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Does your yard sport a naked well pipe sticking out of the soil like a long-lost snorkel? Well – we have good news. Your wellhead (aka a well pipe) can wear a cover. And we have many creative ideas to help you cover up your well pipe, which can protect and beautify it simultaneously!
Some ideas to cover your well pipe include using insulation and a plinth or DIY cover box to protect the pipe from runoff, damage, and harsh temperatures. Things like barrels, planters, windmills, and many other features make excellent covers for well pipes.
In this article, we’ll share our top tips for making DIY well pipe covers and recommend some decorations and protectors you might want to buy to insulate and encase your well pipe. With the right protection and a bit of earthy, artistic flare, these ideas to cover up your well pipe will make an eyesore into a stunning landscape feature!
Sound like fun?
Let’s get the lowdown!
Do You Need a Well Pipe Cover?
Well pipe covers can improve your garden’s appearance, but they also:
- Insulate the wellhead, preventing frozen/burst well pipes.
- Block UV rays that cause the wellhead to crack and perish.
- Prevent well pipe impact damage caused by humans and vehicles.
- Protect the well-cap against gnawing animals.
Now, there are groundwater geeks out there who insist well pipes should never get a cover! This claim has a grain of merit. But it’s not the absolute truth.
Wellhead health has plenty to do with well pipe protection, so adding a cover can keep your water supply cleaner and healthier.
FACT – an exposed well pipe is a vulnerable part of critical homestead utility, making well pipe covers vital for your fresh water supply!
Well Pipe Specifications and Cover Ideas
Now that we know a bit about the importance of using a well pipe cover, let’s look at the most common well pipe sizes and why they matter.
Standard well pipes extend 8” to 16” above the ground. The recommended height for a private wellhead is 12” with a 6” well-casing diameter. However, taller, thicker rural wellheads need larger covers.
Irrespective of proportions, wellheads can always be effectively covered.
What To Look For in a Well Pipe Cover
Ideally, a sufficient well pipe cover should:
- Blend with existing landscaping signatures.
- Insulate the well pipe against extreme temperatures.
- Protect the wellhead from unplanned knocks and gnawing critters.
- Be lightweight and easy to remove from the wellhead to allow efficient maintenance and repairs.
- Be stable and remain in place in windy conditions.
- Provide more than functionality (for leisure, information, visual appeal, etc.).
- Be weatherproof.
A homestead wellhead cover should protect the well and beautify your garden! To achieve this, allow two or more well-pipe cover ideas to work together.
Some great well pipe cover combos include:
- Insulated fabric well pipe covers.
- Solid well pipe cover boxes.
- Decorative ornaments that rest on the well pipe cover.
What To Avoid in a Well Pipe Cover
A safe well pipe cover should not:
- Contain pollutants, toxic chemicals, or rust.
- Restrict swift access to the wellhead.
- Block airflow to and from the wellhead vent.
- Place a heavy weight on the wellhead.
- Trap water around the wellhead.
- Allow deep plant roots to grow near the wellhead (The well-casing materials may get damaged).
Cool! With our coordinates set, let’s seek well pipe covers and cover combos to DIY and buy!
21 Earthy Ideas to Cover a Well Pipe
Residential wells have casing and well covers that help prevent stormwater runoff and contamination from sliding into the well. Most well-casings we’ve seen protrude at least eight inches above the ground.
The issue many homesteaders have is that they think the casing and existing wellheads are unattractive. And annoying! But no worries. We’re about to share dozens of well-cover ideas to help cover well pipes and make your yard look and feel more natural:
1. Buy a Winterizing Insulated Fabric Well Pipe Cover
Harsh weather conditions can destroy your wellhead. Think burst well casings in frozen winters and sun-cracked wellhead covers in the summer heat.
It’s critical to protect your wellhead and keep the water flowing with an insulator like the benchmark ‘Cold Snap’ soft weatherproof wellhead cover. Insulation is a must before you decorate a well pipe since it will protect your pipe from weather damage.
Additionally, a cost-effective Cold Snap well covering will save you time, stress, and money in well pipe repairs (not to mention losses from a lack of fresh water)!
The Cold Snap well pipe cover consists of industrial-strength 600D polyester with a reflective cotton lining, fitted with Velcro strips at the opening (base) of the bag and grommets for small locks. That all makes for easy installation and awesome insulating power.
Rest easy. A Cold Snap well pipe cover won’t blow away in strong winds. And it won’t be easy to steal!
Redford offers the Cold Snap in two sizes:
Cold Snap well pipe covers are available in various colors (beige and green are our favorites).
2. DIY a Wood Well Pipe Cover Box
You can make a protective wellhead cover box using scrap lumber. Use timber off-cuts, wood pallets, or an old wooden crate!
A simple DIY box plinth will protect your wellhead and serve as a base pedestal for a handsome garden decor item, allowing you to fully customize your well pipe.
How To Make a Wood Well Pipe Cover Box
With basic carpentry skills, you can easily build a simple wooden five-sided cube or rectangular box with a solid floor.
Here’s how to build your own wooden well cover:
- Measure the dimensions of your wellhead (height, diameter/width).
- Position the cover box to allow at least 8” of space around and above the wellhead.
- If you plan on placing a heavy garden decoration on the box, support the base with cross bracing.
- Don’t worry about making a lid for the box.
- To get an earthy finish for the cover box, sand the wood and apply a food-grade mineral oil to the wood to bring out the natural wood grains and weatherproof the timber.
- Invert the lidless box and place it over your wellhead.
Follow these guidelines to DIY a wooden well pipe cover box using a planter box design and upcycled pallet wood.
This simple DIY wooden box can stand as your lone well pipe cover. But we guess that you will adorn it with something splendid!
Important note: If you plan to use pallet wood, only use heat-treated or kiln-dried pallets. Check this article for the details on safe pallet codes.
3. DIY a Steel Half Drum Well Pipe Cover Base
Used food-grade 55-gallon drums are often free, and once cut to size using an angle grinder, they make excellent wellhead covers.
Weatherproof and sturdy, a half-oil drum makes the perfect base for wellhead decor while serving as body armor for the well pipe.
Take a look at this funky half-drum table to get the idea.
How To Make a DIY Steel Drum Well Head Cover
- Cut the drum in half and drill a few drainage/breather holes in the top platform.
- Clad the drum with jute rope.
- Secure the cord to the drum using cable ties or twine fed through pairs of holes drilled into the side of the drum to lash each end of the rope to the drum.
- Position the half drum over the wellhead and level it with stones.
Remember: Cut the drum to allow at least 8” of room above the wellhead.
If the original color of the drum pleases your eye, let it be! It can help shine and support your garden art!
4. Buy a Half Wine Barrel Wellhead Cover Pedestal
Here’s one of the quickest and easiest ideas to cover your well pipe! Buy a wine barrel planter and invert it!
That’s right. A classic half-wine barrel placed over your wellhead will stop the (wellhead) show, especially if you place a unique piece of garden art on top of it!
You may want two or more wine barrels to create an ensemble.
Put a twin half wine barrel (right-side-up) on top of the inverted cover barrel and use it as a planter filled with flowers, with a third wine barrel flower planter alongside on the ground as a counterpoint!
5. Buy a Concrete Planter Well Pipe Cover
Lightweight concrete planters make ideal wellhead covers when they’re upside-down! Concrete is robust, earthy, and won’t leech chemicals into your water table.
- Standard well pipes (12” high/6” diameter) will be out of sight with a 16” concrete planter cube – rustic, sturdy, and super stylish!
- For taller well pipes, buy a tapered 24”-high concrete planter – elegant! And with an 8” ‘platform’ base, you can add a decorative statue or planter on top.
Concrete planters may be on the pricey side but they are also stunning, solid, and versatile – guaranteed to make a splash where your well pipe lies covered! Additionally, this is one of the best ideas to cover a well pipe if you want a solution that will last more than a decade.
6. Buy a Tapered Plastic Planter Well Pipe Cover
What if concrete planters and other ideas to cover a well pipe don’t turn you on? Well, how about a tall, tapered plastic planter? It’s super lightweight, earth toned, and UV-resistant!
Check out this 32”-tall tapered plastic planter.
Invert the planter to create a wellhead cover and a base plinth for a garden decoration.
You can also drill holes at the lip of the planter where it rests on the ground and use galvanized garden stakes to anchor the planter to the ground.
Slick and simple – your well pipe eyesore a bother no more!
Read More!
7. Craft a Wire and Willow Garden Sculpture Wellhead Cover
There’s nothing like an ugly wellhead to spark a new artistic outlet in you!
You can cover that wellhead with a chicken wire and willow branch sculpture! It’ll take some patient crafting, but if you keep it simple and homely, you’ll be the talk of the town!
Look at this willow and wire Gloucester pig to get your creative juices flowing.
You could sculpt a giant mushroom from branches and wire easily after you’ve completed a wire and willow sculpture course.
A willow and wire sculpture with a broad base will uniquely hide your wellhead!
Weave away!
8. DIY or Buy a Funky Wishing Well to Cover a Well Pipe
A wishing well to cover a wellhead? Yes, we know – a common theme. But is it too ordinary for your garden? Maybe not, after you see how to make one from scrap wood.
Rudimentary woodworking skills and entry-level carpentry tools are all you need. That and some old bits of wood will help you fashion a charmingly rustic wishing well to cover your wellhead.
Get your repurposing hat on and use whatever you have stashed in the shed to add magic to your wishing well!
If you love wishing wells but desire a swifter solution, you can always buy a wishing well to cover your wellhead.
Here’s wishing you well!
Note: it’s best not to use the wishing well as a planter. The soil will add tons of weight to the wishing well, making it difficult to move when well repairs are necessary.But you can use a wishing well planter like this one, sans the plants:
9. Buy a Decorative Windmill to Cover Your Well Pipe
Keep the hydro vibes alive while you cover your wellhead with a small windmill! The mock turbine turning lazily in the breeze above your hidden wellhead may lull you into a meditative state.
You can buy a classic prairie windmill to place over your wellhead, creating a single pump effect with the windmill visually harmonizing with the wellhead.
Or, you can mask the well pipe by cladding the base of the windmill with burlap.
You may fancy a traditional Dutch windmill as a wellhead cover. If so, you can DIY a Dutch garden windmill with these plans.
Picturesque!
10. Hide a Well Pipe with Tree Logs and Rope
Get that chainsaw out and buck a few logs! Hide your wellhead with a clever circular log arrangement held together with a chunky rope. There’s a sleight of hand involved – a trick of the eye.
Rope and wood create a moody nautical theme – perfect for a wellhead cover, as demonstrated here by Chesapeakecrafts.com.
The vertically positioned wood hugs the wellhead while a central, short log sits lightly atop the wellhead. The arrangement is held together with rope and decorated with a solar light and a plastic duck. Pretty!
This idea is neat but maybe a tad unwieldy when you need to access the wellhead for maintenance or repairs.
What do you think?
11. Cover a Well Pipe with Mock Rock
Hiding a wellhead is an exercise in hiding an unsightly plumbing component, and a hugely popular masking option is faux rock. Commercially available in lightweight polyethylene, fake rocks are weather resistant and convincingly rock-like.
Check this example of a sandstone-mock rock. This supplier’s range of rock replicas includes different shades and textures to suit your landscaping style.
Add ambiance to the rock by adding ground cover, grasses, and pebbles.
Choosing Creative Well Pipe Cover Ornaments
Our wellhead covers ideas thus far include – one well-pipe cover bag, five cover box/pedestal ideas, and five stand-alone well-pipe covers.
Now for the fun part – choosing something arty, earthy, and alluring to adorn the pedestal and complete your well pipe cover combo!
12. Buy a Planter Bowl for Your Well Pipe Cover Combo
A shallow planter is a natural go-to for your well pipe cover pedestal. It’s easy to manage and move, and as a bonus, its one of the cheapest options available! And a shallow planter will make an ideal bed for succulents and bonsai.
We love this 10” circular planter made from water-friendly recycled plastic.
Imagine this earthy planter with a miniature cactus garden atop an inverted, tall, tapered concrete planter.
13. A Hand Pump Water Feature for a Well Pipe Cover Combo
There’s a well down there – let it flow! Or at least let it appear to rush via a plug-in water feature, like this hand pump and basins ensemble.
This water feature hits the old-world homestead spot – hand pump and bronzed basins that will sit comfortably on one of our base plinth ideas, be that barrel or box!
- You will need to run an underground power cable from an outlet nearby.
Or:
- You can (possibly) connect the water feature power lead to your wellhead circuit.
Picture this – flowing water above your well, a shady tree overheard, and a comfy blanket. Yes! Nap time on the grass by the hand pump!
14. A Solar-Powered Birdbath On a Well Pipe Cover Pedestal
The more birds a garden attracts, the happier it is! And your well pipe pedestal is the perfect base for a solar-powered birdbath!
Imagine hummingbirds paying you a visit and frolicking in a tiny fountain in the middle of a shallow birdbath, sitting pretty on your well pipe cover box.
- No electrical wires and no manual switching on and off – it’s automated and SOLAR POWERED!
A stand-alone, hassle-free, and picture-perfect accessory for your wellhead!
15. A Rain Gauge for a Tapered Planter Wellhead Cover
We’re sticking with the water theme, and of course – a rain gauge makes sense. But not just any old plastic rain gauge. We’re talking about a metal and glass hummingbird rain gauge!
The hummingbird rain gauge looks stunning. Like garden jewelry! And it provides valuable rainfall stats. And show us a gardener who wouldn’t want all of that?
Beauty is simple and clever!
16. DIY a Bird Feeder for a Well Pipe Cover Riser
We love covering well pipes with something helpful and practical. So here’s a wellhead cover that could invite friendly garden visitors to your yard.
But, of course, we’re talking about a DIY birdfeeder! We think this is a far more entertaining way to cover wellhead pipe than decorative rock. And we bet your local songbirds will agree!
A bird feeder is a great way to attract birds to your garden (and keep your cats on their toes!). Plus, this creative idea to cover up your well pipe is super simple to DIY!
If you want some inspiration, watch this DIY bird feeder tutorial, which demonstrates that you only need a single board to make a bird feeder for your well pipe!
Here are some tips for using a bird feeder as a cover:
We love form and function combining for better bird life!
17. Define a Well Pipe Cover with Rock Sculpture
Create a mystical aura around your wellhead with Zen-like Cairn stones atop your wellhead cover box, barrel, or riser.
The stones are held in gravity-defying positions with glue and pegs, creating a 13”-high statue that will transfix all onlookers. 100% guaranteed.
We love these stones!
18. Wellhead Cover Combo Solar Watering Can with Lights
With one of our wellhead cover boxes as your base and a flowery planter adorning it, you’ll enjoy having the combo illumined with solar lighting flowing from a watering can!
A wrought iron Shepard’s crook secured to the side of your base plinth suspends a watering can lantern with flowing fairy lights, lighting up the plants! It really doesn’t get more whimsical than this.
This lantern is also solar-powered, which means you won’t have to do any electrical setup. Plus, who doesn’t love solar power for its sustainability angle, anyway?
Overall, this is a low-maintenance, low-cost conversation piece! Ideal for those late-night chinwags on the porch!
19. Use Driftwood Art or Scrap Wood for a Well Pipe Cover Combo
One of the cheapest ideas to cover a well pipe is to make your own DIY driftwood sculpture. To make one, find a piece of driftwood and mount it on a flat board using screws or a steel stem.
Then, you can secure the driftwood sculpture base to the cover box/plinth/riser with screws, cable ties, or heavy-duty velcro.
Once again, a water theme runs through this idea – water carving wood over untold years of riding the rivers. Mystical!
20. Buy Bird Sculpture for a Well Pipe Cover Combo
How about a pair of water birds to hang out at your wellhead? Consider these beautiful blue heron steel sculptures – one for the box, the other on the ground!
These statues stand tall (33” and 28” high) with a stunning blue hue to the metal. We also like these because the body of each bird detaches from the legs for easy moving.
To secure these guys to your well cover, we recommend using cable ties or zip ties.
If you want elegance for your wellhead, these birds will do it!
21. A Solar Elephant Lantern for a Well Pipe Cover Box
Many consider elephants good luck charms in East Asia and Africa. So, bring the power of providence with a resin elephant statue holding a solar lantern on its trunk!
The waterproof solar lamp elephant statue stands 15” tall with a solid footing, making it an ideal decoration for your well pipe cover.
Additionally, the solar unit powers up in direct sunlight to bring several hours of automatic illumination when the sun sets.
Brilliant idea, indeed!
Well Pipe Cover Ideas – Frequently Asked Questions
We know that covering your protruding wellhead is a daunting affair. You may encounter many questions. But you need not travel far for the answers you seek! We amassed a lovely list of wellhead-covering questions. We hope they help you.
You can hide your well pipe by covering it with a wellhead insulating bag. Various other wellhead masking ideas include using low fencing, wooden boxes, inverted galvanized and plastic buckets, and hollow-form fake rocks.
It is ok to cover a wellhead. Well pipes can be covered safely, provided the covering material does not impede airflow to and from the wellhead breather vent or place excessive weight on the wellhead.
You should consider covering your wellhead, as covering a wellhead with insulated fabric will prevent wellhead damage in extreme temperatures. An insulated wellhead cover will winterize the well pipe casing and prevent the wellhead from cracking due to sustained harmful UV ray exposure.
A well needs a vent to prevent dangerous backflow into the groundwater should the well pump fail or suffer a power outage. Well pipes typically have vents in the well’s cap, forming part of the aboveground wellhead.
You can winterize a well by palcing an insulated weatherproof nylon bag over the wellhead. The insulated bag allows the wellhead to vent while preventing winter-ambient temperatures from freezing the water in the wellhead, causing the well to burst.
A well pipe sleeve is an outer casing covering and protecting the well pipe casing. A well pipe sleeve helps prevent damage to the well-casing from external puncturing. The well casing sleeve also acts as a thermal barrier, helping prevent the water in the wellhead from freezing and potentially rupturing the wellhead.
You can make exposed pipes look chic by covering them with attractive masking materials like rope, burlap, wood, steel, and ceramics. Pipe cover boxes made of finished wood, plastic, or metal can cover ugly pipes.
You can protect your wellhead from freezing and bursting by winterizing it with an insulated nylon bag. Then, cover it with an upside-down box, barrel, or steel drum to prevent impact damage to the wellhead.
The best way to hide a well pump is to cover it with attractive housing made from wood with a weatherproof roof. The pump cover must be lightweight and easily removed from the well pump. Installing a demountable 4’ bamboo fence around the well pump will obscure it from view. (In most instances.)
Well pumps and wellheads risk freezing in temperatures below 32°F if not insulated. In addition, well pumps and pipes exposed to ambient temperatures below 32°F potentially suffer leaks and bursting if not treated with insulation materials.
Plants with shallow root systems are safe to plant around a well. Never use chemical fertilizer on plants near a well. Avoid planting trees and shrubs with aggressive root systems.
Most modern wells have casings – they are law-bound to have adequate well-casing material to prevent contaminants from entering the well and compromising sustained water quality. However, wells without well-casings are rare and seldom provide the necessary water quality to protect against water-borne illnesses.
Well Pipe Cover Ideas Well Covered
There you have it! A plunge, deep and wide, through an aquifer of wellhead cover ideas. With 21 concepts to create a stand-alone wellhead cover or a well pipe cover combo, you have much grist for your creative mill.
Remember – steer clear of materials that contain harmful chemicals that may contaminate the soil near your well when picking your favorite wellhead cover idea.
Keep your wellhead cover idea natural, water-wise, and eye-catching!
Happy covering!
Keep Reading:
How to Cover Well Pipe – Resources, References, and Works Cited
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