Mindy, those pots sound beautiful. Do you have any photos?
Laura

Our pot fountain construction sounds close to yours
with the exception of using tape and bondo...we secure the
hose with silicone. Works great.
Linlee
{{gwi:1323}}
This one is a resin fountain.
{{gwi:1325}}

wow- what very handsome designing you have done (not to overlook the VERY healthy happy growing you've done!)

do you mean that you run the pump's electrical wire out the bottom hole and silicone around it to fill in the hole?
do you think this would work if the pots were on stone/cement pedestals (as ours are) or might the wire throw the pot off balance? maybe i could break a thin tile brick in two and wedge them up alongside the wire below the pot?
appreciate your thoughts-mindy

Thanks Mindy.
Both of the pots have the pump outside of the pot.
In the case of the tilted pot, the pump is in the pond with it's tubing siliconed through a whole in the bottom.

The standing pot is balanced on a cinderblock which has a hole drilled in the top to allow the tube to both attach to the submerged pump then up through a long piece of PVC
that allows for the fountain effect.

I would think that since the silicone is removable, that submerging the pump within the pot would work the same way.
And it could be removed for the winter months.
Maybe if you can notch out something, possibly a thick piece of tile, so the wire runs flat it may work on a
pedestal.

We've also used (I believe)a plumbers putty, but it
tended to be brittle so if the pot was moved around too
much it sometimes leaked.

Mindy...turns out it wasn't plumbers putty, but an epoxy.

Lovely photos linlee!

I've also built some fountains and the tip to use silicone is a good idea.
For sealing the inside of the pot, I've had great success with either DryLok or concrete sealers. I usually use the 'wet look' as shown in the link below.
To seal around any openings I've used an epoxy, but the type I used hardens like steel! If your pump ever died you'd have to drill out the epoxy to remove the pump. I find the epoxy at Home Depot......most salespeople can't find it.........in the plumbing section. It comes in a ~5"~ tube and looks like silly putty. It's a two part mix you have to knead together. This causes the material to heat up and then harden. I've used it to plug holes in clay planters and they've never leaked.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sealer

I bought most of the supplies to make one of these and was wondering if using the roofing tar is essential? i'll be using a large glazed ceramic pot.

it will leak if you don't seal it.do you think i would have gone to all that trouble to DO it , and to give detailed instructions, if it were not NECESSARY?

Brand-eye--Thanks for asking; I was puzzled, too (one respondent did NOT use the roofing tar with the glazed pot; annz used a concrete sealant). We have instructions (from Sunset Magazine) that did not specify using any sealant at all. Good luck with your fountain. We're using an underground plastic reservoir as well.

sorry to appear rude,, but if you had explained before- what you have now explained, i would have taken your question totally differently. i post on GW alot-with the intent of being helpful, not hurtful. sorry. and sorry i don't have an answer for your use. but it sounds like others do, so hoorah for GW ers.
best,
mindy

This is a lot of good info--I'm printing it off.

Thanks!

Deb

I have had one I sealed with a cork and Gorilla glue. It's fine, but the pump I had didn't work properly. The pump store manager said that's because I used an extension cord. Well, they don't make the pump wiring long enough, so when you use the outdoor extension cord, the electricity would surge or stop. I now bought a pump which says nothing about extension cords, so we'll see. Anyone else have this problem?

rae, all of ours are on extension cords and we have not had the surge problem that we know of.electricians are always very dour when they learn that we've just laid out regular extension cords in the garden, rather than enclosing them in pvc pipe etc etc. 23 yrs so far. if you put your location next to your zone, in your i.d., we can all relate to your info better- both giving and receiving!
best,
mindy