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I actually like that better too, But, I originally had it like that and it was too loud, sounded like running water in a bathtub. Now it has a trickle sound. Much better for where its located.

That Looks great. Say I was wondering since you have the forms all made up, could you whip one of those up for me real quick. I can pick it up Saturday. Just kidding man, I know that was a-lot of work. Some times it's good to do a project like that every once in a while, it makes you appreciate the work that goes into things we just take for granted.

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Originally Posted by Powertig

Some times it's good to do a project like that every once in a while, it makes you appreciate the work that goes into things we just take for granted.

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For sure! Next time I will just pay the extra money... This was a Huge job!

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Originally Posted by CGCINC

For sure! Next time I will just pay the extra money... This was a Huge job!

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I'm working my way through all of the threads in the forums so please excuse my comments on an old thread. I am NOT going to show any of these pictures to my wife .... :P Man, that looks great.

It looks like you put in a lot of prep work to ensure the release went without a hitch. Two questions, did you ever feel any of that prep work was overkill and how did the actual release go?

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Originally Posted by undercut

I'm working my way through all of the threads in the forums so please excuse my comments on an old thread. I am NOT going to show any of these pictures to my wife .... :P Man, that looks great.

It looks like you put in a lot of prep work to ensure the release went without a hitch. Two questions, did you ever feel any of that prep work was overkill and how did the actual release go?

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Not overkill, but Loads of time consuming work! The only problem I had with getting the mold to release was in the basin area, I made the inside walls completely vertical but they really needed a slight angle so it would be wider at the top. I had to basically bust the wood out of it.

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Originally Posted by CGCINC

Not overkill, but Loads of time consuming work! The only problem I had with getting the mold to release was in the basin area, I made the inside walls completely vertical but they really needed a slight angle so it would be wider at the top. I had to basically bust the wood out of it.

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I could see that... Around here the way they have the concrete release the forms is they spray them down with oil. It keeps the pores in the wood from absorbing the concrete. It does not seem to affect the finish any. BTW really nice job. I can tell you have put a lot of work in it. Anyone who is going to sand down and radius concrete forms.... Did you save the forms????

have a friend that dose that he use Styrofoam forms he uses gun night sprayer so don't weigh much sorta cool he dose around pool rocks and stuff

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Originally Posted by Rodsmachineshop

have a friend that dose that he use Styrofoam forms he uses gun night sprayer so don't weigh much sorta cool he dose around pool rocks and stuff

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Well that is a lot lighter. Have you seen the house foundations??? The use big blocks of Styrofoam and build walls like Legos. Once the foundation is poured you stack all these forms that interlock with one another. Then you pour the concrete into the form and leave it. The Styrofoam is left behind and it adds insulation to the basement walls.

If you are into making a project I guess you could carve up the Styrofoam and make shapes.

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Originally Posted by Brian Ski

Well that is a lot lighter. Have you seen the house foundations??? The use big blocks of Styrofoam and build walls like Legos. Once the foundation is poured you stack all these forms that interlock with one another. Then you pour the concrete into the form and leave it. The Styrofoam is left behind and it adds insulation to the basement walls.

If you are into making a project I guess you could carve up the Styrofoam and make shapes.

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That's pretty cool. Is that a code thing or is it something that was adopted because it was easier / faster / cheaper?

For custom applications, cutting styrofoam in long clean lines might be a bit tough, no?

Looks awesome; now you just need to add some waterproof color changing led lights in the bottom that will shine on the back wall.

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Originally Posted by undercut

That's pretty cool. Is that a code thing or is it something that was adopted because it was easier / faster / cheaper?

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Don't know if it is any cheaper, but it is fast, easy and adds insulation that otherwise wouldn't be there.

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For custom applications, cutting styrofoam in long clean lines might be a bit tough, no?

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You can always build yourself a hot-wire cutter and do some rather cool stuff with it. http://www.dansworkshop.com/2008/03/...-foam-cutting/

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Originally Posted by redbeard

Don't know if it is any cheaper, but it is fast, easy and adds insulation that otherwise wouldn't be there.



You can always build yourself a hot-wire cutter and do some rather cool stuff with it. http://www.dansworkshop.com/2008/03/...-foam-cutting/

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... and put the hot wire in a 3 axis machine and control it with some CNC-like software. That would be wild. Paint / cover the styrofoam to make objects or use the foam to make molds ....

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Originally Posted by X83

Looks awesome; now you just need to add some waterproof color changing led lights in the bottom that will shine on the back wall.

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They are in there! ;)

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Originally Posted by undercut

That's pretty cool. Is that a code thing or is it something that was adopted because it was easier / faster / cheaper?

For custom applications, cutting styrofoam in long clean lines might be a bit tough, no?

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Not sure about cheaper but easier and faster with a good insulation value.
Here are a couple links...

http://www.universalconstructionfoam...ion-system.php

http://reddiform.com/

http://www.smartblock.com/

The are not code required, but they are code compliant.

Like mentioned below the hot wire cutter will cut styro pretty neat and fast.

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Originally Posted by CGCINC

They are in there! ;)

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Golly! You thought of everything .....

Oh, Brian - regarding your question about whether CGCINC kept the molds - Correct me if I am wrong, CGCINC, but I think he had to break at least some of the mold to get the concrete out.

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Originally Posted by undercut

Oh, Brian - regarding your question about whether CGCINC kept the molds - Correct me if I am wrong, CGCINC, but I think he had to break at least some of the mold to get the concrete out.

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Yea at least one part... But all that hard work doing just a nice job on them. I hate to see them sit in the trash. He might make a couple more just to pay off his project.

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Originally Posted by Brian Ski

He might make a couple more just to pay off his project.

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Uhhhh, No! That was so much work I wanted to get rid of everything before one of our friends twisted my arm!

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Originally Posted by CGCINC

Uhhhh, No! That's was so much work I wanted to get rid of everything before one of our friends twisted my arm!

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Like I said, he really did think of everything .... Touché :D

Tried to get a good night shot of it with the lights.
With the water running down it makes the light flicker. The video didn't turn out.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...MISC/night.jpg