As soon as the water comes out of a leak in the rain barrel, it is unusable. Therefore, you must be particularly careful when drilling holes. What is particularly helpful is the right material and an appropriate approach. On this page you will learn which steps are sure to lead to success. This means that even an untrained do-it-yourselfer can drill a hole in the rain barrel.
How do I drill a hole in a rain barrel?
To drill a hole in a rain barrel, you will need a drill, a metal drill and a step drill. Mark the desired location, drill a small pilot hole and expand it to the desired diameter using the step drill.
What is the purpose of a hole in the rain barrel?
- To direct the downpipe into the bin.
- To connect two rain barrels together.
Instructions
Tool
- A drill
- A step drill for metal
- A metal drill with a smaller diameter for the preparatory work
Procedure
- Check what diameter your hole will have to have later.
- You can determine the size based on the diameter of the downpipe or the threaded piece for connecting two barrels.
- Mark the spot on the outside wall of your rain barrel where the hole will be drilled later.
- Now choose a suitable screw (€1.00 on Amazon) (0.4 mm is recommended) and clamp it in the drill.
- Use this to pre-drill a small hole, which initially represents the center of the actual hole.
- Now place the step drill on the small hole and expand the diameter until the desired hole size is reached.
- You may need to sand off any imperfections around the edges and do a few tiny touch-ups.
More tips
Choose a location for drilling that you can easily clean later with a vacuum cleaner. When drilling into light material such as plastic, a large amount of sawdust is created. Furthermore, you should not place the hole too close to the upper edge. If you drill into this, your rain barrel will unfortunately no longer be usable.
