My rain barrel cracked at the seam last week after 2 years of use

I had it set up under the downspout and came out to find a puddle spreading across the whole side yard. Anyone else have those blue plastic barrels split on them or did I just get a bad one?

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2 Comments

michael6932mo ago

Oh I feel that pain. Same thing happened to me last summer with one of those dark blue 55 gallon barrels. The seam just gave out while I was at work and my whole garden bed got flooded. I think it's just the cheap plastic they use now, mine barely lasted a year and a half before it let go.

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jade32mo ago

Jumping off what michael693 said, I honestly think the UV exposure is the real killer with those blue barrels. I had one on the south side of my house, full sun all afternoon, and the plastic got brittle after about 18 months. The seam didn't even split dramatically, it just started seeping a slow leak along the whole bottom edge. I replaced it with a food-grade 30 gallon white barrel, painted it to block the light, and that thing's been solid for three years now. Also, I learned the hard way to put a cinder block under the spigot side so the barrel sits slightly tilted. Keeps water from pooling right at the seam joint. Your mileage may vary, but a little shading and a tilt buys you a lot more life.

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