So I bought these wonderful plastic barrels to make rain barrels out of. I got them at Restore (habitat for humanity). I over looked them for several weeks because they were priced at $50 each, and it seems that every one else did too because the dropped the price to $25 and they were all gone with in two weeks.

As rain barrels go, they are a great size (55 gal) and work great. Only problem is the need to add a spigot to them so that I do not have to siphon out all the water with a hose. So here is how I added the spigot.

Step 1:

What you need is a spigot (I got the cheapest at around $7) A big washer (These were more expensive than I wanted at about $1.35 each) and some silicon roofing caulk (I got from restore or a thrift store for a couple bucks)

Step 2:

Start by drilling a hole in your barrel pick a size that is just smaller than your spigot. These barrels are pretty thick so they will have enough width to hold on to the threads of the spigot.

Step 3:

Put the washer on your spigot and apply some caulk just to make sure that you do not have a leak there. (I went with the theory that the more caulk the better)

This washer is mostly just to add some extra surface area in case the spigot is ever torqued (like opening it when it is stuck or accidentally hitting it)

Step 4:

Use some muscle power to screw the spigot in to the barrel about half way. The threads are big enough that you should get a very good seal around it.

Step 5:

After you have screwed in your spigot about half way put a bunch more caulk down to fill the whole area between the washer and the barrel. Then screw it in all the way and see how much caulk you have squeezing out. (If you have alot, then you are sure you put enough.