Once comfortable with the frame, I wrapped in 2 materials 3 times.

First, I wrapped the frame (just the outside) with my cloth weed mat. Then, chicken wire. And, finally, another layer of the same cloth weed mat. The theory was that I could slap on monster mud to the chicken wire (for a sturdy structure) and the bottom weed mat would be what it adhered to. However, as tight as I pulled the chicken wire over the weed mat, I couldn't get it to be as tight as the weed mat. So, I put another section of weed mat over the chicken wire. Seemed to work fine and eventually gave a nice solid 'wall', but enough give so I could transport it without it breaking... anyway. Stapled EVERYTHING... A LOT.









My wife's cat in the photo... for reference I guess


Before I go on, two things:

FIRST - Know that the circumference (diameter times Pi (3.14)) of the well is about 12.5 feet. The roll of chicken wire is 10ft, that's why I got two rolls (the second roll was only a 24" high instead of 36" because it was cheaper)
SECOND - My wife had a good idea that I didn't have time to do. Put casters (little wheels) on the bottom for easy transportation. This would have been great and I could have done it with more time. She also suggest that I extend the weed mat/chicken wire/weed mat combination several inches below the bottom of the well to 'cover' the wheels. So if adding wheels that were, say 3 inches tall, to the bottom, I'd have an extra 3 inches of my combo extended past the frame. Again, didn't do it, but would have (this is the reason I bought the 36" chicken wire - to extend down).



All that excess was stapled nice and good to the donuts.

Never working with Monster Mud, I wasn't sure how to go about applying it. I used a brush instead of dipping the weed mat into the mud. I wanted it stapled to the well to make sure it'd stay there and dipping it would have really inhibited that.

So... stapled the final weed mat layer and really worked in the mud.

This is supposed to be a biblical well, so I didn't want to go with the traditional gray stone look. I went for sandstone. Here's half the joint compound and half gallon of paint (this ends up as the 'grout' color...


Applied to the mat:


A section completed:


By making the first layer of weed may very tight, I ended up with a nice rounded wall and couldn't tell where the stakes where when completed. HOWEVER, make sure you don't end up with lumps or folds from the chicken wire (like the one visible in the photo). It's a pain for the following steps.

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