Winterizing rain barrel

I didn't even think about what to do with my rain barrel until today. It's been sitting out there all winter, and has definitely frozen solid at least once. The spigot at the bottom has been closed the whole time.

• - What are the odds the barrel is ruined, do you think?
• - We're having a week of very warm weather. Supposing the barrel is already cracked, is it worth draining it and connecting a downspout extension to a diverter and all that, or just leave it be and worry about it in the spring?

More info: It's a plastic/resin barrel. It has a small rectangular opening for the downspout, so it's impossible to really get inside it with an arm or a tool for cleaning. One interesting feature is it has an integrated planter in the top. Out of the box, this was basically just a basin formed into the top of the barrel, but I drilled a few 1/4" holes in the bottom of the planter portion so that water didn't just sit in there when it filled up. (I'm not a big fan of either drowned plants or mosquitoes.) Then I made sure my overflow pipes originated at about the same height as the bottom of the planter basin.

If it's full of water, it's probably not leaking...

oldognewtrick said:

If it's full of water, it's probably not leaking...

Click to expand...

I figure it could be full of mostly a big ball of ice (one that has expanded and shrunk a few times maybe).

http://www.panonplastic.com/product/rain-diverter-2/

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3I8bgvmY7g[/ame]

Based on bowls and basins that I have seen frozen, the material expands usually rounding out the bottom, which makes it wobbly. If that has happened, you may not get it back into shape or you may get lucky. Any more frozen than that and you would be looking at a split in the side.
My understanding is that the sealed top is to keep the water in the barrel somewhat clean & fresh. If you have punched holes in the planter, you may be making soup in that barrel.

nealtw said:

http://www.panonplastic.com/product/rain-diverter-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3I8bgvmY7g

Click to expand...

That's awesome. Gonna look into it in the spring.

Flyover said:

That's awesome. Gonna look into it in the spring.

Click to expand...

I have two to do too but being a cheapskate will likely try making one out what ever I can find laying around.:hide:

slownsteady said:

Based on bowls and basins that I have seen frozen, the material expands usually rounding out the bottom, which makes it wobbly. If that has happened, you may not get it back into shape or you may get lucky. Any more frozen than that and you would be looking at a split in the side.

Click to expand...

My rain barrel does not appear to be wobbling.

My understanding is that the sealed top is to keep the water in the barrel somewhat clean & fresh. If you have punched holes in the planter, you may be making soup in that barrel.

Click to expand...

I wish I had thought about that. There probably is some dirt in the bottom of my rain barrel from drilling those holes (I drilled 4 or 5 of them), but after a full summer with plenty of rain the water I was getting out of the barrel looked clear and I had no issues with flow. I expect the dirt in the bottom will build up until this is not the case, so I'll cross that bridge when I get there. (Or maybe I'll poly some fine screen in place over the holes if I'm smart and remember to.)

After I created this thread I did some DuckDuckGo-ing, read some articles on winterizing rain barrels, and decided to drain my rain barrel and leave the spigot open until spring, putting a downspout splash block under the spigot facing out toward the lawn. (Normally it sits under the overflow pipes.)

nealtw said:

I have two to do too but being a cheapskate will likely try making one out what ever I can find laying around.:hide:

Click to expand...

Well whaddaya think I meant by "look into it"??

Might be a cool project I take pictures of and post on here!

Flyover said:

Well whaddaya think I meant by "look into it"??

Might be a cool project I take pictures of and post on here!

Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect less from a DIYer.:thbup:

I was thinking poking a hole in the side of the down spout cut the top half of a 2" pvc pipe away and put that in the hole to catch the water, in the winter just pull that out and plug the hole.