That nice thudding sound, that’s a good uh. SUZANNE COMPACTS THE SOIL WITH A TAMPER … THEN DAVE FOLLOWS BEHIND WITH A BAG OF LEVELING SAND. So were gonna build a wall, a concrete block wall between the fountain and the garage here. We’re gonna be having water out here and other materials. We’ve got a uh, a wood frame building here. I’VE ALSO ASKED DAVE AND SUZANNE TO DIG AWAY A FEW INCHES ALONG THE GARAGE FOUNDATION AS PART OF A PRECAUTIONARY STEP I’D LIKE TO TAKE. SINCE MOST OF THE POND LINER WILL REMAIN ABOVE GROUND, WE ONLY REMOVE ABOUT THREE INCHES OF SOIL.

NEXT, SUZANNE OUTLINES THE POND LINER WITH CHALK. This position’s gonna work okay for the bottom?Īll right, good. What do you think about something also maybe three-tiered? We start up here. We don’t have to lock ourselves into these right now but I wanna just make sure that the bottom one is in a good position for us. You know I was thinking it should go against the garage but I’m thinking outside the box. I think what we’ll do is bring in that big lower pond first. NOW, THE GOOD NEWS HERE IS THAT WE’RE DIGGING THEM OUT AT THE ROOTS AND SINCE THEY’RE VERY STURDY, WE CAN RE-PLANT THEM IN ANOTHER PART OF THE YARD. OUR FIRST STEP IS TO REMOVE THE RASPBERRY BUSHES GROWING IN FRONT OF THE GARAGE WALL. But we will really emphasize the, the waterfall effect of this. There are some other smaller versions, yeah. The water comes in here and then it flows off into the pool here. You guys said you were interested in the sound of cascading water. These are pre-cast, plastic pond, pond liners some people call them. This is gonna form the basis of our fountain right here.

MY CARPENTER, DAVID SCHULTE HAS ARRIVED WITH OUR TRAVELING WORKSHOP AND HAS LAID OUT ALL THE MATERIALS FOR THIS PROJECT INCLUDING SOME EXTRAS. You like that huh? Think we have enough tools to do this job? WITH INTRODUCTIONS AND A SNAPSHOT FOR SUZANNE’S SCRAPBOOK OUT OF THE WAY, WE MOVE TO THE BACKYARD. You’re very welcome, thank you for having me. THE VIEW FROM THEIR SECOND STORY BALCONY IS DOMINATED BY THE SIDE WALL OF THEIR GARAGE – A PERFECT LOCATION FOR BUCKINGHAM JUNIOR. THIS BEAUTIFUL OLD VICTORIAN HAS BEEN HOME FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS TO DAVID AND SUZANNE HOLMES AND THEIR CHILDREN, KATIE AND ROBBIE. TODAY, I’VE BEEN ASKED TO MAKE A HOUSECALL IN THE NEARBY VILLAGE OF OAK PARK TO HELP BUILD A SLIGHTLY MORE INTIMATE FOUNTAIN. Its pitch perfect blend of art and engineering melds ornate statuary with an elaborate pumping system that features 133 jets circulating up to 14,000 gallons of water a minute. Buckingham Fountain is one of the largest and most famous fountains in the world.

Preform pond with waterfall