Easy Assembly Fountains: What “No Builders, No Foundations” Actually Means

“Easy assembly” is the sort of phrase that makes people suspicious, because it is usually attached to flat-pack furniture and an Allen key. So it is worth being precise about what it means on a stone fountain weighing several hundred kilos.

It means the piece is designed to be stacked dry. No mortar, no concrete foundation, no pipework to plumb and nothing that needs a tradesman. Two reasonably able people can put one together in an afternoon, and it can be taken apart again just as easily if you move house.

What it does not mean is that it is light, or that it does not matter how you do it. Here is the whole job.

What you actually need

• A level, firm base. This is the one that matters and we come back to it below.
• Two people. Three for the larger three-tier pieces. These are heavier than they look and nothing about the job rewards heroics.
• A spirit level, the longer the better, and a handful of thin packing shims or slate offcuts.
• An outdoor socket within reach of the pump cable, RCD protected.
• An afternoon. Not a weekend, and not a tradesman’s day rate.

You do not need cement, a mixer, hardcore, a permit or a builder.

The base is the whole job

Everything that goes wrong with a fountain goes wrong here, so it is worth spending more time on it than feels reasonable.

The pool surround needs to sit on ground that is flat, firm and will stay that way. An existing patio is usually ideal, bearing in mind most patios are laid with a deliberate fall to shed rain, and that fall is enough to matter. On a lawn or in a border, lift the turf and bed a paving slab or a compacted sub-base, and let it settle before you build on it.

A fountain one degree out of level throws its water to one side. The low edge of the pool overflows onto the paving while the high edge stays dry, and the only fix is to take the whole thing apart. Check the level with the pool empty, check it again with the pool full, and be willing to pack it out.

Water is unforgiving that way. It finds the low point every time and tells everyone about it.

Putting it together

The sequence is the same across the range:

• Set the pool surround down and get it level before anything else goes on it. The sections of a double surround sit against each other dry.
• Stand the base or pedestal in the centre of the pool. Measure to the rim on all sides rather than eyeballing it — a fountain 50mm off centre is visible from the house.
• Run the pump cable out before the next tier goes on, not after. Leave a loop of slack in the pool so you can lift the pump out later without a struggle.
• Stack the tiers, largest to smallest, seating each one squarely. They locate on each other by weight and shape.
• Fit the pump, fill with water, and run it.
• Watch it for ten minutes before you tidy up. This is when you find out whether it is level.

What a “double” pool surround means

Most of this range comes with a double surround — two concentric rings of stone rather than one. It gives a wider, deeper pool, which holds more water and so needs topping up less often, and it gives the fountain a visual base so it does not look like an object standing on a saucer.

The names are the shapes: Cambridge, Aster, Brecon and the rest describe the surround, while Barcelona, Edwardian, Regis, Jardineer and Candy Twist describe the fountain standing in it. That is why a listing reads 2 Tiered Barcelona Fountain, Small Aster Double Pool Surround — two names, two parts, both included.

Four mistakes worth avoiding

• Mortaring it. People do, thinking it will be more secure. It will not, it stops the piece moving fractionally as the ground does, and it turns a reversible job into a destructive one.
• Building on fresh ground. Soil dug over last month will settle this winter, and your level goes with it.
• Forgetting the cable. Threading a pump lead through an assembled three-tier fountain is a bad hour.
• Filling before levelling. Emptying a pool you have just filled in order to pack out one side is the most avoidable job in the whole process.

Which pieces these are

There are twenty in the Feature Fountains Easy Assembly range, from a single tier Regis up to a three tier Barcelona in a large Cambridge surround, with the Kensington Urn and 3 Graces among the figurative pieces.

If you would rather the pool sat flush with the ground than stood proud of it, the In Ground Easy Assembly range does the same job with a single surround set into the earth — see our guide to in-ground fountains.

Step-by-step instructions for your specific piece are on our installation instructions page, and there are more pumps, liners and lights on the accessories page. Prices include delivery to most mainland UK postcodes.