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Tools You Will Need Electric jig-saw, unless you are a masochist, in which case, manual jig-saw. Electric drill. A cordless drill may not have enough oomph. 3/4" pipe tap (shown at right). Try to borrow rather than buy this. If you call you can arrange to borrow mine; 763-694-9989. 15/16" drill bit (spade bit). 7/8" will do in a pinch, but 15/16" is safer -- you're less likely to spoil the hole (and thereby waste the barrel) when you cut the threads later. 1-7/8" hole saw. If you use the alternate method for the overflow, 2-1/4" hole saw instead. Two adjustable crescent wrenches.

Basic Parts List

Part	Picture	Source & Cost*	Comments
Food-grade, plastic, 55-gallon barrel		Western Container, 8811 Science Center Drive, New Hope; 612-338-2413 $20 for either a "tight-head" top (shown) or for a removable top. (as of Oct. 2008)	Be sure to get one that contained non-toxic ingredients - open it and peek/smell before you accept it, because some foods are nasty to clean up, too! Oil will come out with a little detergent, but eggs--ick! This barrel is shown with the holes you will need to make, already cut. There are three: one on top, where you remove approximately a half-circle. One near the side of the top, for overflow drainage, and one near the bottom (on the right, hard to see) for a faucet. An additional hole the same size and height as for the faucet may be added to "chain" to a second barrel.
Flexible window screen, 28" x 28"		Home Depot, Menards, or Lowe's $2	...depending how big a roll you buy and what material. We recommend fiberglass.
Rope or twine			To tie the screen onto the top.
Faucet Assembly
Faucet, 3/4" male		Home Depot, Menards, or Lowe's $4.50	A "boiler drain" style is shown here. This is easiest for connecting a hose when the faucet sticks out from the side of the barrel very near the bottom.
Pipe coupling, female, 3/4", or a brass nut of the same size		Home Depot, Menards, or Lowe's $4.00	This is used inside the barrel to secure the faucet. A nut would be better and probably less expensive if you can find one, but I never can. There is a PVC coupling that would also work; it's similar in shape and costs only about 50 cents.
Washer, inner diameter 1-1/16"		Menards? $.50	Can be hard to find. You might want to call ahead unless you're going anyway.
Overflow Assembly
Barb fitting to straight female pipe thread		Home Depot (electrical dept.) $1.84	The exterior dimension of the barb is 1 1/2" -- interior dimension of thread is 1 7/8 or thereabouts.
Apparently known simply as "fitting"		Home Depot $1	Screws into barb fitting.
Sump drain hose, 1 1/4" or 1 1/2"		Home Depot or Menards $7.00 - 9.00	We prefer to use this hose which is 1-1/4" but has a 1-1/2" sleeve to fit onto the barb fitting. We don't want to run the risk of the overflow not being able to keep up with the water running off the roof and being spilled next to the foundation. A 1-1/2" hose costs about $10 at Home Depot; but the barb fitting is the narrowest point, so using the larger hose doesn't gain you much.
(Alternate overflow assembly)		Home Depot	Last time we bought parts for a rain barrel demo., we couldn't find the gray barb fitting (H.D. was reorganizing the dept. and its stock). We improvised this alternate assembly using a right-angle pipe fitting which is threaded on the inside on one leg, smooth on the other. The barb fitting and metal clamp came with the hose. We'll install this by drilling a 2-1/4" hole for the white elbow piece to fit into the barrel body, and caulk around it using GE Silicone II Window and Door caulk. This should be sufficient since the water is not under pressure.
	Approximate Total	$37.00
To connect additional rain barrels in a chain
Two 3/4 x 1/2" or 3/4 x 5/8" barb to MIP adapter		Home Depot $3.00 ea	Choose the size that fits snugly into the hose you want to use - 5/8" is probably better.
12" or so of garden hose
Two hose clamps (optional)		Home Depot, Menards, or Lowe's $1.00 ea	We didn't use these, and we have noticed occasional leakage, and some increased risk of the hose getting jogged loose by accident.
Optional stuff you might want
Gutter Drain Add-On			Some way to divert the rainwater into the barrel. We cut our gutter drain a foot above barrel height and got an elbow with a bend that is not too sharp -- enough to point the water into the top of the barrel but not enough to give it a lot of sideways momentum. There are also (we are told) hinged gadgets that are easier to switch over between seasons.
Downspout diverter			These are becoming more widely available, but we haven't noticed any locally, so you might want to call around or look for one online. If you use one, let us know how well it works, so we can share that information with our visitors.
Spray Paint		$9.00	If bright blue doesn't fit your exterior decor, use a spray paint designed to be plastic-covering. To be on the safe side and have enough for future touch-ups, 2 cans is best. (More decorative painting options)
GE Silicone II Exterior Caulk			In case you want to caulk around the fixtures on the inside. We have not found this necessary, except for the "alternate" overflow; threading the holes in the plastic barrel creates a secure seal.

* These sources and prices range from 2002 - 2009, so expect some changes. Your findings/updates appreciated.

♦♦♦ Visitor's Questions Answered Here ♦♦♦

Assembly Instructions

Choose a place to work where you can easily clean up all the little blue plastic shavings that will result.

Mark off a little less than half the barrel top for cutting. This semicircle will eventually be removed, but first let's drill a few practice holes in that half with the 15/16" bit. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. There's a certain technique to using a Forstner bit on plastic to prevent it from binding -- you have to pre-drill a small starter hole and waggle from side to side as you drill. With a spade bit, you need to press down hard right at the end or else it may buck as it breaks through, chewing an extra chunk out of the edge of your nice neat hole. The voice of experience speaks. You might also try stopping just before it breaks through and pushing the rest out with a screwdriver. Keep the drill at an exact right angle to the surface.

Next, practice threading a few holes with the pipe tap. (For an alternate design that doesn't need threaded holes see the description near the bottom of the FAQs page.) It's important to keep the tap exactly lined up with the direction of the hole (i.e. also at a right angle to the surface). If your threads are at an angle, your fittings will not screw in snugly and are more likely to leak. Try using two crescent wrenches pointing opposite to each other, to turn it without pushing it out of line.

Use a small-toothed blade to cut out the semicircle. Wear eye protection! The idea is to remove enough material to make it possible to get at the inside for cleaning, but leaving enough to support the shape of the barrel. Note also that a small opening is more likely to get covered with leaves and debris, causing spillover. The barrel material gets pretty thick near the edges, so you will find it easiest if you stay an inch or so from the edge. I've found it works pretty well if I rest one side of the saw's "foot" on the rim of the barrel and try to keep it level -- don't rest the other side of the foot on the barrel surface, which would make the blade slant toward the outside and into thicker material.

Use a blade to clean up the plastic burrs from the edges of this hole.

Now is the time to figure out where you're going to put this barrel. Choose the locations for the overflow, faucet hole and connection to a second barrel (if any) and mark this information on the barrel. Keep track of which barrel goes where if you are making more than one.

Cut a 1-7/8" hole near the top for the overflow (2-1/4 if using the right-angle fitting). It won't be a watertight seal, but make sure it's just large enough to fit the "fitting" through. Make sure of this before you cut it, since it's very hard to slightly enlarge a large hole and keep it round. Decreasing the hole size is even more difficult. You may want cut a practice hole in your scrap piece.

Again, note that the barrel material is thick near the top, and you may have trouble getting a snug fit if you make the hole too high. The right-angle overflow can be installed higher, since it doesn't have anything screwed onto it on the inside.

Drill and thread a hole to screw the faucet into.

Put the big washer on the faucet (i.e. the washer will end up on the outside of the barrel), and screw it in carefully. Brass is a lot harder than plastic, so if you don't start it right you will tear up the threads. Turn it counterclockwise first, until the threads match and it drops into position; then turn clockwise. Try to make the faucet end up pointing sideways so it's easy to hook up a hose. Secure the faucet on the inside with the large nut or pipe coupling. The washer and nut together strengthen the barrel around the faucet area and keep the faucet from moving relative to the plastic, which we think will ease the strain on the threads of turning the faucet on and off.

Note: if you can't get a pipe tap or just prefer not to do it, I suppose you can use a smooth hole, with nuts and rubber washers and caulk to prevent leaks. However, the threading technique has been very, very good to me. Our barrels are three years old, have suffered freezing of the contents, and so far have no leaks.

Tie the screen on top with the rope -- the barrel has a narrow point near the top so the rope can be snug there. The screen has three purposes:

1. Keep leaves and shingle granules out so the faucet doesn't get clogged.
2. Prevent small animals from falling in and drowning.
3. Prevent mosquitoes from breeding there.

If you're going to hook up a second (or third) barrel to the first one, make another threaded hole for the connection to another barrel, if you wish, and insert the hose barb there. Since the connections between barrels aren't stressed as much as the faucet, we figure washers are unnecessary here. We prefer to use barrels with removable tops for the "chained" barrels, because we don't have to worry about fastening screens on. To keep air from being trapped inside we took off one of the caps in the cover and caulked some screen over it..

Miscellaneous Notes

Water doesn't come gushing out of this at anything like the force of a regular faucet. Gravity is your friend here -- the lower you hold the hose end, the faster the rate of flow. Raise it above the water level in the barrel and the flow stops.

We've seen commercial barrels with the overflow tube coming out at the bottom, fed by a vertical pipe inside whose top is near the top of the barrrel. While this may be more esthetic, it must be harder to construct, seal, and clean. We think our way is better, especially for a home-made barrel. With the alternate construction method for the overflow, the hose starts out pointing down rather than straight out, which may let you arrange it more pleasingly.

There are also barrels that, for some mysterious reason, are linked together at the top instead of the bottom. You must have a faucet on each barrel instead of just one to drain the whole chain. Why do it this way?

If you set the barrel up on a couple of cinder blocks, you can install the faucet sticking out the bottom to get nearly all the water out of it. It is, however, a bit harder to handle the barrel since you can't set it down without turning it upside down. Also, 55 gallons of water weighs over 450 pounds; make sure your support is strong.

Some designs have just a hose connection on the barrel -- like the barb-to-MIP connectors we use for chaining barrels -- and leave the hose connected all the time. To keep the water from running out, put the hose end on top of the barrel, or use a shutoff valve on the "business" end of the hose. This is simpler and a little less expensive to build -- you need no faucet -- and puts less strain on the seal where the hose is connected. But we like to not have so many hoses lying about the grounds.

As I mentioned, our barrels have frozen (mostly) solid with no apparent harm, but it's probably not good for them, especially repeatedly, and it's definitely difficult to store them for the winter in that condition (I did mention they weigh 450 lbs full, didn't I?), so don't let that happen.

In Closing

That's it! This project is really a breeze! My Labor Pool (a.k.a. husband) put this together in less than a couple of hours and only two trips to the hardware store (not the usual requisite three--a major coup for DIYers everywhere!). (L.P. comments: Now that I've made a dozen or so, I have the construction time down to < 1 hr).

Nevermind that the eight barrels now gracing our yard took hours of intensive Internet research, many visits to area hardware and DIY stores to seek out the best parts available, and one instance of installing a plug where an "oops" hole was drilled... Now, through our selfless efforts, you can benefit from our toil and whip up a batch of barrels in no time, and avoid the common pitfalls. Happy watering!

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