My Sankey water butt has developed a leak, a split on the base, even though it was standing on one of those clever expensive stands.
I tried mending it with that stuff they sell on QVC which mends leaks in domestic plumbing, allegedly, but it didn't work. Does anyone have any suggestions what to fix it with? Or how?
thanks
Jon
If the split is wide enough to fill with Loctite Plastic Padding then I would try that. If the split is too narrow to fill with Plastic Padding you could try running a hot soldering iron along the split to melt the plastic and seal the split. If that doesn't work then widen the split with a soldering iron then try Plastic Padding. I am not optimistic that a repair will be successful because of the weight of water on the base when the butt gets full.
Get a piece of stiffish plastic (similar to the butt), and some silicone bath sealant, and stick the patch to the bottom of the butt (inside) with just a ring of sealant round the edge. The weight of water should keep it pressed in place provided you only put a ring of sealant and don't try to make it better by putting sealant all over the patch.
Rob Graham
Hi Jon,
It so happens that I have my second Sankey Water Butt 210 l that has also split on base. I have been running a 'thread' on uk.rec.gardening dated 19/10/06 and getting reactions. Various comments say that should have an expected life of over 10 years.
I am now thinking that the butt or material was defective and we should get a refund/replacement from Mssrs Sankey if we kick up a fuss"!
I will photo both tomorrow and send to you so you can check whether the splits are in a similar position.
I have tried to seal with roofing mastic but has not worked.
After all a 210 l butt takes 200 kilos of weight
Regards
colin
interesting! I have 10 of these butts now, hope they don't all go this way the split is on the base, on the raised (when the butt is upside down! if that makes any sense) rim, near where the two halves are joined together, but at right angles to the join I can't see any reason why it should split, there's been no movement and no unusual pressure, but I think I see a similar crack on the other side It must be easily repairable with the right material surely?
I used strips of adhesive roof (flashing) sealer on the outside then poured roofing felt adhesive (like thin tar) inside and rolled the barrel around slowly until the whole base was coated. Allowed it to dry for a day or two then put some water in to force the soft adhesive into the cracks.. It's now full up and not leaking.. It took two or three goes but seems to work now. Michael
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