Installing a Rain Barrel
A simple rain barrel install.
🕛 Time - 30 Minutes
💵 Cost - $180
Materials
- Whiskey Rain Barrel ($125)
- Rain Barrel Diverter Kit ($35)
- Garden Hose ($20)
- Paver Sand (Existing)
- Wire (Existing)
Tools
I bought a rain barrel for my wife for her birthday and kept my promise to install it right away. I had a nice spot near an existing paver section I installed to store our snowblower in the summer. I level out the gravel that was behind the paver section.
I then used some left-over paver sand to fill in and level the foundation further before tamping it down and placing the barrel. I realize this isn't likely the best foundation but figured I would give it a shot with my existing materials.
Once level, I positioned the rain barrel. It is conveniently located directly next to the downspout on our garage.
Because I wasn't totally sold on my barrel foundation, I connected the top of the barrel to our fence with some wire.
I used an EarthMinded DIY rain barrel kit that included the necessary hole saw bits, tubing and attachments for the downspout and rain barrel. This kit could actually turn any container into a rain barrel, so it has some extra pieces that I didn't use. It was still cheaper than other options I found at Menards. I first cut a hole in the front of the downspout with the largest hole saw bit and put in the diverter. It's just a rubber piece that fixes snuggly in the hole. It is then held in place by two sheet metal screws.
Once the diverter was in place, I drilled a hole with the medium bit near the top of the rain barrel and inserted the rubber connector.
The hose for the rain barrel was more than long enough. It has to be between 6 inches and 24" inches from the downspout. You just push it directly into the gromets on either side.
I applied some thread lock to the rain barrel's spout and connected our new hose.
It was just starting to rain as I finished the installation. We might be able to give it a shot tomorrow.
