That rain barrel I installed took 5 weekends to stop leaking

I figured a rain barrel would be a simple afternoon project. Hook it to the downspout, set it on some blocks, done. But the diverter kit I got didn't fit my gutter pipe right. Then the spigot dripped constantly no matter how much plumber's tape I used. By week three I had water pooling around the base and mosquitoes moving in. I ended up cutting the downspout, adding a flex hose, and sealing the spigot with epoxy putty. It held water for the first time last Saturday. Five weekends for something that should have taken two hours. Has anyone else had a simple yard project turn into a month long headache?

3 comments

3 Comments

wood.eric24d ago

Yeah lmao "simple afternoon project" is a lie I believed too.

the_wesley24d ago

Bought a cheap shed that promised "easy assembly, two people, one afternoon." Three weekends later I was still shimming the floor and wrestling with a warped roof panel. Ended up using a level on the floor more than I've used it on anything inside my actual house.

spencer_park2624d ago

I actually just read something about this the other day, how those flat-pack sheds are basically a scam for anyone who doesn't have a perfectly level concrete pad already poured. The article said most cheap sheds use this super thin gauge metal that's basically guaranteed to warp in the sun before you even get it out of the box. And the instructions are always these tiny exploded diagrams with like zero measurements, so you're just guessing where the screws go. I've heard people say it's cheaper to just buy an old used shed off Facebook Marketplace and move it with a truck, which honestly seems like less of a headache than what you went through. Your floor probably ended up way more level than the slab under my house though, so at least you got some use out of that level lol