2. Next prepare base that rain barrel will sit on. This is very important for safety reasons. A rain barrel full of rainwater will weigh somewhere around three hundred pounds. Care must be taken so rain barrel will not tip over. For our installation we have chosen a location with a poured cement pad. For sites without a cement pad or sturdy deck, prepare and level a 16"x16" (minimum) patch of soil. Here we are using a 16" x 16" stepping stone from our local hardware, garden, or building supply store. Another good alternative is to excavate 1 ½ – 2" of soil, level and fill with drainage rock as shown.

3. Now that the base is ready, let’s prepare to mark and cut our downspout. While it perfectly OK to set the barrel directly on the base, you may consider raising your barrel higher. For our installation, we have chosen to raise our barrel by 12" using two cinder blocks and two cap blocks. Since all rain barrels operate on gravity, raising them will improve water flow. Caution. If you raise your barrel to an excessive height, the base and barrel may become unstable without the use of brick and mortar.              Set the rain barrel on the completed base. Match the Flex-A-Spout to your downspout size and insert other end into barrel top 4" hole. Note: The Flex-A-Spout will fit 3"and 4" downspouts. Now shape the Flex-A-Spout to line up with your downspout and mark using any strait edge. Here we’ve chosen a ruler and sharpie marker. Keep the ruler as level as possible. Note that the mark is 3" – 4" below top edge of Flex-A-Spout. Once mark is complete, set barrel aside.              Most down spouts have two straps holding them to the house. Leave both straps attached for now. Now let’s cut the downspout. For this task we have chosen a hacksaw. If you do not own a hacksaw, one may be purchased at your local hardware, garden or building supply store. An extra pair of hands here is helpful in holding downspout during cut. Caution. The cut edges can be very sharp. Now remove the lower strap and downspout. You can now store or recycle the lower portion of down spout.

 

Helpful Tips
Never attempt to tighten, loosen, or remove the brass spigot. The spigot has been set and tested during assembly and Quality Control testing. We recommend using a 25’ garden hose and a 33-36" watering wand. It’s perfectly OK to use a longer hose if necessary to reach watering locations. Stay away from light duty hoses, or any hose that kinks. Try whatever works best for you. Depending on the Hose wand you buy, you may want to insert a pattern reducer (5/8" hose slipped inside hose washer) for better spray pattern. This is not necessary on wands with multiple settings and set to the center position.
Before	Insert	Installed	After		Wide Pattern
					9-Position

 

A splitter is nice when you want to fill a watering pail without having to disconnect your garden hose

 

If your gutter does not have some sort of gutter guard to keep leaves and debris out, we recommend using an inexpensive downspout screen
No gutters? No problem. Position barrel to catch  rain run off from roof & use a 4" snap-in drain in lieu of a flex-a-spout.
Works great using a rain chain anywhere on the gutter.

 

If you decide to paint your barrel, we recommend Krylon Fusion paints or any similar paint made for painting plastic. Two cans will cover a barrel. Make sure barrel is clean and dry. Do not sand barrel prior to painting.

 

We recommend you clean and flush barrel yearly. More often if required. Simply drain the barrel. Remove Flex-A-Spout from barrel. Place barrel on its side and flush debris out 4" barrel hole with garden hose.

 

If cutting your gutter downspout makes you nervous, then don’t. Go to your local hardware, garden or building supply store and pick up a section of new downspout. They typically sell a couple of different lengths. A two-foot section may well be all you need. Also, some people prefer to uninstall the barrel for the winter and re-attach the original downspout until spring.     If you have any helpful tips to add, please send them to us. We welcome and value your opinion.
Noah's Rain Barrel. Makers of high quality rain barrels.