Outdoor water
fountains can transform you and your environment
The mesmerizing sound. The
transparent movement. The cool, fresh sensation. Outdoor water feature are
a treat for the senses—auditory, visual and tactile. For millennia, we had
placed moving water around our homes because water works some kind of magic on
us, soothing us to our very essence.
Outdoor fountains make a
graceful statement about a home by creating a pleasing and welcoming ambiance.
They can be used to enhance the architectural style of a house.
Outdoor fountains are especially beneficial in these technological times,
serving as camouflage for traffic noise, humming air-conditioning units and
thrashing lawn mowers. They can be designed to be played in, thus providing cool
relief on a hot day—perfect for Houston. Types of Outdoor Water
Fountains Outdoor fountains come in a multitude of shapes, sizes and
styles. They can invoke Roman classicism, a Hill Country natural pool,
modern garden
or a Charleston
garden. Fountains can be placed in a quiet corner of the yard or serve as the
centerpiece along a curving front drive. Additional features can be added, such
as a cascading waterfall or a contemporary wall fountain.
Whatever style
you prefer, the main thing to remember is that your overall landscape will be
improved if you use a water feature that coordinates with your home and
garden.
Water Features Made
to Order While custom-builtoutdoor water
feature sare more expensive than prefabricated ones, they do have specific and
long-lasting benefits: • Custom-built outdoor fountains can be
constructed to a much larger scale than prefabricated ones. This feature can be
important when working with the scale of homes and buildings. • One of the
most common problems of ready-mades is “over-spray” or water coming out of the
fountain. This malfunction leads to many problems, such as the fountain running
out of water, the area near the fountain becoming slippery or moldy, and
discoloration of the surrounding material due to chlorination. A custom-built
outdoor water fountain addresses these problems upfront. • A great aspect of custom-built fountains
is that they can be constructed with special features: overflow release valves
to drain excess water, skimmers, auto-fill lines to maintain the water level,
lights, filters, auto-chlorinators and backwash lines for easy cleaning. Almost
none of these enhancements are available on prefabricated
fountains.
Hard
Choices when it comes to Water Fountains Choosing the right outdoor water
fountain begins by looking for materials that work in our climate. These
materials need to handle Houston’s intense sunlight, rain and other natural
elements. Many outdoor water feature are constructed with masonry products such
as brick, sandstone, limestone, concrete blocks and ledgestone. Other popular
choices include rock, natural stone, tile, marble and polished stone. The basins
that act as a reservoir are typically made with gunite and rebar, and then
plastered—much like a
swimming
pool. These
interior surfaces are sometimes tiled or clad with stone, pebbles or
mosaics.
Fountain Design Talk “Building a custom outdoor water
fountain appears to be like building a swimming
pool, but is
actually far more difficult. Typically, each fountain is different and therefore
each is an original. It is more like building a working piece of art,” explains
Jeff Halper with Exterior Worlds. “It takes a lot of practical, real-world
experience and knowledge to avoid common pitfalls when designing or constructing
one.”
There is no one way to design or build a fountain, and many
different approaches can achieve the same result. During the design process, the
scope of the work is defined and a budget will be developed. Cost factors
include material choices, decisions about illumination and long-term maintenance. The best professionals work with their
clients to provide as much information as possible to make the outdoor water
fountain a success.
Rest is not idleness, and to lie
sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or
watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. —Sir
John Lubbock
Call Exterior Worlds at 713-827-2255 with questions about adding
a fountain to your landscape.
For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has
specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.
Garden water features are part of many garden designs, both formal and informal. Sometimes they act as central focal points within a garden. At other times, they establish movement and special interest.
A natural pond is a body of water that appears to be formed by natural forces, but in reality has been carefully planned and constructed by man. The bottom of the pond will be artificial, similar to that of a swimming pool, but it will be covered with soil so aquatic plants, fish, and animals can h...
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Most look back to the actual Classical era of ancient Greece and Rome. In these civilizations, fountains were more than decorations. They were iconic representations of a multi-dimensional universe wher...
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By definition, a contemporary water fountain is a custom-designed water feature that is distinguished by very stark geometry, superior construction materials, and technological sophistication. Contemporary garden fountains are tranquil and discrete; operating on remote, silent pumps that circulate ...
Outdoor water fountains are wonderful additions to any home landscape design. Water enchants the eye and ear. In particular, a tranquil fountain, which Exterior Worlds designs specifically to drown out the unwanted and annoying noises of modern life without overwhelming the space, works a special ma...
True to its name, a disappearing fountain bubbles up from a form, does its dance within the landscape, then quietly disappears back into an underground world of mystery. These special custom fountains are highly individuated forms whose designs are always very unique and positioned in secluded part...
Exterior Worlds frequently builds wall fountains to expand hardscapes into new dimensions, add decorative flair, and establish a serene sensibility. People hosting special events in their yards often find that the wall fountain becomes the instant favorite of the majority of the guests.
When developing a modern landscaping design to support a contemporary-style home, Exterior Worlds relies heavily on geometry to develop abstract themes in our design work. Our intention is to represent a world of that consists of basic shapes that have been combined and morphed into new patterns an...
If you are considering adding a custom swimming pool to your landscaping design, you might want to think about the addition of a pool water fountain. We have seen pool water fountains turn an everyday swimming pool into a memorable work of art because they add movement, sound, shape and color to the...
In general, contemporary design means spare and simple geometries arranged in a pleasing, functional way. Combining innovation and flair, these designs use dramatic shapes to create a point of view that is fluid and natural. We believe these adjectives describe contemporary water fountains, too.
Large water fountains attract accolades and attention. You could even say that they demand attention. In the right setting, they create the right feel—both specific and universal. For serious homeowners, large water fountains are emotional eye-catchers in your landscape design, a circumstance create...
Pond design is an important element of both commercial and residential landscape architecture. A pond is a water feature that can be constructed in almost any style. It can create its own theme within the landscape, or it can be used as a subtheme within a larger, more comprehensive landscape desi...
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The
Murmur of Water
