This year the award for The stupid thing you bought that always makes your life harder instead of easier goes to ... the hose reel.
Hose reels are bulky hunks of indiscriminately designed plastic boxes where hoses learn to be knotty. After exhausting all the store bought options for a hose reel I gave up and screwed a bucket to my fence, coiled my hose around it and never looked back.
Is it beautiful? Not particularly. But it's not offensive, it's not plastic and makes putting the hose away easy. It is plain & sturdy like a bucktoothed farmboy.
Until the day someone invents a compact, attractive hose reel for a ⅝ths hose that works smoothly I will continue with my bucket system.
If you want a QUICK DIY WIN this spring - screw a bucket to a wall. Anywhere you want to keep the hose rolled up and tidy.
Do it Yourself Bucket Hose Holder
(the more hose you have, the taller the bucket should be to allow more space for the hose)
MATERIALS
Make sure your bucket isn't so flimsy that you could bend it with your mind.
The bigger the bucket, the more hose you can put on it, but if you have a small space use a shorter bucket like the galvanized one above. It won't stick out from the wall as much and therefore you won't accidentally bang into it as much.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Screw the bucket to a wall, fence or even a tree at whatever height you'd like.
So yeah, that's it for instructions. 🤣
If you're drilling into the side of your brick home or building, This is how you drill into brick and what kind of drill bit you should use.
Aren't into the Hee Haw hygge of the galvanized bucket?
No problem - you can use anything that's:
- Basically cylindrical
- Is suitable and/or treated for outdoor conditions
- Can be screwed into a fence.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
SLEEK/CONTEMPORARY
EVEN *MORE* COUNTRY
Search out the cheap enamel with chips at antique shows or flea markets. It'll give you something to look for at those places this summer!
Any large vintage tin or bucket with some sort of labelling is fun.
(think about old wood salad bowls or ice buckets)
Treat them with a weather proofing like Thompsons Water Seal.
This basic utilitarian object, a hose reel, common to anyone who owns a house, seems to have eluded the worlds best product designers. It's a hose reel. How hard can it be to design a good looking one that works well?
I'm not trying to find a full sized Merry-Go-Round outfitted with genuine Lippizaner stallions sporting pink feather plumes on their heads. I just want a useful hose reel.
I didn't have any luck finding one I liked so I screwed a bucket to the wall. That was close to a decade ago and it's still hanging off the fence, keeping my hose organized.
You'll use the interior of the bucket to hold things ALL the time.
And I use the interior of the bucket for storage constantly. Especially when I'm setting up my water timers and bibs in the spring which are right beside the hose.
All my parts and tools and gaskets get set inside the bucket so I don't lose them.
To the thieving chickens.
Think outside the bucket.
→Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←
Sandra D
I've never known how to use those reels - good thing I got the one or two I have (years ago) free! Great idea to use a bucket!
Garth Wunsch
I used a couple of discarded wheel rims. Drilled two hole about six inches apart to accommodate screws... Painted them up to match brick... They'll NEVER give up.
Jan in Waterdown
“Hee Haw Hygge”? Well there’s 3 words I never expected to read in the same sentence 😛….
I’m particularly observant these days since I just finished reading “My (or The?) Year of Living Danishly”. Now I want to live there or at least visit Denmark. Have you?
Karen
I haven't, but I'd love to. The Nordic countries seem to have living figured out! ~ karen
trish
yes ! ! ! -- as always Karen you are genius thank you! (but maybe not so grateful for this moment's realization of all the wasted YEARS of battling with obstructive store-bought reels or nothing at all and always ! losing). But .... thank you !
Lynn
Love your hose bucket . One of the reasons I believe it works so well is the shape of you bucket. The outside keeps hose an in place yet easily allows you to take off or put back on. The insid allows moisture to run out keeping tools dry 💕.
David G.
Try this. Pull out the hose and get it totally untwisted (relaxed). If the hose has a straight line the entire length, get the line straight, not slowly winding around. Then put 1st loop on the bucket. Take the 2nd loop and give it a half turn (say.. clockwise). Now put the 3rd loop as the 1st loop, a circle. The 4th loop as the 2nd (half turn clockwise). Keep doing this until it's all done. So one loop is a circle and the next a figure 8. It won't look as neat but when you pull it out, the hose will always be untwisted. This also works nicely with extension cords.
Karen
Thanks David. I can barely take the time to throw my own hose on the bucket, but that is a good technique. I actually learned it when I was working in television - that method is how all the cables and cords are coiled. :) ~ karen!
Vicky
I've got those shrinking hoses. I put a hole in the bottom of a kitty litter bucket and hooked the hose up to the house from the hole and the hose stays in the bucket with the top on when not in use.
Robbie B.
I loved my shrinking hose!! Like loved it. Kept in a nice basket in front garden near my house. Then it backed up and leaked into basement where the faucet was attached every time I used it. Bummer! Sadly, I had to give it up.
Sandy
We had a vintage hubcap covering the spool for our hose at our last house and it looked pretty cool. It would fit nicely on a bucket.
Mary W
I don't like to coil hoses, even just on the ground - they remember the shape and make it so hard to use the hose. I prefer laid out along the edge of a path - quick and easy to use. BUT, if I wanted to hang one I love the look of your pail along with the usefulness. As I read your post, an ad to the side was for mailboxes and I thought, boy they would make a good reel, also, and have a door to close, too. Of course, wrens would claim it, if left open.
Karen
It might be fun to have it full of birds. It would make getting the hose an exciting adventure for all involved every day. ~ karen!
TERESA KENT
Try the expandable hose. It's a life changer. I will never buy a stiff rubber hose again. 100 ft curls up into a cute 2 gallon pot.
One of the best inventions since sliced bread.
Karen
I've tried 4 of them. Four. Each and every one of them exploded. Even the ones that said they wouldn't. Mainly because I'd often leave them expanded, full of water. But I also know I would continue to do that so no more expandable hoses for me. Although as you say they are FANTASTIC. ~ karen!
Sandra Blackwell
My hose is out all the time in the summer, cause I aint draggin it in and out every day. When it is time to put them up for the winter they hang on 5 gallon buckets on the back of my garage.
Melody Wright
I love it. I like ALL things country or rustic. I'm going to definitely do this as my hose reel needs replacing as do my hose pipes with all their kinks.
Babs
Genius and stylish too! How are those chickens by the way?
Karen
The chickens are geriatric and good, lol! I'm hoping to restart a flock from scratch but my last 2 chickens are determined to live for decades I think. ~ karen!