Flyover
Trying not to screw things up worse
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.
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.
- - 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.
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