water butt support

[Stephen]

Hello,

I am about to install a water butt. The standard size of butt seems to be 210 litres, so that would be 210kg when full. Are there any special requirements for what to put underneath the butt to support that weight? I was thinking of using a paving slab to give a smooth and level surface. Is that necessary?

I have got clay soil so is there a likelihood of the butt sinking over time? Would I be best to bed the slab on a few inches of gravel? If so how deep: would four inches be enough?

Thanks

[Donwill]

I support mine on 4 sets of dry laid bricks to give sufficient space to insert watering can under tap, the bricks are placed on a paving slab. Been in use for approx 4 yrs never had any probs, when it's emptied you can reposition as neccesary. No big deal. Cheers Don

[Donwill]

Be careful if you have kiddies as they may try to climb up it and pull it over on themselves. We are in the lucky position of not having any. :-) Cheers Don

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mine stands on two single brick walls, over very shallow foundations on a load of hardcore and MOT that forms the french drain around the house.

I would say that you should dig out teh clay and mash in hardcore, and then mortar a slab or make a concrete cast base, and then use bricks or blocks to get the height right, if permanency is the aim. It will be OK just on a slab on soil but will move a bit as the weight settles in the slab.

And end up safe, but probably c*ck-eyed.

[Tim S]

Stephen coughed up some electrons that declared:

Paving slab bedded on a bit of sand (for ease of levelling) would be fine if it's basically just sitting on the ground.

I wouldn't bother with the gravel, unless perhaps you were building high (6"-12") stand, in which case I might dig the hole out to 4-6" down, lob some hardcore (any rough crap) then build up with concrete or slabs or bricks mortared together, which I have done before and was *more* than solid enough.

Even a stacked pile of paving slabs on a bit of sand on the ground would be probably be good enough, though I might be inclined to put a little mortar between them to lessen the risk of cracking one.

But at the end, what's the worst case failure scenario? Probably a cracked slab. It's hard to envisage a case where the butt will topple, not at least without a long period of leaning first!

Cheers

Tim

[Jules]

Cut drain holes in the bottom so that it isn't as heavy. ;)

I agree about the bricks or having something to raise the barrel up and putting a tap* in; having to fill a bucket or whatever via the top is a pain, and all sorts of crud will end up building up at the bottom.

• I've seen things sold as rain barrels which are just that - no tap.

[Stephen]

Sorry, I should have added more detail at the beginning: the previous owners built a small brick wall to make a raised flowerbed. The plan is to put the waterbut on the end of this flowerbed, so that it will be a foot or so off the patio, which will hopefully be sufficient to get a watering can under.

I am a little nervous about the flowerbed because the end touches the wall of the house. Am I right to be worried about that damp soil touching my house 24 hours a day? There is another flowerbed against the garage. the garage is a single brick wall and inside the bricks have discoloured, which I am sure is from the wet soil.

I was thinking of some sort of pond liner against the wall to keep the wet soil off the bricks and the gravel might help with drainage too.

[The Natural Philosopher]

yes.

almost certainly

Id be more aggressive than that, and use something like DPM set in mortar with an extra course of brick to hold it all in place.

[george (dicegeorge)]

gardners and leaves had built up my flowerbeds over a hundred years up up up...

Dampness wasnt seeping through the walls but pouring in through the airbricks and under the floor which is why it rotted.

[g]

[oldhenwife]

Ours all came with a stand which was high enough to allow for a watering can under the tap.

Mary

[Andrew Gabriel]

So did mine. After 10 years, it's quite badly crushed under the weight, but hasn't actually collapsed.

[Stephen]

Thanks. I will do exactly as you suggest. Thanks again.

[george (dicegeorge)]

I guess that in a autumn downpour it will clog and overflow so I'd slope things so the overflowing water goes where you want it to.

[g]

[Stephen]

Fortunately (?) we have concrete floors, so they can't rot. I was thinking of removing a foot or two of soil from against the wall and filling it with gravel. Hoping that the gravel would act as a buffer between the wet soil and the wall.

[Stephen]

The shops are less generous a decade later and you have to pay for the stand separately ;(

I'm not sure what to think about your stand collapsing. OTOH it has lasted ten years but OTOH they are designed for one job only: to support water butts. Shouldn't it do exactly that forever?