DIY A Convenient Hose Rack Using Inexpensive PVC

Watering the garden is rarely anyone's favorite chore, and it only gets worse when you don't have a sensible hose storage system. Rather than leave the hose jumbled, knotted, and in the way, make your life simpler with a hanger or reel for tidy storage and easy access. It doesn't have to be challenging, pricey, or inconvenient given all the stylish garden hose storage hacks you can lean on to make use of household materials. If you've got some space PVC lying around, you can add this plastic piping to the list of clever DIYs to solve your hose storage problems.

Using inexpensive PVC pipes (¾ inch or larger will work) and assorted fittings, you can create an upright frame with an arm to hold the hose. Two parallel pipes work as the upright supports. Horizontal pipes connect them with elbows at the tops and bottoms, making a rectangle. Branching from the middle of those supports, attach perpendicular pipes with T-fittings. The horizontal pipes will act as support arms to hold the hose. One arm can branch off each support, with elbow fittings at the end connecting them.

Since these horizontal arms may bend under the hose's weight, you can reinforce the arms with angled braces, connecting them to the vertical support with a wye fitting below the arm. Connect the end of the brace to a 45-degree fitting. Fit a short, vertical PVC pipe to this fitting and connect it to the horizontal arm with a 90-degree elbow.

A garden hose holder is one of many brilliant ways to reuse old PVC pipes in your backyard because it's so easy to adapt. With this structure in mind, you can customize your design for different setups. To better keep the hose on the holder, for instance, add an upright PVC piece at the end of the arms with 90-degree elbows that stio the hose from falling off. Next, you can look at where and how you want to install the rack.

As constructed, this PVC hose rack can mount to a wall. Install hooks to hang it by the support frame. Or, secure it to the wall by wrapping tube straps around the pipes and drilling them into studs or drywall anchors. Alternatively, you can make the rack free-standing. Using two more runs of PVC pipe, attach perpendicular stand supports to the bottom of the vertical PVC pipes. Taking this to another level, consider adding wheels for a mobile hose rack. Drill holes straight through the vertical supports at the bottom and run an axle between them, installing wheels at the end.

After finalizing your design and cutting your PVC, dry fit everything to ensure it's correctly sized and structurally sound. If everything looks good, you can glue it together. PVC cement is ideal for the best performance, but you can also use superglue or epoxy with effective results. Just be careful to not overlook the type of cement you use, a big mistake everyone makes when gluing PVC pipe.

Building this PVC hose rack can seem more time-consuming than you like. But fortunately, there's more than one way to make these rigid plastic pipes work for you. For a super-simple setup, take a short piece of wide PVC pipe and cut part of the side out to make it into a hook. Then, screw it to a wall or other support, much as you would for creating easy hanging storage for large tools in the garage. If you have narrower PVC pipes (e.g., 1-inch PVC), you can cut several small hooks and install them in a column, letting each hook hold part of the hose. If you have a wide enough piece of pipe, you can also cut out a notched tube and mount it vertically nearby as a caddy for the sprayer head.

Indoors or outside, PVC can make a hassle-free fix for your hose storage issues. If you are putting it outside, you may also want to paint the pipe. PVC can be subject to UV degradation, affecting its looks and performance. To keep it from becoming discolored or brittle, coat it in a latex paint. Use a light color to keep it from absorbing heat, and you'll have an attractive, low-key, and efficient solution for tidy hose storage.