ideas for covers/houses for external pond pumps

[damian]

i found this thread where a couple ideas were posted:

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/7546-how-would-i-plumb-an-external-pump/

are these (a plastic barrel, wooden box) the typical solutions? I didn't get to this project while building my pond last summer, but i want it to be the first thing i do this spring to get it out of the way since it is boring.

 

[damian]

I see some people put them underground like this:

http://www.aquariumconnection.com/twg/pondsol/pondsolimages/pump_house.gif

but i'm not sure if that is necessary or worth the trouble. it would be nice to hide the box, though, since it would be visible from the main viewing angle for the pond.

 

[sissy]

If you build a box you could always make it look like a rustic cabin sitting near your pond .Thats what I did with my first pond ,a small preformed .these are 4 pics together from my regular camera

 

[j.w]

That's cute sissy! Looks like you put a lot of work into making it.

 

[sissy]

yeh and dummy me instead of saving it I decided to take it apart sorry i did but to late now

 

[taherrmann4]

You can hide it pretty well with plants, in the summer you can't even see it. One day I will make it look like a miniature rustic log cabin.

 

[sissy]

I found a pic of a hollowed out log planter and remembered my father had made something similar when I was a kid and he had these large logs on our front porch .He used the chainsaw to hollow them out and put drain holes in the bottom .They did rot eventually but he just made new ones and I may try it since we are taking down some large trees at the other house .So remember that wood you burn in your fireplace can be something else .I just wish my parents took pics of the stuff my dad did .The log vases and the slab log tables and the log furniture we had on our front porch .I even think one of those log planters my dad made for Falling Waters ..If I remember correctly that one had log legs to keep it off the ground .He just scooped the logs out for the legs and set the planter into the log legs

 

[sissy]

I can see it in my mind ,now I just have to replicate it .I guess if I try and fail at least I can say I tried .

 

[damian]

i'm thinking of maybe digging down about 22" or so and pouring a footing with a drain in it, and building a house thingy like that that only sticks up about 1 foot above ground, just enough to be able to easily access the pump and allow the plumbing to enter and exit the sides of the house above ground. something like this would be very easy to hide with plants and rocks.

 

[sissy]

you could make fake rocks .They have great video's of how to make them on you tube ,that way if you have to move the rocks they would be lighter .O plan on making more this summer when lowes or home depot puts there cement on sale

 

[damian]

yeah i've thought about something like that, like this guy did:

for some reason though i feel as if you'd be limiting yourself to the exact pump/plumbing setup you currently have, and would have to redo it as soon as you changed anything.

 

[sissy]

yeh I saw that but I make hollow ones inside cardboard box frames and just use broken styrofoam and plastic bags to line the box and I want to hopefully make more .I keep giving them away to friends and stuff .I use the fiberglass fibers to make them stronger since they are hollow

 

[damian]

I need to make a new enslosure for my pump after 12 or so years (I just made a simple cedar box. it's fine, but the lid didn't last very long so right now I just have a piece of plywood over the top of it) and wanted to see what other people had come up with over the years. The first hit that came up when I search was this thread of mine from 12 years ago. lol.

At this point i'm wondering how necessary it even is to shelter my pump. Although, the fact that it is still going strong after 12 years might be evidence that the enclosure helps?

 

[addy1]

I just took 1/2 of a 55 gallon barrel, put it over the pump. Cut a few holes for the pipes.

Not beautiful but still doing fine many years later