Since ancient times, wells have adorned the local areas. But if earlier they performed a utilitarian function - they served as sources of water, now it is rather a decorative element of landscape design. The recommendations of designers will help you to beautifully design the well and harmoniously fit it into the style of the site.
Features:
The design of the well must meet some requirements. Firstly, it must be in harmony with the surrounding landscape and the style of the exterior of a residential building, and secondly, if it is used for its intended purpose, as a source of water, it must be protected from possible ingress of sewage, precipitation and other pollution. Finishing can be done with stone, wood, brick, flowers. After all, the well can be simply plastered or painted.
If the well is planned to be decorated with wood, then it is better to choose hard rocks that are not afraid of the negative effects of the environment. In any case, the selected material must be durable, insensitive to temperature extremes, precipitation. If, after finishing, it is plastered or painted, then the service life will increase and it will retain its attractive appearance longer. You can build a house above the well itself - this will additionally decorate it and protect it from precipitation.
The location of the well must also be chosen in accordance with some rules. First of all, it is necessary to determine how high-quality the soil is in this area, what is its composition, since all kinds of sources of pollution should be at least 30 m from the future well.
Kinds
You can make a key, shaft or tube well.
- The first type, the key one , is the simplest and most economical option. It is possible if the site has a natural source of drinking water - a spring. The structure is installed above it. In this case, you need to remove the top layer of soil - soil (10-20 cm).
- The second option - a mine well - is suitable if the water does not come out to the surface of the earth, but lies shallow - up to 25 meters. When building such a well, it is necessary to take into account the volume of incoming water and correlate them with the needs of the family. This is to avoid stagnant water.
- The tubular well resembles an artesian version. In its construction, a pipe with a diameter of 25-45 mm is used, which has a sieve-shaped tip for filtering water.
Project
When constructing a well, you first need to decide on the task that it will perform. If it is just a decorative element of the landscape, then the list of works will be reduced to three points: the choice of location, in fact, installation and decoration. If the well serves as a source of water at the summer cottage, then its construction will take more time. In addition, the well can serve as a drainage structure, which will divert excess water.
In the last two cases, first of all, it is necessary to study the features of the soil at the site , the depth of the water (if there are no open keys) and determine the type of structure. After that, you can proceed directly to the installation. Pre-drawn drawings can facilitate the task, which will display all the necessary data - depth, diameter, selected type, materials used in construction. It is good to provide this plan with sketches - they will help you visually imagine how the well will look like, whether it will fit into the existing landscape.
The preparation of the project can be entrusted to professionals. But its independent creation will not take much time and effort.
Design
You can decorate the well with various materials - this will not affect its functionality, but it can give a certain look. For example, stone will help create designs in the style of a Swiss chalet or the Middle Ages. The unusual look of this material, both natural and artificial, makes a special impression. Decorated with plants and flowers, it will resemble medieval buildings and will create an appropriate mood.
When decorating with wood, you need to remember about the sensitivity of this material to moisture. It will either need to be covered with protective compounds or painted, otherwise it will not last long. The building looks beautiful in the spirit of a village well. It can be chopped, equipped with a brace - a crane.
Such a structure is most often made of rounded logs in the shape of a quadrangle. You can close a ring of concrete with a tree, and pour pebbles or small expanded clay between them - this technique will decorate the structure and protect the tree from water.
To recreate a truly rustic atmosphere, the well can be equipped with a roof covered with shingles or thatch, the roof racks can be covered with beautiful carvings, a cart wheel can be used instead of a handle, and a wooden bucket can be used instead of a bucket. It must be made with high quality, do not let water through and not spoil its taste. Tiled designs can be modern or Mediterranean in style. In the latter case, it is important to choose the right color scheme - it is most often a combination of blue and white. You can add bright accents such as yellow.
If concrete rings were used in the construction of the well, then they can be plastered, painted or covered with siding. For painting, you need paint that tolerates moisture and the environment well.
If the well is decorative, then you can decorate it with fresh flowers. It will not be very convenient to get water through the thickets of plants, but as a decor this option will look very beautiful. You can use ampelous (curly) species, decorative leaf or flowering. Or you can make a spectacular composition by combining several types of plants in such a way that the well is buried in beautiful vegetation throughout the season. It's good if the flowering period for them will come in turn - some have faded, others will bloom.
The space around the well should not be overlooked either - it should harmoniously combine the structure with the rest of the landscape, create a single composition. Depending on the finish of the well itself, the adjacent territory can be decorated with flowers, plants, laid out with tiles, stone, paving stones, covered with sand. Paved or sandy paths leading to the well will look good - then it will become the compositional center of the entire site.
How to finish?
Arrangement of a well in the country includes several stages, and finishing is the last of them. First of all, a place is chosen where it will be located, the type of its device and the method of water supply (if the well is water-bearing, and not decorative).
It can be equipped with a gate or a so-called crane - a lever for raising water. In the first version, the rope on which the bucket is tied is attached to the gate and, winding it around the gate, they raise the water from the bottom.
The head - the upper, protruding element of concrete rings or a frame - can be open or closed with the help of a house.
To build a house above the well, you need to stock up on:
- edged board 100x25 mm;
- wooden beam 100x80 mm;
- door hinges;
- bitumen or roofing material;
- flat slate;
- self-tapping screws, nails;
- hacksaw;
- jigsaw;
- a plane;
- bayonet shovel;
- water level;
- tape measure;
- pencil.
Below is a sequence of works.
- First of all, the ground near the mine is leveled and covered with 5 cm pebbles, watered with water, and tamped well.
- Then they begin to collect the frame - for this, boards are used. The racks are taken out to a level place, boards are nailed to them, which will serve as the upper and lower frame strapping. Fix the boards with screws. Connect the rest of the racks.
- The assembled frame is installed around the well and the assembly is completed.
- Then proceed to the rafter system. After the rafters are combined, they are assembled into one whole structure.
- The next step is the door. It is made in the roof of the house, hanging on hinges.
- When everything is ready, go to the crate. With the help of bitumen mastic, roofing material is fixed, after that - flat slate.
- At the end, the whole structure is sewn up with boards - the house is ready.
All this can be easily done by hand. The help of professionals may be needed only when directly digging a well or drilling a well, as well as when installing concrete rings.
There are some nuances here too. For example, a vibroform is often used to make well rings. It is better to choose just such products - they have increased wear resistance and durability, they are easier to tolerate vibrations.
Then it remains only to arrange the well from the outside so that it looks attractive and harmonizes not only with the landscape, but also with the rest of the buildings.
Tips & Tricks
Wells now rarely fulfill their original function of supplying water. Most often, they serve simply as a decorative element of the site. In this case, their design depends only on the taste of the owners. An experienced designer can certainly help create a unique object that will delight the eye, but this can be expensive. Homemade wells are in no way inferior to the work of experienced professionals.
First of all, you need to decide on the style of the future structure, because the choice of material will also depend on this.
The rustic style is, of course, wood. In this case, any natural materials at hand are well suited - straw, dry grass, living plants, wood. The carving, cornices on the roof above the well, clay pots and a bucket, as an alternative to an iron bucket, will look harmonious.
A concrete well can be plastered, painted and painted. Plant motifs, images of flowers, animals are well suited.
The main criterion when choosing materials is their resistance to moisture and temperature extremes. They must tolerate all these influences well and retain their original appearance.
In addition, you shouldn't forget about the maintenance of the well.
In order for the water in it to always be drinkable, you need to follow some rules.
- As mentioned earlier, any sources of possible water pollution should be located at a distance of at least 30 m from the source.
- If the well is open (without a house), then it must be equipped with a cover.
- It will not hurt to install a fence, especially if there are small children in the house.
- For the winter, the well must be insulated so that the water in it does not freeze. For this, straw, hay, sawdust are used. Any synthetic materials are unacceptable.
- The well should be cleaned as needed.
- After the well is cleaned, it must be disinfected.
- As the old equipment wears out, it is necessary to replace it with new one.
Beautiful examples
The well can be decorated not only with wood or stone - brick is also well suited for this purpose. It has high strength, density, resistance to mechanical damage, attractive appearance. Among the disadvantages is the ability to absorb moisture and collapse, so the finished masonry must be covered with a hydrophobic varnish.
The wooden well is an old Russian classic. Above it, you can install a roof, and along its edge to start up "lace" of wood. Roof support posts can also be threaded. Carved decorative posts can be installed at the corners of the well.
If the well is decorated with a stone - natural or artificial, then it will have a special character: with a touch of antiquity. Moss or succulents will look good between the stones - this will add additional age to the structure: it will look exactly like an old building, which is more than a dozen years old.
The roof over the well can be made in the form of a pagoda - you get an oriental-style structure. In this case, the head itself should be calm, discreet, so as not to distract attention from the unusual roof.
A well drowning in greenery and flowers is a good solution if its role is decor. Here you can use different types of plants, combining them in such a way that some bloom after others. Curly views can be put on the vertical racks - you get a bright, spectacular, unusual composition.
In the next video, you will find the assembly of a carved house for a well.