DIY, WaterFall, How to Make a Water Feature, Complete How To

Hey good morning Chuck Earth Apple drains today we are going to start and begin to design a water project a water feature a waterfall a wall of water somebody wants to do something with this trellis Peugeot whatever this is behind me and they've done quite a bit of work here but it needs some more features they asked what could we do let's take a look and give you some ideas of what we're going to try to create and actually we're going to use a French drain it's going to be the ultimate French drain as well as many other aspects of drainage as well let's take a look so it's springtime here in Florida you'll have spring very soon if you're up north and you can see they created some really cool stuff here they've got the walkway coming up over top this is a septic mount so they were trying to do something with it and you can see they've built the trellis going over and they actually have a really cool wall trying to fill it in with ivy and plants but let's see if we can't create a water feature right here I believe we can really do a whole bunch for this again ultimate French drain there's nothing like this one so even before we take down any of these trellises they've got going on there what we need to do is create the trough that's going to accept and catch all the water that comes from the waterfall so there's some special needs here we are on top of a septic mound we don't want to lose any water that's why I say this is the ultimate French drain it's going to collect every drop of water and it's going to discharge down something whether it be stone or maybe even some old concrete blocks or concrete patio but whatever it is it's going to discharge back down to the sump basin which is going to we're going to remove that post and that's where the well will be okay so that's the all the water that's getting pumped up comes up through our trench and then it's going to actually get lifted up and we'll have the waterfall tucked underneath of the joists that they've got going on there and they'll just drop all down should be beautiful but we have to create the ultimate French drain so normally a French drain can actually run level but try to give it some fall in this instance we want this water to really flow out again let's look at that bubble you can see this is actually level so we need to create a full bubble that means it's really got to go downhill we've got lots of fall but the system is gonna work exactly the same so the French drain is still the same we've got perforated pipe holes are going to point down there'll be a small base of gravel underneath and there's actually going to be a lining you know how you use those pool liners to make a pond or whatever there'll be a bat down under there as well but there's still gonna be a basic gravel we need that water to flood through the gravel and then it goes into those holes remember and it's going to get carried away and over here where it really drops down on the stairs will create a waterfall as well but the system works exactly the same so the other thing that we need is we need we definitely need to wrap this in fabric why because number one we are in a sandy soil so we always wrap this in fabric in a sandy soil if you have a clay soil and you're doing a French drain fabric so you know all that hype about fabric and gravel wrapping this and that remember we're on a septic tank I've scuse me us a drain field septic drainfield leach bed you see this gravel this has been here over 40-plus years there is no fabric here and it works great used to be years ago that they would take old newspapers and wrap the top of the drain field just to kind of keep debris from you know going down with gravity they they eventually tried to wrap the entire field with fabric and of course those fields were dug up and replaced because water could not escape and it just packed it tight there was tar paper used which is still used in some fields today and it's laid over top of the drain field but again fabric and gravel a lot of hype okay so we've got this down to the good level you can see think you can see it see that bubble this is called a full bubble and the bubble is pointing all the way to the back so we've got about two inches of fall every ten feet and that's more than enough remember that we need to make sure that all this water that drops down from the waterfall above which is going to be up here we need to make sure all that water is collected not lose a drop and then we'll send it on around down the hill to the well which is where the pump is and that's going to be the heart circulation so once you have you know a good depth and a good fall of your system remember this is actually collecting water from the wall of water so we've got real good fall coming down through here we went ahead and got some this is actually 40 mil plastic is kind of like vinyl kind of like what you get at Lowe's or Home Depot for your pond if you do a you know a pond whatever a retaining pond and then you go ahead and pin it out of the way and then we're going to put some of the super fabric down inside of here put some gravel in there then our pipe and lots of gravel all the way back to grade and then it's going to discharge so we've got this portion of the excavation done next I just stopped my vinyl over here but we've also got to put the vinyl down the hill down to our well which is down there I remember there was a post there I went ahead and pulled that will put our sump basin down there I might put two of them but I do believe ones holding enough water to make this system work vinyl has to be under here and then we'll lay our stone that for the dry riverbed so that when they do kick it on now we've got a waterfall coming down to the Sun Basin which sends it back up to the top so once you have your your vinyl laid out I started traveling there but I wanted to show you go ahead and run some water make sure you got good fall you can see it going all the way down all the waters running down to that end and then I've got to stop but it'll go down over the hill down to your well okay before we go any further we need to go ahead and get our sump basin the hole dug for that you can see I dug the hole here's the basin let's drop it down in there and push on a little bit whatever but I want to get this nipple lined up with where the waterfall is going to end it's going to come down right through there and there'll be a catch basin right there underneath the rock that lets the water you know disappear and come into the basin and then of course we're going to have our our outlet line which is going to be inch and a half where it starts I'm going to try to use as old or m-53 that's a third of a horsepower I think that's probably more than enough anyways go from inch and a half or reduce it to one inch so that it goes up the hill and there at the first post we'll bring that water up and it'll come across and of course be a wall of water dropping into the system back down the waterfall and into the well which is our sump basin and it just recycles until you want to turn it off so always take the time to backfill your pit properly because it can float up it's not perforated remember we are containing this water and recycling it so we've got to make sure that that pit doesn't float up and I've just got a piece of plastic over the lid so that no debris gets down in there but and I don't always show this on the videos when we installed it outdoor sump basin because we're doing other things but you've got to pack it in there so turn your shovel upside down and really pack it and it'll sink way down and just keep adding more so once your Basin is really packed in you can start to do a few other things take the lid off you can see I already added the inlet line it's coming over to a 90 and I just stuck a piece of pipe on here just so no dirt would get in it but we'll talk about that in a second so we brought it in remember that inlet the nipple you've seen me do this many times you see right here is the nipple and I went and went ahead and cut that off before I put the pit in so we have a place to bring our 4-inch pipe in and we're gonna put plastic or the vinyl all around here you know it may look like a pond but really it's just a collection area and we'll put gravel and rock over top of it you won't even see anything but where the 90 is there I might put a riser up but there'll be a great deer so it's just like a floor drain or a catch basin and again remember what the system is doing this is recycling water so it's coming from up top that's going to be the wall of water we will run that pipe across there I'll show you how we make that it's going to drop down into the gravel perforated pipe the French drain and then it's going to come through a system of rock like a waterfall and it's going to get collected right there by that 90 and integrate so it all comes back into the basin what we're getting ready to do now is go ahead and plumb the the pipe that comes from the pipe or c2b from the pump out it'll go up the hill and again we'll send it through the actual waterfall the wall of water and it'll all drop down comes back down it just recycles over and over but right now what we got to do is go ahead and drill a two inch hole you've seen me do this many times just like the discharge of any regular sump basin I'm going to put my solar m-53 we'll start with that I think that's more than powerful enough to do this bring it up inch and a half put a check foul on it and we'll drill through and out here we'll switch over to one inch pipe which is going to create some pressure so I'm curious how powerful that waterfall will really be but let's switch over to one inch and then we'll go up that first post it'll make a 90 and turn and go across that's where the waters go review that one more time because this is something that's really important you need a two inch hole saw and your handy dandy Black & Decker or whatever you got and what you're doing is you're drilling down and you know through the pit but you're below grade so it makes the perfect inch and a half this is the exact outer diameter it makes the perfect hole every time and remember we're going to hook the pump up down here you'll have a 90 to go out then we're going to change this from inch and a half down reduce it down to one inch so we can go up this hill okay so here's where we are I went ahead and set I used solar m-53 person upgraded that and put into m98 but I want to try it first so we put in a used one remember that we're lifting water it's called a head and we're lifting water nearly 20 25 feet so we want to make sure we have a pump that's powerful enough to lift the water that high but we don't one want one that's too powerful because we're going to reduce this as it comes out you can see where I've stopped I butted it out we're going to reduce that and when you reduce that to a smaller diameter pipe it creates more pressure so we want to check this one out first and hopefully I can get enough done here today to show you this thing kick on and we'll see how much pressure it really has but right now you can see it all sets up the same way starts off with a male threaded inch and a half adaptor small piece of PVC as the riser check valves arrows pointing upwards and then we have a 90 remember how we drilled through the side of the basin to bring that out so now I'm going to go ahead and reduce this to one inch pipe and send it on up the hill you know on up to the top where it will have a 90 up there at the bottom of that first step and it'll go right up that post to where we'll have actually the waterfall pipe a I just wanted to show you real quick before I put the liner over because all this is actually under the liner but remember we've got the pump lifting up the water showed you that we've got the inlet that's collecting that water as it comes back down the hill there'll be a catch basin we'll call it a great here where water will come down in and go back into the pit but what I did to help go up this hill look this is an inch and a half two inch and a quarter no hub these things are great I use them all the time and what that's allowing me to do is to give it a little bit of Bend you can see it's got some flex in it and then it was an inch and a half excuse me inch and a quarter to one inch bushing that I put the other end of the no hub on and glued that to the inch and a half pipe so I'm getting ready to lay the rest of the liner but I wanted you to see that and of course then I plumbed it you know all the way up to just above the top of where we're going to turn and let our waterfall come down so let me put this together get it covered and then I'm actually going to fill up this sump basin and we'll see how much pressure we have we're lifting that water a good distance like I said 20 25 feet which I believe they're Zoeller m53 I'll easily do that but what I'm curious about is how much of how much pressure is going to come out right there I mean is it gonna you know be a fountain or is it just gonna bubble out we need to see okay so once I filled the system up you can see it it kind of disappears through some of the stone but if you look carefully if you can zoom it in see the river of water running down all the way down it goes fills up the little pool jumps into the sump basin and just sends it back up the hill you know simple fountain but remember we're gonna add the wall of water up here where I'm standing and I've got to finish that off and we're gonna drill the holes in the pipe today we'll have all that set and ready to go so it looks pretty cool okay so once you've marked out your line you lay out a straight line every 1/2 inch we need to drill a hole and this is going to match up with the little insert that we put inside there there's this tedious work it takes quite a bit of time and you might have a drill press that would be a lot easier than trying to do this by hand but regardless it does take time to do and but once you get this all done we're going to put the inserts in here nice so we've got this is a 10-foot piece of pipe every half inch you know you figured that out what's a hundred and eighty two hundred and twenty two hundred and forty I believe holes in this ten foot section of pipe so you know I stuck one in here so you can see it you can see the insert see if we can get it out of there pretty hard to get out once you pound them in but anyways that is a get where you can see it that is a coupler for quarter-inch irrigation and what you do is you buy a big pack of those and you have to cut off the tip of it so that you can match up this hole let me get the drill size for you real quick you can see it there it's eleven sixty four and I just you know I measured that you'll match them up I made a couple holes on a piece of pipe just to get the right size then you just use a rubber mallet to pound the and that's the insert as you can see it's a really small piece but I cut this this is designed to puncture into the quarter inch irrigation drip line but I cut that piece off and then I just pound this whole piece straight down into the pipe on that 1164 inch hole hey this is chuckling - have a great day [Music] [Music]

Channel: Apple Drains

Views: 69,284

Rating: 4.8748498 out of 5

Keywords: water feature, waterfall, how to make a waterfall, how to make a water feature, french drain, pump, gravel, pipe, apple drains, DIY, wall of water, fountains, pools, ponds, cascades, waterfalls

Id: bUTWQ6YMTQ4

Length: 19min 8sec (1148 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2019