Niagara Falls at the Cross House
Since buying the Cross House in 2014, I knew I would need a cat fence before I could move in.
This began in January, 2018, which seems a million years ago. Funding for the fence was provided by (drum roll, please)…YOU! I was flabbergasted!
While one section got done (the infamous “shipping container”), all work stopped due to pressing Heritage Grant projects. Sigh.
However, work should resume (another drum roll, please)…SOON!
I am giddy with anticipation.
While the fence is a Move In Requirement, I am also giddy about a non-requirement but which might also be installed this year.
Since 2014, I knew that once the fence was installed, I would then create my own Niagara Falls. While I do not need this before I can move in, once I do move in this will be vital in screening out traffic noise from the adjacent Highway 50.
All along I wanted a wall of water, four-feet-wide, and six-feet up in the air, dashing a huge volume of water into a pond. I want big noise.
And this may just do the trick.
The box part will be hidden behind the fence, so one will just see a sheet of water pouring from the fence into the pond.
For this to work, a powerful pump will be required to haul a large volume of water up into the air six feet. Majestic recommended a 4800 GPH (gallon per hour) pump. I have no idea if that will be enough.
While I need to learn more about the ideal pump, Ross intensely excited.
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Ross, can any of your current cat fence materials @ your current house be re-used at The Cross House. Even if temporarily, to cut costs and maybe allow for other projects?
I hope you are feeling better, your quick succession of posts makes me feel that may be the case 😃
Hi, LS.
My current fencing will, no doubt, prove a valuable selling point. Privacy! Safety!
Potential buyers with cats, dogs, or small kids will go mad for the fencing.
Nudists, too!
I literally laughed out loud! I hope that last bit makes it into the listing when you sell or rent it. That makes sense as a selling feature. I didn’t think about it like that, but at my house we just invested a large sum of money for a brand new fence for our corner lot. If we took that with us, it would depreciate the value of the property for sure. A fence for pet owners is a key selling feature for sure. The fencing guy laughed and said in his 25 years doing this, he never had a client make a design choice solely for their dog. We did! We made 2 panels of fencing like a picket fence with spaces betweent to not obstruct the view in/out completely because our dog likes to look out the window on that side of the house. The rest of the fence is solid privacy fence. The things we do for our pets!
I agree, LS!
My current cat fence is 90% solid metal (to keep the cats from climbing).
But I have sections of mesh at the bottom so the kitties can, ahh, enjoy the view. And they love this!
Ross
falling water makes a significant amount of sound, so my spidey sense is lighting up with your comment concerning the recommendation of 4800 gph. That’s 80 gallons per minute or 1.33 gallons per second. One gallon is 231 cubic inches. In other words, just short of 310 cubic inches of water per second or 6.4″ of water spread across the 48″ of your trough every second. Your trough lip is only 1″ high, so either you are trying to shoot this water across the highway to eliminate all traffic on the highway, or you have been seriously sold a bill of goods. A quarter inch spread across the 48″ lip, falling into a pool will create a huge amount of sound – especially if your landing is a mixture of water and rock – I can see a really nice pond with a natural look, with what is a very cool, modern stainless steel lip creating a dramatic fall – but from my calculations you’d need a pump rated for at most 200 GPH.
btw – if you add a few koi to the pond you’ll have to keep the kitties away 🙂
Hi, Mark!
I’m out of my element here. But will note two considerations:
1) The spillway is “built with a tank hidden into the wall, with proper baffling to provide a laminar flow of water sheeting for up to 3 feet into a basin.”
2) As I mentioned, a vital aspect is a pump powerful enough to PUSH a large volume of water up six feet.
Where I live, there are two ponds. One is very small with a gurgler fountain. Its pump is 120 GPH. The larger pond has a pump inside the pond which has to push water up two feet, then horizontally about 12-feet, then into a large filter, then up two more feet, and into a “river” which lets the water flow back into the pond via a short waterfall. The pump is 4280 GPH.
So, based on this, I worry that a 4800 GPH will not give me the effect I want!
My larger pond has koi! I plan to move them to the Cross House pond! They are now at least 20-years old!
20-year old kois? They know how to dodge kitty paws! Smart fishes!
Please send a video once the waterfall is installed before it is switched on (to record the sounds from the highway) and after it is switched on for comparison, please. The kittycats and kois have to pack their bags soon!
Leigh, not every koi escaped the kitties.
Sigh.
I fixed this by splashing the pond water on any cat who went near the pond edge. Now, they all avoid the pond!
Cats: anything that moves is MINE! I used to have a cheap water pistol in every room when I had lots of indoor cats. After awhile, all I had to do was show them it and mischief stopped! Miss that! 🙂
I can’t help with the engineering, as this isn’t my area of expertise. But I can provide wine for your evening enjoyment, when you finally have time to sit and relax in your yard. The fountain sounds lovely, literally.
Can’t wait to see the fountain. Sound is so soothing. Reminds me of mountain streams when I lived in Denver. Miss my mountains….. What fun. Do the cats drink from it? (I had a cat that had a wonderful fountain in the house, but when outside, would drink in any puddle! Yuk!) 🙂
My cats like to drink from the river, Laurie, even though they always have a huge water bowl nearby.
The things we do for pets. We installed a small beveled glass window (probably from an old furnace)at the bottom of the basement door so our cat can sit on the landing and look out.
O M G! I have always, always, always wanted a koi pond. There are (strangely) 2 places here in New Rochelle that build them, and even more strangely the koi seem to be able to live through our northeast winters. I think it gets pretty cold in Kansas too.
And a waterfall. I love every thing you are doing, but now koi too! I feel faint.
And kitties who don’t eat them? Twenty year-old koi are probably kitty size. I have hand fed koi. They will swim right to you.
Maybe one day… I keep threatening to just do it…
All so good Ross. Exciting! Enjoy every minute.