Finishing Touches

And so the main construction was over. The heartache had ended, the tools had been put away in the shed and my back could finally start on the road to recovery.

Now for the finishing touches.

A final (Third) coat of sealant was applied with a paint brush to all the faces and tops of the bricks and capping stones. The difference that this made was only minimal and instead of glossy shine which I had originally expected, a subtle, almost impeceivable sheen was seen when you viewed the wall from an angle. It was more noticeable, some time later, when it rained a short shower and the water droplets 'beaded' on the surface of the bricks.

Inside the water bath could be seen the pump, light and associated leads and conduits. This needed to be concealed to provide a professional finish to the project. A couple of large left over bricks were placed on end into the bath. I placed them onto two rubber car mats which, when placed on to the floor of the bath, would prevent the internal rubberised coating from getting damaged by the rough edges of the bricks and perhaps allowing water to leak out.

On top of these bricks I placed a sheet of one inch square steel mesh which I had brought from my local hardware store and cut down to size. I had made it one square larger than was needed all the way around. This one inch border, I then bent upwards, to give lateral strength to the otherwise fairly flexible wire grid.

Having used an angle grinder with a metal cutting disk to cut a three inch square hole, I gingerly placed the mesh over the projecting fountain head and lowered it down, again, being careful not to scratch the coating on the internal walls.

The shallow mesh basket was filled with two 5 Kg bags of two inch white stones. They were some 4 to 5 inches below the final surface of the water and concealed the inner workings of the bath perfectly. Only the fountain spout and the lens housing of the light could be seen.

On top of the white stones was placed the true finishing touches. Two aquatic plants from the local nursery were positioned either side of the fountain and at such a height that they could be seen when viewed from the front of the wall. Suddenly the water wall assumed a completely different look. The addition of the plants had brought it to life and given a 'natural' aspect to it's overall look.