Home Heathen Springs

[Johnny Tsunami]

Greetings, well its been a very productive summer. We finished tikifying all the rooms in the house by Labor Day, but there was one more project, I really wanted to complete, before the open house.
So we pushed the date on the open house back to June of 24, and I grabbed my shovel and went to work. Welcome to, Heathen Springs.

Other than a few water fountains, there really wasnt what you would call a "water feature" here at The Rapa Nui Ranch. I was looking for something a little larger than your average, plug and play fountain, so I grabbed a shovel, and went to work on a pondless waterfall. The water stays in the ground, its easy to keep clean, and it doesnt become a water source, for interloping varmints, late at night. Welcome to Heathen Springs

We finished up the last bit of our pea gravel patio, and left a nice sized area for our water feature.


A pondless waterfall requires a buried pump, and tank, to hold and circulate the water. I started digging the hole, using the dirt to build up the foundation of the waterfall.
I quickly realized that I was either going to have to have more space to build up the foundation, or I was going to have to have a backdrop to build against.


Since the pea gravel is stabilized by a honeycomb grid, buried in the gravel, expanding into the patio area was not practical, so I decided to enclose the back of the feature, with a fence.
It would have to be strong enough to hold the dirt built up against it, but still look good.
I wanted the look, to be that of destroyed, volcanic, tiki ruins, so I purchased 2 different sizes of fence post, and a push button, camo, propane torch.


We sipped a couple of cocktails while we carefully read the directions, bushed up on some basic fire safety, and performed a few test burns on some scrap wood.
Soon we were cranking out, beautifully burned fence posts. A light coat of linseed oil, and the posts are not only preserved, but become naturally pest repellant.
The results were stunning.


We started driving the posts into the ground as deep as we could, using a 5lb dead blow hammer, zip tying the taller posts together for stability during the build.
We ran the hose for the spillway, and started back filling the area with dirt. As we went, we began to sculpt the dirt to the shape of the design I had in mind.


Once we had everything roughed in, we lowered the tank into the ground.
We draped the foundation in the rubber liner, from the spillway to the collection box, and placed our first rocks at the foot of the falls.
As we added rocks, we worked from the bottom, up, backfilling the dirt beneath the liner, up to the back of the rocks on the other side.

 

[Johnny Tsunami]

Once the perimeter rocks are in place, and the basic design is established, we kick on the pump, and sure enough, we have water, and its falling. So far, so good.

Now its time to play, hide the spillway. Sticking with the volcanic theme, we go heavy on the lava rock, red, and black.
We use small lava rock to fill the spaces between the fence, and the liner, then add large rocks, on top and in front of the spillway, to conceal it, leaving an open space behind for live plants, coming in the spring.
After that, we use small rocks, and black expanding spray foam, to fill in the gaps behind and underneath the rocks, to force the water over the top, and since it looks like dried lava, we spray it into the bottom of the streams, then press the small lava rocks into it, as it dries to create the stream bed, eventually hiding all signs of the rubber liner underneath.
To finish things off, we add the head, of an old broken tiki statue, into the mix, to give things that evil, forbidden waters vibe.


We finish framing in our workspace with the remaining posts, trim the excess liner, and hide all the edges and gaps, with a cover of rubberized black mulch.


We add bamboo tiki torches behind the spillway, which is now completely hidden and undetectable. We toss in some solar lighting, a couple of candles, then cover the buried tank with some large rocks and a layer of chestnut river stone, to hide everything. The water now flows down 3 different streams and disappears thru the stones, into the tank below.


Throw in a bamboo fire pit, some campfire seating, and as the sun sets, the mysterious waters of Heathen Springs, come to life.
The tiki gods are smiling. Thats a smile, right?


As we shut things up for the winter, and our 6 year tikification project comes to a close, I would like to thank everyone for all the encouragement and help over the last few years. It was truly, an amazing journey, and at the end, we no longer live in a house, we live in a fully functional work of art.
Im going to put together a before and after slideshow, as I start to pull all the media created during project, into one space, and sort things out.
Ill try and get that out over the winter, and then we get ready for our open house in June of 24.
Cant wait to see what this place looks like, all spiffed up, and looking its best.

For now, its time for a celebratory Mai Tai, fireside, as tiki dreams, drift through the autumn air, and the sun sets on The Bal Hinch countryside.

Once again, ALOHA, and THANK YOU, from everyone here at The Rapa Nui Ranch....... We put the art, in party.

 

[Lagoon of Mystery]

Some day I am going to build a water feature for the Lagoon of Mystery--well, a water feature that isn't the existing swimming pool. That day is not today, but I like seeing builds like this so I can crib ideas and build strategies.