The Dream Continues!
Why build a fountain?
As we have said, "What Italian Villa would be complete without a fountain and gardens." So we sat out to build our Italian Villa!
With lots of research and help from many amazing companies
The Planning stage was around 6 months of research!
We were lucky that people are so eager to help if they know you're on a mission, So we contacted concrete companies across Ontario and they were glad to help, Two places that were extremely helpful to us was Bernardi Precast and Marquis ponds,
Bernardi has built fountains for famous people and very important locations. For example they built all of Donald Trump's fountains for his towers and golf courses. This picture is actually one of their fountains they sell. https://www.bernardiprecast.ca/
Where as Marquis has done much of the same and works more with the plumbing and designs. https://www.marquisgardens.ca/
These two were incredible sources of knowledge. But there was many more when it came to the statues we had to find, and this were just as important to us!
Thank you so much to them!
The planning was around 6 months of research.,There is much more here than meets the eye.
You need to know how to make the concrete withstand the winters, how to not shift with frost, not crack from water build up, how to get the water to pump, so many little things we didn't think about.
The Building!
The Footings
We found that we would need sonotubes directly on the bedrock. In total we added 10 of them!
Next the concrete pad!
Wanting this to be extra strong and long lasting we decided to make the base 10 inches thick of concrete plus almost 22 inches thick around the edge to work as club footings!
We also "keyed" the edges of the base so the walls would notch into it. A process that gives a small ledge on the base where the wall would sit on top of. Then of course lots of rebar!
The Shed first!
So we had to build the shed first.,Then the fountain area would be poured. But first we needed to build the alcove for the Romeo and Juliet statues. Otherwise how would we get them up there. They weigh around 600 lbs each!
Then we added the premade trim
This was the easy part. We added premade trim that is used for Stucco to make it look like concrete. You will see this on most retail stucco locations.
Then we started shaping the fountain itself!
Using blocks, mesh and hard plastic we were able to get the basic shape and design we wanted!
Then we started adding concrete to the shell
With a special concrete mix we started adding layers of concrete to the "shell." This is where you start to see the basic design
Here you can see the design
Here you can see the basic design of the layered cake of the Trevi fountain. We wanted the three waterfalls with the center one following the design of the Trevi
Here you can see the design
Working under a tarp to protect the concrete from curing to fast we were able to get the basic design completed.
The Finished product!
- The project took around 4 months of work to complete.
- With over 60,000 lbs of concrete!
- Moving over 12,000 gallons of water per hour!
- Has 2 pumps to keep the waterflow moving at that rate.
Please stop by and say hi!
We built this to share!
We want to see everyone. So please stop by and lock your love on our fence!