Plastic Container Repair

I'm thinking of repairing this plastic pot. I believe it's a 45 gallon container. I measured it and it's 22 inches wide at the top and 20 inches tall. I'm thinking it's probably in the $30 to $50 range. Does this sound right?

My plan is to buy a roll of duct tape and cover the pot entirely, starting at the bottom and working my way up and into the pot. Then, after it's entirely covered, get some sort of textured spray paint and spray over it. Duct tape is fabric-reinforced, so it should hold up fine with the plastic there. Estimated cost is $4 of duct tape and $8 for spray paint.

What do you think?

Some back story: My neighbor was cutting down one of his trees and a branch fell on this larger plastic pots. It put a crack in the side and chipped off pieces of the rim. I taped some of the broken off pieces back on with masking tape so I wouldn't lose them, but some smaller pieces were simply lost. This pot is over 10 years old, probably closer to 15 years old, but it's held up to the sun fairly well.

Dirus, My experience with duct tape is that it will not hold up long term in a situation where it is exposed to moisture. If your goal is to glue a few broken pieces back together, then I would suggest purchasing silicone sealant. It is not very expensive and is used to build aquariums, but you can find it at hardware stores. It comes in several different forms, so be sure to get the stuff that is not targeted at outside homes or bathroom use, which will contain toxins designed to frustrate mold, etc. It is very strong if properly applied. If you do decide to use the duct tape, I would still recommend a thin layer of the silicone sealant covering the tape completely - messy but will make the tape waterproof, as long as you do not pierce the sealant down the road. Be sure to get the inside of the pot as well, if there are any cuts or cracks. A second alternative to silicone would be to paint with swimming pool paint, the stuff designed for inside, underwater areas of swimming pools. To prove a point, and win a bet, I once built an aquarium out of cardboard that was painted with this stuff - it worked!.

This message was edited Aug 23, 2009 5:29 PM

krowten is right - duct tape will not hold up to moisture. In my experience, it doesn't hold up well in heat or sun either. You might try sealing the crack and "glueing" the chipped pieces back on with an epoxy made for plastic. Then you could just spray paint the pot.

A few years ago, I spray painted one of my plastic pots to look make it look like stone. First, I used a spray paint made for plastic. (Any color will do; you just need a base coat because regular spray paint will not adhere to plastic.) Then the textured spray paint, then a coat of spray sealer. It still looks good.

Thanks for the advice. Part of the reason for going over the whole thing with duct tape would be to stop the cracks from spreading. Since the tree fell on it, other areas have cracked or chipped off, and seemingly on their own.

I was hoping the spray paint would protect the duct tape from water, but I guess not? Does the swimming pool paint have a name? Is it costly? From the sound of it, I could make a new pot out of papier-mâché and paint it with the stuff.

Paper mache would not have the physical strength. The pot sounds like it is deteriorating from UV and age. Silicone sealant is an adhesive and does not deteriorate from age for decades. I would use the silicone, then paint over it.

Find a real paint store and talk to them about the swimming pool paint. I no longer know the details, my project was some time ago.

To reinforce the weakened pot, consider using fiberglass putty. This is sold in auto stores. You mix it with a hardener, then spread over a surface. I think it should bond to roughened plastic. I would consider this an alternative to the silicone if you do not find that the pot is strong enough anymore. For help, you could talk to the guy in your local area that likes to work on old cars. They use this stuff a lot. It is strong so you would not need to use much of it, but you would likely want to put it inside of the pot rather than outside, as it also can be messy (it can be sanded)

Strips of old nursery pots could also be glued to the inside of the pot with the silicone.

Perhaps buy a new pot. Lowes has great prices every now and then. Just my 2 cents!

I agree with man 1410! You can get good prices on the type of pot that broke at Lowes, HD, Walmart or Target. Also, yard sales are a good source very often. I think that the plant needs to be moved out of the cracked pot--for the root system if nothing else.

Nancys advise is good.
Go for it.
I also doubt tape will work.

I'll have to call around and get a price on that special paint. I think in the end the best option might be just be the easiest. Watch for a sale. The problem is I don't go to Lowe's or Home Depot often enough to catch a lot of good deals. What time of the year do they put such pots on sale/clearance?

I didn't really want to argue about duct tape, but it's been good to me so I feel I should come to it's defense. 2 years back I was moving my fig tree into some brighter light when I tripped up and dropped it. It was a generic plastic 30 gallon pot. It buckled at the bottom and split clear up the side, leaving only two to three inches at the top. I got out my duct tape and spiraled up the outside of the pot. While I tried to avoid it, the dirt directly touches the tape in certain areas, and the water must run through the cracks and along the duct tape. I also keep my fig in pretty much full sun. To top it off, most of our summer is over 100 degrees here in Tucson (close to Phoenix), AZ. All of this and the duct tape has held up fine. It's ugly, but the pot is functional like any other. Maybe a cheap duct tape knock off wouldn't last, but this stuff is doing fine 2 years later.

3M also makes a UV resistant duct tape, but I figured if I painted over it, it wouldn't make a difference.

Dirus, My apologies for getting your name wrong initially - I edited to correct.

Just as some background information, if you have motorized paper carriers in your area, they often see discarded nusery and other pots put out for the garbage as they make their late night rounds. Be kind and subscribe to the paper, then tip them and ask if they will look out for pots for you. You'd be surprised how well this works at providing free containers. Most end up being the generic type, but from time to time they are the decorative ones. Works best in the spring. I use lots of nursery pots and having followed my suggestion, have a stock supply of excess pots now. Before, I was always hunting for pots. Now I am running out of space for potted plants!!

I imagine that if you used duct tape, then applied a generous coat of the paint, you could be fairly confident that it would solve the duct tape moisture issue. Only problem I see is that the swimming pool paint was always that awefull swimming pool sky blue/aqua color. Not the best for containers.

You can get heavy duty decorative pots (resin or fiberglass based) from Sam's (a seaonsal item) for very little money. I purchased many 18 inch pots there for around $15 a pot and 22 inch pots for less than $30 over the years.

Here is some bamboo in the 22 inch pots.

I would also look in BigLots in the spring