Repairing My Rain Barrel

So I have this rain barrel by Fiskars that had been good for me and for my garden.  But recently after I left it out during a freeze, it developed a minute crack somewhere and wasn't filling up anymore.  After reading more about it on Amazon (since I was thinking of just purchasing a new one) I found that most of the complaints about this barrel was due to the same issue.  The shoddy spigot was the second-most hated thing about this barrel.

And because I pride myself on spending little to nothing on my hobby, I felt that paying nearly $100 for something that might cause me more problems was out of the question.



So my first idea was to find a way to repair the water receptacle.

Attempts at Repair

I knew that the hole must be somewhere under the container so I set it upon some bricks.

Then I went ahead and started filling it up until I felt that the weight of the water would give me the information I needed.  I noticed that the pressure of the water is what causes the hole to expand.  By the time I would see the problem (after a rain), the barrel was already mostly empty.

It was very easy to see where the water was coming from after that, so I took a Sharpie and marked it.

I was able to trace it to its source.

Now someone gave me the great idea of using nail polish to seal the crack.  I put two coats of "hardening" polish on the crack and then refilled the barrel about half way.  

To my delight -- no leak!!!  So I hooked the barrel back up to wait for the next storm.

Unfortunately, it was a failure.  The seal must not have properly closed.  So instead of trying again with some caulk or more nail polish, I wen to my Big Box Store and purchased this trash can.  The only setback I see so far is that the rain barrel had a 48 gallon capacity while this only has 32.  But right now 32 gallons is better than what I'm collecting now....which is half a gallon...if that much.

It wasn't hard to drill a 1 inch hole in the side to attach the connector from the rain barrel.  Now all I have to do is wait and see.  Today is Tuesday and we're not expected to get rain until Sunday.