When I worked summer construction jobs in high school and college, the guys on the crew (if we were outdoors) would yell, "Come on down, Raymond!" whenever it looked like it might rain. (Raymond = Rain, but don't ask me why.) If it started raining it meant we'd have to stop work and could go home.
I'm a little closer to wanting to yell, "Come on down, Raymond!" now that I've made some progress on my rain barrel. I cut the top off with my electric jigsaw this afternoon in order to gain access to the interior of the barrel to install the bulkhead fitting anchor that holds the spigot on the outside of the barrel. I would have preferred to leave the top on and channel water from the downspout into one of the two bung holes in the top of the barrel, but there was no way to install the bulkhead fitting with the top in place.
But once I got the top off I discovered that a plastic lid from one of my 32-gallon utility trash cans (that I store potting soil in) fits the top of the barrel perfectly. That's great since it will keep out debris and prevent mosquitoes from gaining access to the water to lay eggs. I'll have to cut a hole in the rubber trash can lid for the downspout to fit in
Here's a close up of the spigot. I ran enough city water into the barrel to test the spigot and it works great. I'll be able to attach a hose to the spigot for watering in the front garden.
I surveyed the roof lines to see where I might collect the greatest volume of water and it appears that the far end of my front porch is the best place. There's a downspout there that collects water from two different levels of the roof. Since the barrel is white, and there are a lot of bushes around that corner, it will be mostly hidden from site. The extra height of the porch will give the gravity flow a bit of extra power as well, though I'll probably set it on one layer of concrete blocks to create even more pressure.
More pix when I get the downspout rigged up.
Bummer. I went back out after the water had dried around the base of the barrel to see if there were any leaks -- and the bulkhead fitting is leaking. I drilled the hole for it the size the guy at Renfrows told me to, but after I drilled the hole the bulkhead fitting seem to have PLENTY of room, as in maybe the hole is too big. The bulkhead fitting has soft rubber washers on both sides that I hoped would fill in the extra space in the hole, but there's obviously still a leak. I'll try tightening the bulkhead fitting more (I didn't lean on it for fear of stripping the plastic threads) and see if that helps. If it doesn't, the drip is very small and won't be a great loss.
I'm a little closer to wanting to yell, "Come on down, Raymond!" now that I've made some progress on my rain barrel. I cut the top off with my electric jigsaw this afternoon in order to gain access to the interior of the barrel to install the bulkhead fitting anchor that holds the spigot on the outside of the barrel. I would have preferred to leave the top on and channel water from the downspout into one of the two bung holes in the top of the barrel, but there was no way to install the bulkhead fitting with the top in place.
But once I got the top off I discovered that a plastic lid from one of my 32-gallon utility trash cans (that I store potting soil in) fits the top of the barrel perfectly. That's great since it will keep out debris and prevent mosquitoes from gaining access to the water to lay eggs. I'll have to cut a hole in the rubber trash can lid for the downspout to fit in
Here's a close up of the spigot. I ran enough city water into the barrel to test the spigot and it works great. I'll be able to attach a hose to the spigot for watering in the front garden.
I surveyed the roof lines to see where I might collect the greatest volume of water and it appears that the far end of my front porch is the best place. There's a downspout there that collects water from two different levels of the roof. Since the barrel is white, and there are a lot of bushes around that corner, it will be mostly hidden from site. The extra height of the porch will give the gravity flow a bit of extra power as well, though I'll probably set it on one layer of concrete blocks to create even more pressure.
More pix when I get the downspout rigged up.
Bummer. I went back out after the water had dried around the base of the barrel to see if there were any leaks -- and the bulkhead fitting is leaking. I drilled the hole for it the size the guy at Renfrows told me to, but after I drilled the hole the bulkhead fitting seem to have PLENTY of room, as in maybe the hole is too big. The bulkhead fitting has soft rubber washers on both sides that I hoped would fill in the extra space in the hole, but there's obviously still a leak. I'll try tightening the bulkhead fitting more (I didn't lean on it for fear of stripping the plastic threads) and see if that helps. If it doesn't, the drip is very small and won't be a great loss.
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