How To Make a Stand for a Rain Barrel

We recently bought two rain barrels for our house and realized we needed stands both for elevation and stability.

Project Description

This how-to details the step-by-step process for constructing a rain barrel stand out of salvaged pallets for basically no cost. You can certainly use store-bought or nicely milled lumber depending on the look you're going for.

Time: 3 hours
Cost: $8.47 for a box of screws

Completed rain barrel stands; design 1 left; design 2 right

We ended up making two different stand designs using the same materials. The first one has the barrel sitting at the top of the stand with a 1" lip to prevent the barrel from sliding off. The second one drops the barrel 6" below the top of the stand to provide more stability against being blown off the stand when it's empty. I'll reference both designs in the walk through.

Supplies Needed for This Project

The lists below reflect what we used for our stands for 55 gallon plastic barrels.

Measure your barrel and adjust the lumber cuts as needed to accommodate the size of your barrel and your elevation needs.

Materials

• Lumber from pallets
• Short supports: 6 pieces of 2x3 boards cut to 22"
• Long supports: 6 pieces of 2x3 boards cut to 25"
• Legs: 8 pieces of 2x4 boards cut to 24"
• Slats: 5 pieces of 2x4 boards cut to 22"
• A box of 3" decking screws

Tools

• Wood saw; we used a compound miter saw
• Measuring tape
• Square
• Drill; we used both a corded and cordless
• Large C-clamps (3)
• Pencil

Instructions

These are the steps we took to complete this project. Please modify to fit your own project. :)

Step 1: Decide on the stand size and design

1. What size stand do you need to accommodate your barrel?
   Design 1: Turn the barrel over and measure the diameter of the bottom; this is the minimum width that the inside of your stand will need to be; the bottom of our barrel is 18" and the inside of our stand is 22" square.
   
   This is reflected by the short cut which is 22". The measurement of the long cut is [short cut] + 3". (Note: A 2x3 is actually 1.5" x 2.5"!) So, you can pretty easily adjust these measurements as needed if your barrel is larger in diameter than 18".
   
   Design 2: Calculate the circumference of the barrel at the widest point where it will sit inside the stand. We measured the first ribbed ring on our barrel that sat below the spigot (so that the stand would not interfere with it) and got 67". Divide this by pi (3.14) to get the diameter; on our barrel this was 21.34" which still fit nicely inside the same 22" stand from design 1.
   
   

   

   For design 2: Measure the circumference 

2. How tall does your stand need to be?
   If your rain barrel is on level ground and the area you need to water is at the same elevation or lower, then the height of 21" of this stand should be sufficient. However, if you plan to try and water anything uphill from your barrel, then this is probably not the stand design for you.
3. What lumber do you want to use?The project time estimate does not take into account gathering materials. It took my partner a couple of hours to break down some large pallets and another hour to pull out the nails; but it saved us a lot of money.
   
   

   

   Removing nails from salvaged lumber

Step 2: Make all the lumber cuts

The number of boards and cuts will vary depending on the material you salvage or buy.  Lay out your boards and using a tape measure, mark the places for each cut. Then using a square, draw a straight line at each point.

We had several 93" 2x4s which is 3" shorter than a standard 8' board so we were able to get two legs (24") and two slats (22") from each board with the least amount of waste. For our 2x3s, we were able to get two long pieces (25") and two short pieces (22") with the least amount of waste.

Measure and mark the lumber for all cuts

I suggest labeling everything to keep your materials straight using leg, slat, long, or short on each piece as you cut.

Cut the lumber to size using a wood saw

Step 3: Assemble the legs

We decided to put two 2x4 pieces together instead of using 4x4s. Look over the eight leg pieces and decide which ones you want to face out and which ones should be hidden. (This matters more for salvaged wood that might look crappy.)

On four of the leg pieces, you'll need to mark the areas where the three side pieces will attach, as well as mark the screw holes for attaching the two pieces together. Decide which end is the top and which is the bottom of the leg and write that on the wood. Perform all measurements from the top to the bottom for consistency.

Design 1: Mark the following on each leg.

• Mark a line 1" from the top; this is where the top lip will attach.
• Mark a line 3.5" from the top; this is where the middle 2x3 side piece will attach.
• Mark a line 18.5" from the top.
• Mark a line 21" from the top; this is where the bottom 2x3 side piece will attach.
• Measure the distance between the middle and bottom side pieces; on our legs it was 14.5". Mark three holes roughly equidistant in this space. We marked holes at 2", 7.5", and 12". 

Lines and holes for design 1

Design 2: Mark the following on each leg.

• Mark a line 2.5" from the top; this is where the top 2x3 side piece will attach.
• Mark a line 6" from the top.
• Mark a line 8.5" from the top; this is where the middle side piece will attach.
• Mark a hole between the first two side pieces.
• Mark a line 18.5" from the top.
• Mark a line 21" from the top; this is where the bottom 2x3 side piece will attach..
• Measure the distance between the middle and bottom side piece; on our legs it was 10". Mark two holes roughly equidistant in this space. We marked holes at 3.25" and and 6.75".

Lines and holes on legs for design 2

Take one of the leg pieces you marked and sandwich it with an unmarked piece, then clamp them together using two C-clamps. Drill pilot holes at the three places marked on each leg. Use 3" screws to attach the 2x4s together. Do this for all four legs.

Design 1: Leg assembly

Step 4: Attach the short pieces to the legs

Using the lines marked on the legs in step 3, line up short pieces (22") on top of two legs, making sure that the nice sides of the legs are facing you. Attach one side piece at a time for stability.

For each side piece, mark and drill pilot holes first, then attach with two screws on each end of the side piece. Repeat for the other two legs.

Short side pieces attached to legs for design 2

Design 1: We attached the side pieces that create the top lip at the very end to make it easier to attach the slats (see step 7).

Step 5: Attach the long pieces to the legs

Place the two assembled sides from step 4 on their edges and line up long pieces (25") across the legs, attaching one at a time.

For each side piece, mark and drill pilot holes first, then attach with two screws on each end of the side pieces.

Design 2: Attach the long pieces to the frame

Once you have three sides of the frame together, flip it over and attach the final long pieces to complete the stand frame.

Design 1: completed stand frame minus top lip

Design 1: We attached the side pieces that create the top lip at the very end to make it easier to attach the slats (see step 7).

Step 6: Install the slats

Attach a slat to the legs on one side of the stand using two screws per leg on a diagonal for added support. Mark and drill pilot holes first. You might have to shave a little wood off the length of your slats depending on how tightly the frame fits together. Repeat on the other side.

Design 1: The slats should be flush with the top of the legs.

Design 2: The slats should be flush with the tops of the middle side supports.

Design 1: add the two side slats first

Measure and mark off three, equidistant 1.5" segments for the remaining three slats.

Measure and mark the center slats

For each slat, put the slat in place in the frame, then use a scrap piece of wood to clamp it in place and ensure it is level and even with the side slats. Measure and drill pilot holes and attach all three slats to one side of the frame. Then using the scrap piece of wood, clamp the slats in place on the other side of the frame and attach with screws.

Clamp slats in place to attach

Step 7 for Design 1: Add the top lip

Attach the remaining four side pieces to create the top lip using the same methods in steps 4 and 5.

Design 1: Completed stand

Voila! You're now ready to install your rain barrels on your stands. The reason we left 3" below the bottom slat is to allow for some leveling and anchoring into the dirt but if your stand will be on a flat surface like a deck or cement, you can lower this slat to meet your needs.

We used heat-treated and pressure-treated lumber so we're not too worried about protecting it (plus we like the "rough" look), but you can always paint or stain your stand for durability and to achieve the look you want.

Last but not least, we got to try out the rain barrels for the first time yesterday. They started to overflow after a mere 0.2" of rain.

Did this walk through work for you? What changes or improvements did you make?