DIY Wishing Well

the_matrix

Hi

I've had an idea about making a wishing well. I don't actually need to drink the water but there does need to be water at the bottom so the bucket can be filled. It MUST look authentic.

What's the best way to go about making a wishing well? How do I stop it falling in on itself with me inside?

Thanks in advance.

Biggles

'Falling in on itself'? Ye gods, sounds like what you are planning isn't a wishing well - it's a well!

Most 'wishing wells' are a few inches deep with lots of crappy superstructure.

We shall want photos of the finished article!

Andy_L

What biggles said +1

How deep and how wide? You need to line the well with what is, effectively a circular retaining wall. Perhaps using some prefab concrete drain pipe might be the right size

the_matrix

Biggles wrote: »

'Falling in on itself'? Ye gods, sounds like what you are planning isn't a wishing well - it's a well!

Most 'wishing wells' are a few inches deep with lots of crappy superstructure.

We shall want photos of the finished article!

Andy_L wrote: »

What biggles said +1

How deep and how wide? You need to line the well with what is, effectively a circular retaining wall. Perhaps using some prefab concrete drain pipe might be the right size

Thanks.

I was thinking the water would end up stale. That's going to give a bad smell. Which kind of defeats the purpose of the well looking all nice smelling. Preferably the well needs to be maintenance free. I don't want to be adding bleach all the time.

Plus if it's deeper people will be less likely to steal the coppers as it's too much effort.

Chunks

Biggles wrote: »

'Falling in on itself'? Ye gods, sounds like what you are planning isn't a wishing well - it's a well!

Made my day - thanks Sir.

An authentic looking W/W with water available to fill a bucket sounds like a big project to me. No expert but the water table will be a factor, I would have thought. It might be high in which case your W/W doesn't have to be deep but otherwise you may find the W/W will remain dry.

the_matrix

Thanks

So once I have dug a few foot down, it's no longer safe to stand in such a hole. How can I continue the dig, even in a very slow manual way?

Ectophile

the_matrix wrote: »

Thanks

So once I have dug a few foot down, it's no longer safe to stand in such a hole. How can I continue the dig, even in a very slow manual way?

You'd have to line it a bit at a time as you go along. If you just try to dig a huge hole, it will collapse on you.