Doing some remodeling of the garden and will be increasing the patio area and her ladyship mentioned adding a water feature which I thought would be nice. Relaxing sounds, water for the birds etc..
Just had a quick look and, by Jove, they’re not cheap..

I have average DIY skills so wondering if it’s possible to build one on the cheap?

Anyone done similar? Any tips/ideas?

Fairly easy. Decide upon what you want. We bought a ‘half barrel’, and then bought an old ‘hand pump’ from a reclamation yard, stripped out the pumping mechanism, and ran a pipe to the ‘tap’ on the pump. Installed a pond pump in the barrel and that’s it, water running from the old fashioned pump.

That reminds me, I need to find a new half barrel as the old one has rotted after 20 years, and a new pond pump.

I built ours, big bowl at the top which watervruns over, goes underground, comes out of a 3ft wall as a sheet of water into a tiled sump, channel across the patio so running water at your feet into the main sump where the pump is. Biggest problem is keeping it topped up as it leaks somewhere. Depends what you want really and the area you’re going to site it in.

Pond pumps are pretty easy to install, just make sure you stick it somewhere you can get to – they end up getting blocked with crap and you’ll need to be able to clean it once a year or so. There are loads of ideas on Pinterest if you need inspiration.

Depends on how big I mean a pond with a little fountain not too hard

Marble sculpture in a vast lake with a 50ft jet probably far harder

Not difficult, there are guides for the size of pump you need. I’ve just tidied up a water feature for a customer that I put in years ago. Get a good quality pump and flexible liner.