DIY Rain Barrel Setup by Picardy Project

landscaping, diy

DIY Rain Barrel Setup

By Picardy Project on Aug 27, 2012

Remember the rain barrels we got for just the tax? They arrived several weeks ago and we were busy working on the front yard to do anything with them. But now that the front yard is done (Before and After tomorrow!!! Just waiting for some sunshine so I have pretty pics :) Chris wanted to hook them up so that they're ready for the rainy season.

As you can imagine, Cast Meryl was not much of a help for this project. The rain barrels are hooked up on the side of the house which is unlevel and narrow and just getting over there to take pics was quite the undertaking, so running back and forth helping Chris was not in the cards. Therefor, this post is not super detailed.

We have 3 rain barrels in total, 2 on the side of the house and 1 that's along the side of our neighbor's garage (not finished yet). The first is the one by the laundry room

This gutter and downspout get a decent amount of runoff from the back of the house. Chris and I want to be able to make use of the water that we collect so Chris set up a PVC pipe to come around the corner and then go under the deck and empty out by veggie garden 2.0 (hello weeds)

Once the barrel was in place Chris used 2 PVC elbows to bring the downspout directly into the rain barrel

Then he hooked up the overflow PVC to drain away from the house

Currently it's just draining out into our grass about 4 feet away

The plan is to dig out a bit of a drain so it's not making a big mud pile all over the "grass" (and when I say grass I clearly mean weedy mess).

A hose bib was also hooked up to the rain barrel and brought over to the PVC pipe Chris already hooked up under the deck

Hello hose to water our veggies!

We'll hook up a soaker hose to the spigot to make things easier. I know our super tasty watermelons will be happy

Pretty sweet set-up!

The other rain barrel Chris hooked up is the one by the front of the house

A rain barrel over here is really important because the crawl space under the house in this corner is really tight. As a result we tend to get a bit of standing water. Hopefully, the french drain we put in front, this rain barrel and some extra venting we just put in (more on that some other time) will help the constant dampness.

Chris set up cinder blocks to raise the barrel and make sure it was level. The task of actually putting the rain barrel back there was the big question mark. Cast Meryl is not super mobile and quick, so Chris and I were both a little nervous about just me and him lifting it over the 3+ foot wall and into place. Luckily, as we were brainstorming who we could get to help us a neighbor came and asked if we (cough, Chris, cough) could help him move a bookcase. Whoo-hoo, trade for lifting! So our neighbor helped Chris lift it over the wall and into place with me supervising :) And then it was just a matter of Chris getting it hooked up

I was a little nervous that the rain barrel would be too ginormous (and truthfully, we didn't put the biggest one here as planned, but that's because we weren't quite sure it would actually fit when we got it here and measured). But it actually tucks behind the wall and fence nicely.

Chris used a PVC pipe to tie into the downspout and bring it directly into the rain barrel. Another PVC pipe exits out of the top in the event of a crazy storm as overflow

There is also a hose bib hooked up and a hose the comes out over the top of the wall too. Right now the hose is pretty messy and not super attractive, so we'll eventually get some hardware to attach to the wall and keep it together nicely

And of course it's strapped to the house for safety because that sucker is heavy.

The other (ginormous) rain barrel will go along our neighbors garage, but first a little repair needs to occur

But that's a whole other post, which will be coming after the front yard Before & After post, hooray!!! (Let's just all ask the sun to come out so I can take pretty pics for you guys)