After spending a week in Florida listening to the relaxing sound of our friend’s fountain in their pool, I have been on the hunt for the perfect fountain for our back patio to mimic that soothing sound. I wanted something simple in a concrete/natural stone look with good size similar to the photo below. Holy cow, fountains aren’t cheap!

Having no luck finding what I wanted without selling my first born to pay for it, I tasked my husband with DIYing a fountain from a resin planter I found at At Home.

The first step was to seal the hole in the bottom of the planter. To do that he used WaterWeld and Flex Seal. He filled the hole with WaterWeld and let it sit for the time suggested on the directions. Then, because we had it on hand, we sprayed the inside and outside of the hole with Flex Seal to double up on the protection from leaking.

We guessed on the pump size we needed. The first one we tried (shown here) was a little bigger than we needed. The second we ordered was too tiny. The third one worked like a charm. We went with this 80 GPH Submersible Water Pump which we took to the hardware store to find a copper adapter that fit the pump to the size of the copper pipe we used.

We started with 1/2″ copper pipe which caused the water to shoot up too high and splash out of the fountain. I actually liked how high the water came out of the 1/2″ pipe but, with my planter so narrow, I didn’t want the water spilling outside of the fountain. So, we moved up to 3/4″ copper pipe and that worked to give just the right sound without splashing out onto the wood deck.

That’s all there is to it. We suctioned the pump to the bottom of the planter and placed a brick on top to make it extra secure. We considered drilling the hole in the bottom of the planter larger so we could run the cord out the bottom, but I didn’t want to have to sit the planter on something to elevate it to accommodate the cord. It didn’t bother me running out the top since it’s black and blends in well with the planter.

We have it on a timer to come on each day to deter mosquitoes. I also put a teaspoon full of Algaefix in the water once a week to keep the water clean.

I am in love! The sound is so soothing. It is exactly what I envisioned, cost just over $150 and I didn’t have to sell my first born on the black market to afford it. DIY for the win.