PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is an inexpensive vinyl tubing that is used primarily for plumbing in homes. It’s one of the most widely used plastics in the world, and for a reason – it’s tremendously versatile for use on the homestead.
25+ PVC Projects for Your Homestead
There are lots of variations on this that can be created for sandboxes or leisure areas. They are portable and easily stored during bad weather. These are not meant to be permanent structures, so take precaution during high wind.
We’ve used this, especially when planting trees to be able to give the trees and large plantings plenty of water at the deep root zone. It allows the trees/plants to get water deeper and spread roots further underground, to be able to live better through drought.
PVC Hoop House for Raised Bed Gardens
I love the take on making a long-standing project less expensive and work better for their own project. This saves using clamps on the outside of the frame.
While this is a great idea for an inexpensive greenhouse, this won’t stand up to severe weather a lot of the country gets. So place in a protected area and use a good strong mil plastic that won’t tear easily.
These camp chairs are great for kids to sit around the campfire or be with you when you’re working in the garden.
Fill each of the tubes with chicken feed for continual feeding during times when you can’t allow your chickens to roam freely or they need extra nutrition. This feeder’s instructions are on Instrucables, but you can find a ton of other ideas on the Backyard Chickens forum, too!
While I might not use this for many of the vertical gardening planters I see on Pinterest (too shallow for what I’d grow), this strawberry tower makes great use of limited space! You may be able to adapt this version for many of the plants you grow. Check out this hydroponic version.
Whether you use it for ‘prepping’ or for burying some treasure in your backyard, you can create these caches with PVC. Just be sure to make them water tight!
GET THE TECKTON PVC CUTTER
Or use this with screening material to make a shade or pest cover for your raised bed garden
Use for kids small toys, your crafting supplies (this would be great for tubes of paint) or using larger PVC tubes, you can store garage materials or shoes and more!
PVC Carry Cart with rigid bottom
While this particular cart was created to carry a cooler and fishing gear, it can be adapted to any use – garden cart, bug out cart, etc.
You can get the chicken water nipples here.
A version of this organizer has been on the Pinterest rounds for as long as I’ve been on Pinterest. It makes my organization OCD side so happy. It’s a great way to organize those bins without investing in chunky bookcases.
PVC Square Foot Gardening Grid
While there is no website that I could find to link to, the easy DIY instructions are in the pin linked above.
More Resources for how to use PVC to create homesteading projects
PVC 101 – What to know about working with PVC
Pros for using PVC tubing:
- It is cheap. There are varying sizes and weights that can make some projects much more affordable for those on budgets. This also allows you to work on a project to test out how it will work for you without the huge investment of permanent materials.
- It’s versatile. With all of the shapes and sizes of pieces, you can create just about any shape you need to make, without any customization or extra tools to weld or carve.
- Little investment: There is no heavy investment in tools to make most of these projects work. Drills with bits, a hacksaw, weld primer, and a few other items, and you’re good to go!
Cons for using PVC tubing:
- There are issues with PVC, however. Being made from both industrial chlorine and a carbon compound, the issues of how it breaks down and reacts with our environment gives some cause for concern that it may not be safe. There is a difference in the PVC plastic that is made for rigid tubing like PVC and the plastic that are made to be more flexible and shatterproof. The latter are those that have had BPA and other additives added to the compounds to make them more useful for everyone. This is not an issue with the rigid PVC you’d use as plumbing and the projects above.
- PVC is also not made for outdoor use. It is sensitive to UV light degredation, making it brittle over time. It will maintain it’s shape, but can shatter with use. This can be by painting the PVC with UV protecting paints. Even with the protection, it may not be a good idea to use PVC on permanent projects. The grey PVC you can also find at most home DIY stores will last longer, but you can’t always find them in the multitude of diameters you can find the white PVC in, so plan accordingly!
While our family has no issues using PVC for projects around our homestead, it is up to you to decide if it is something you’d like to use on your homestead.
Want more PVC Project ideas? Grab this book wtih 101+ ideas!
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