 GREAT QUESTIONS BY GREAT STUDENTS!
What materials can be used to create my own fountain? Fiberglass, casting plastics, polyurethanes & many forms of polymer modified cement formulas. Cement based formulas are the easiest to work with & have the least limitations as how creative you can become. The large outdoor wall fountains or indoor that we build are usually 8’ wide by 6 to 8’ tall and come with a cabinet underneath for accessories such as fiber optic illuminators, pump and the transformer for low voltage lighting. The most simplistic indoor or outdoor wall fountains to do it yourself are built right on sight, simply use a stud finder to locate all studs in the desired wall in order to determine your layout for attaching side rails, bowl, & top hood cover. Attach with sufficient screws, then after your layout is decided, use a chalk line to snap two vertical lines in the center of the layout for the purpose of cutting & removing the sheetrock for the insertion of a 1” copper or pvc pipe that will have a 90% elbow & stub in the bowl area and the same at top to create the T for water flow. We use many methods for reinforcement prior to applying our proprietory cement formulations. There are many methods for unique textures by hand sculpting, but our best comes by using our Patent Pending Deep Textured Rollers. These replicate anything from small to large tree bark, cobble stone, wall stone, slate, weathered flagstone & many other textures for indoor water fountains or even theme park type settings with fake trees, and fake rocks.
How hard is it to make fake rocks for the side rails of my indoor fountains? Fairly easy, for beginners the easiest mix to use will be Rapid Set Mortar mix, available at Home Depot. This allows very deep pop outs or texture depths without getting into light weight and other specialty additive formulation recipes that we teach. We have many concrete formulations and options regarding vertical stamping. Once a side rail is reinforced properly with metal lathe or diamond wire the cement application may begin. When shaping your overall size of each rock, be sure to leave extra room where each artificial stone meets. This is important because if you apply additional coats such as a stamp or texture coat, you don’t want to have the fake rocks so close that the grout lines look unnatural.
Thinking about ripping that old ceramic tile out? Well don’t, you may have an easier option. In Arizona , the majority of decorative concrete resurfacing is done right over existing Ceramic Tile and any other Tile, at least by our company. Our method works and we offer Lifetime Warranties on all work SBC installs. For those that this sounds appealing to, first let’s determine if you’re tile is savable. You will need to do a soundness test throughout, a simple mop handle, or tow chain will work fine. Tap throughout for the purpose of exposing hollow spots or weak tiles. If the majority of the tile sounds weak, then this may not be an option. If none or only 20 -30% are weak, then these can be pried out and filled with Decorative Concrete material. After proper scuffing and prepping, your old tile can be transformed into any decorative concrete finish from, seamless marble, granite, travertine, slate, stone, or some may be content with a simple acid stained micro topping. |
As always with Something Better Company, you will find the most innovative ideas a tips for outdoor fountains, do it yourself wall fountains, garden fountains, as well as other cost saving tips for anything that can be made in concrete. Discover cost saving options in decorative concrete, concrete countertops, counter resurfacing, do it yourself outdoor slate wall fountains, indoor fountains, kitchen remodeling ideas, indoor wall fountains, standing outdoor fountains, building wall mounted fountains & many do it yourself project ideas. Make us your home page, add us to your Google Toolbar or your bookmarks. Also for those who want to stay ahead, sign up for our free newsletters. Also research our Advanced Hands On & Mail Order Schools.