Warning: My backyard rain barrel setup just failed in a big way

I set up a 50-gallon rain barrel last summer in Portland to water my garden, but after that big storm last night, I found the overflow pipe had completely detached and water was pooling right against my foundation. The plastic fitting just cracked from the cold weather I guess. Has anyone else had their rain barrel fittings break in winter and what did you use to fix it for good?

3 comments

3 Comments

river9521mo agoMost Upvoted

Totally had the same thing happen with mine last winter. The plastic nozzle just snapped right off when it got cold and the overflow pipe fell off in the middle of a storm. I ended up replacing all the plastic fittings with brass ones from the hardware store and it's been solid ever since.

alicemurphy1mo ago

river952, I think you meant brass fittings not plastic ones? Brass is definitely the way to go though, those plastic parts just can't handle the cold snap like metal can. Good call on swapping them out before more stuff busts.

amy_west1mo ago

Honestly @river952, that's basically exactly what happened to my neighbor's gutter system too.