Chris Peterson - 5-Gallon Bucket Book DIY Projects, Hacks, and Upcycles

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Digital edition: 978-1-6278-8655-0
Softcover edition: 978-0-7603-4789-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Peterson, Chris, 1961

The 5-gallon bucket book : useful DIY projects, hacks and upcycles / Chris Peterson.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-7603-4789-8 (sc)

1. Plastics craft. 2. Recreation--Equipment and supplies--Design and construction. 3. Implements, utensils, etc.--Design and construction. 4. Garden ornaments and furniture--Design and construction. 5. Pails. 6. Salvage (Waste, etc.) I. Title. II. Title: Five-gallon bucket book.

TT297.P48 2015

745.572--dc23

2015022632

Acquiring Editor: Thom OHearn

Project Manager: Madeleine Vasaly

Art Director: Cindy Samargia Laun

Book Design: Carol Holtz

Layout: Simon Larkin

On the front cover: Upside-Down Tomato Planter,

DIY Projects, Hacks, and Upcycles

Chris Peterson

THE FIVE-GALLON BUCKET IS AMONG THE BEST OF MANS INVENTIONS, RIGHT UP THERE WITH THE WHEEL AND SLICED BREAD. NOT ONLY ARE THESE HANDLED CONTAINERS THE PERFECT SIZE FOR CARRYING A WEALTH OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, THEY CAN BE UPCYCLED INTO A MIND-BOGGLING ARRAY OF NEW CONVENIENCES AND HANDY INVENTIONS.

Thats because these buckets are both remarkably strong and surprisingly adaptive. Theyll hold up to high pressure and heavy loads. Theyll take a beating without getting bent out of shape. They can be cut, melted, glued, drilled, pressurized, depressurized, and more. They are also amazingly simple to work with and reconfigure. In fact, one of the many glorious things about working with a five-gallon bucketespecially when converting it into something exceedingly usefulis that you wont need many specialized tools. Chances are, you pretty much have everything you need sitting in your toolbox right now. The add-ons used to create the projects in this book can all be sourced from any large home center or well-stocked hardware store (some of these projects even repurpose common household items). You may find that leftovers from other home improvement or homesteading projects work perfectly for a five-gallon bucket projectespecially other PVC materials such as plumbing pipes, tubes, and fixtures. That said, the possibilities are even greater with add-ons made specifically for converting five-gallon buckets, available online from plastics suppliers (see Resources, ).

As if that werent enough to sway you, the buckets are so ubiquitous that you probably wont even have to pay for one (see The Bucket Bargain, , for more info on finding free or low-cost buckets). Even if you do need to purchase a new one, youll end up shelling out less than you would drop on a morning latte. Quite the bargain!

This is especially true considering the fantastic number of potential uses. The impoverished populations of many developing countries have long understood this. Youll see beat-up, timeworn versions pressed into service for everything from rooftop favela gardens to rural water purifiers to outdoor showers.

The wealth of projects collected in this book includes inventions that range from useful to just plain fun, and from as simple as it gets to fairly involved. These can serve apartment dwellers (Small-Room Air Conditioner, ). If you dont see anything that catches your fancy in the list of projects, you must be that rare and remarkable person who already has everything.

Each project also includes at-a-glance indicators describing how much time, money, and expertise youll need to execute the instructions. These should help you plan accordingly so that no five-gallon-bucket project is left half-finished.

Look through these projects and decide on the ones that best serve your needs or tickle your fancy, or use any of these projects as a jumping-off point for your own one-of-a-kind creations or adaptations. One way or another, youre sure to make something useful, fun, ingenious, and time- and money-saving. Imagine how happy youll be drinking your own clean, clear water made with your five-gallon-bucket Water Filter (). The rewards and benefits are as plentiful and varied as the projects themselves.

Along with those tangible compensations, if youre reusing a bucket that saw a prior life as a big sauerkraut container or a self-contained supply of wall compound, youll be saving a bucket from the landfill. The vast majority of plastic buckets are not biodegradable, so the environment thanks you.