Rain Barrels -- Installing the Plumbing Fixtures, Part 1

We got a start on the rain barrel project. They're not deployed yet -- we still need to pour a small concrete pad and build a platform for them so we have some water pressure (gravity). But it's a start.

The first thing we did was to install a PVC elbow for an overflow tube. Here you see Himself filing the hole a little, as the keyhole bit (next picture) cut a hole slightly too small for the PVC elbow. That's not a bad thing, though -- the threads on the elbow cut into the plastic of the barrel, which makes for a good fit. We screwed in the fitting, backed it out, applied caulk (we went with T Rex caulk, which is supposed to be very strong) and then screwed it back in.

The next step is to install the drain. We bought one 3/4" male (i.e., with threads on the outside) boiler drain per barrel and used a forstner bit to cut the hole. The drain fitting is brass, so it cut very nice threads in the plastic when we screwed it in. Again, unscrew fitting, apply caulk, and screw back into barrel.