Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Chatting => Design and Construction => Topic started by: Anton on May 15, 2022, 16:55
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At the side of the new vegetable garden I have started this season stands a large tin drum with a pipe running into it from the roof next door. The drum has been almost empty since I started digging in the garden, back in February, so I presumed the neighbour must have disconnected it at some time. I have only ever seen him from afar and he didn't seem very friendly whenever I waved.
However, I bumped into him outside his house the other day and he turned out to be super friendly. He reckons there must be a hole in the drum (apparently he worked in the same vegetable garden quite a few years back).
So as there is no no way of me transporting a new drum to the site I wonder if I could line the drum with a plastic tarpaulin type cover! When I lived in another part place, about 35 years ago, I took over another garden in which someone had created a duck pond using such a tarpaulin and it held the water perfectly well. The ducks had gone by the time I started gardening and the pond offered me a useful source of water.
Hence my idea of lining the drum. Feasible or not?
Anton
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I think the thing you are thinking of is a butyl liner. But, and this is a considerable but, this material can be easily torn by sharp edges, such as a rusty lump of steel, a ragged edged hole in a large tin, etc. It would probably cost as much to repair as it would to buy a new water-butt. Having said that, you call it a large tin drum so I have no idea of the actual size.
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You could always dig out a pond and let the pipe run into that. Cheap, green and nostalgic solution
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On this side of the pond, you would gave a few options.
1.
Drain and dry the barrel.
2.
Inspect the barrel. If the leaks are small, you may be able to seal from the inside with a) a spray adhesive sealant (products here are Flex Seal, Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal); b) fiberglass and epoxy, or just the epoxy.
3.
If the repair needed is extensive, would a plastic trash can with lid be a good replacement, can you work out a barter to have someone with a lorry to help you get it to the plot? Fresh produce in exchange, or buy them lunch?
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Hello you could get a piece of carpet under lay to put between the tin and butyl liner jezza
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On this side of the pond, you would gave a few options.
1.
Drain and dry the barrel.
2.
Inspect the barrel. If the leaks are small, you may be able to seal from the inside with a) a spray adhesive sealant (products here are Flex Seal, Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal); b) fiberglass and epoxy, or just the epoxy.
3.
If the repair needed is extensive, would a plastic trash can with lid be a good replacement, can you work out a barter to have someone with a lorry to help you get it to the plot? Fresh produce in exchange, or buy them lunch?
Would the same repair products seal a moulded pond liner, SP? It has a couple of small splits, none bigger than a few inches.
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Thanks for all of these pieces of advice.
Anton
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On this side of the pond, you would gave a few options.
1.
Drain and dry the barrel.
2.
Inspect the barrel. If the leaks are small, you may be able to seal from the inside with a) a spray adhesive sealant (products here are Flex Seal, Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal); b) fiberglass and epoxy, or just the epoxy.
3.
If the repair needed is extensive, would a plastic trash can with lid be a good replacement, can you work out a barter to have someone with a lorry to help you get it to the plot? Fresh produce in exchange, or buy them lunch?
Would the same repair products seal a moulded pond liner, SP? It has a couple of small splits, none bigger than a few inches.
A few inches is pretty big. I think you are probably needing a new liner in that case. If the "Gorilla" brand products are sold over there, you might see if they have patching products. Gorilla glue has a unique characteristic, it actually bonds better in contact with water.
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On this side of the pond, you would gave a few options.
1.
Drain and dry the barrel.
2.
Inspect the barrel. If the leaks are small, you may be able to seal from the inside with a) a spray adhesive sealant (products here are Flex Seal, Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal); b) fiberglass and epoxy, or just the epoxy.
3.
If the repair needed is extensive, would a plastic trash can with lid be a good replacement, can you work out a barter to have someone with a lorry to help you get it to the plot? Fresh produce in exchange, or buy them lunch?
Would the same repair products seal a moulded pond liner, SP? It has a couple of small splits, none bigger than a few inches.
A few inches is pretty big. I think you are probably needing a new liner in that case. If the "Gorilla" brand products are sold over there, you might see if they have patching products. Gorilla glue has a unique characteristic, it actually bonds better in contact with water.
OK, thanks. I know of someone else who successfully lined a similar moulding with a piece of thick polythene sheet. Given that I got the pond liner for free it's probably worth a try.