Condo Blues: How to Make a Brick and Pallet Rain Barrel Stand

Sunday, April 23, 2017

How to Make a Brick and Pallet Rain Barrel Stand

There is an issue with the French drain in my side yard which leaves my side yard is wet and spongy days after it rains. I installed a rain barrel as a temporary fix until I can get my Homeowner’s Association to repair the poor drainage problem. Not to mention being able to capture and use rainwater to water our flowerbeds. A quick drainage fix, free plant water, and being green – high fives all around.

Originally I planned to hook a soaker hose up to the rain barrel as a lower waste way to water the front yard and garden but it didn’t work as well as I hoped because the rain barrel water pressure was practically nil. Turns out the height of your rain barrel determines how much water pressure flows from it and not what I thought – the amount of water in the rain catch system.

How to Increase Rain Barrel Water Pressure the Quick and Easy Way


To increase the water pressure in my rain barrel and water flow through a hose, I have to put on a pedestal or stand that is at least 4 feet off the ground.

Fortunately, I had just the thing at the right height in my garage – wood pallets!

Unfortunately, my pressure treated pallets aren’t pretty which may be an issue with my neighbors since my rain barrel is in my front yard. Luckily, I have leftover reclaimed landscaping bricks that I will use to hide the wood rain barrel platform.


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You will need for this project:

 

2 - 4 Wood Pallets

Tape Measure

Reciprocating Saw

Compound Miter Saw

Nail gun

Wood deck screws – If your rain barrel is larger than mine, you may need to use nuts and bolts to hold the weight.

Drill and drill bit

Impact driver

Bricks

Liquid Nails Landscape Adhesive

Chalk gun 

Rain barrel – my rain barrel looks like a giant rock

Disclosure: I included affiliate links in this post for your convenience.
 

 

Step by Step How to Build It:

 

1. Measure the base of your rain barrel and add a couple inches to this measurement (so the barrel won’t hang over your base and possibly crack with wear.) This is how wide you will need to cut the pallets to make your rain barrel base.


2. Use the reciprocating saw to cut the pallets 4 feet (48 inches) high by the measurement you determined in Step 1. Watch out for any possible nails or fasteners when you are cutting pallet wood.
I didn’t take my wood pallets apart to build my rain barrel stand. I want my stand to be as sturdy as possible when a 100+ pounds of water in the rain barrel is sitting on top of it.


3. Build a box: Butt two pallet sides together to make a corner. Use the drill and drill bit to drill pilot holes where the stringers (the thick internal boards the thin top and bottom deck boards are attached to) meet. Use the impact driver to attach the corners together with a deck screw. Do this for all four sides of your rain barrel stand.


 One of my pallets had missing a stringer board I nailed a stray stringer from my stash in its place. The horizontal stringer boards will support the covert brick covering the wood platform.

4. Measure the top width of the rain barrel stand and use the miter saw to cut several stringer boards your measurement to make the top of the rain barrel stand.

5. Use the nail gun to attach the cut stringers to the top of the rain barrel. Ta Da! You made a wood pallet rain barrel stand.


6. Place the wood rain barrel stand on a level piece of ground under a rain barrel diverter


7. Stack a row of bricks around the wood base. Use the landscaping adhesive to glue the next row on top of the first row of bricks and continue until you have reached the top of the wood rain barrel stand. Be sure to leave room for the rain barrel spigot if necessary!

The photos in this post are of my dry sack fit. I didn't glue anything in place at first just in case my stand didn't fly with my HOA.  Later, I used the landscaping adhesive to attach the brick to the wood base and each other. Otherwise the bricks will eventually shift and topple over.

I would have preferred to go with a solid brick layout but I didn’t have enough reclaimed bricks – one of the bummers of working with salvaged materials. I played around with what I had and come up with this open brick design instead.

8. Put your rain barrel on top of your DIY brick rain barrel stand, attach it to the rain gutter diverter, and pray for rain!

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