Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 13 hours ago
Bea (@bea.copeland) just bought her first house, and it needs a lot of work! While exploring her new property, she found an old, rusted oil tank and, instead of throwing it away, she decided to put it to use. Watch as she upcycles this oil tank into 3 new pieces!

ABOUT SERIES
Join Bea Copeland, a designer and DIY-er with a passion for home improvement, as she gets to work on renovating her new home! From installing wainscotting to creating one of a kind concrete countertops, each episode features a different renovation project with tips on how you can do it too.

ABOUT REFINERY29
Refinery29 is a modern woman's destination for how to live a stylish, well-rounded life. http://refinery29.com/

RELATED CONTENT
I Organized A Pantry That Hasn't Been Organized For 25 Years
https://youtu.be/UpxcemqcBUc

3 Cheap Dollar Store DIY Projects To Update Your Home Decor
https://youtu.be/xrAg7ZD1wjE

Best Closet Space Saving Hacks
https://youtu.be/usPXGFnHrMU

SUBSCRIBE TO REFINERY29
Subscribe to the Refinery29 channel: http://bit.ly/subscribe-to-r29
Follow Refinery29 on Instagram: https://instagram.com/refinery29/
Follow Somos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29somos/
Follow Unbothered on Instagram: https://instagram.com/r29unbothered/
Transcript
00:00Scoot!
00:02Just the finest of materials, really official.
00:05Hey, I'm Bea, and today I'm turning this oil drum
00:09into two planters and a fire pit.
00:11So sparks are gonna fly.
00:13I'm Bea, a designer and a DIYer
00:16with a passion for home improvement.
00:18Whoa!
00:18I just bought my first house, and it needs a lot of work.
00:21A lot of vandalism, rodent, stripper pool here,
00:24rat stage here.
00:25So it's time to put my skills to the test.
00:27I love learning from the pros,
00:29but sometimes I'm gonna try things my way.
00:32Join me for the adventure.
00:36So I found this old oil tank on the property.
00:40Do you need to push it from the bottom at all?
00:47I don't know who took it out of the ground,
00:50but it's out, and instead of recycling it
00:52or throwing it away, I want to put it to use.
00:54So I immediately thought of planters,
00:57like the green kind of plants trellising over this thing,
01:00a fire ring, and maybe another ring to hold firewood.
01:05Sounds dirty enough.
01:07You can kind of hear how hollow it is
01:09and that it's not full of oil.
01:11We did drain some of the oil out,
01:14and you gotta be careful with oil,
01:15so we collected it in some containers
01:17and actually were able to recycle it at a gas station.
01:20Your dad siphoned off most of it with that diesel.
01:22Just the finest of materials, really official.
01:25So the tools I need for this project,
01:28an angle grinder, extra blades, a powerful drill,
01:32some metal bits, oil, gloves, plants, chalk line, tape measure,
01:38and you can't forget safety gear.
01:41So now I've got everything to make this DIY come to life.
01:45Let's get into it.
01:47There we go.
01:49We've now got this blue chalk showing us where to cut.
01:53All right, so we have to begin cutting.
01:56Let's suit up with the safety gear.
02:04So sparks are gonna fly.
02:11The heat from the sparks would never, like,
02:14catch the oil on fire, right?
02:16No.
02:17Okay, good.
02:18No, diesel fuel is not really combustible like that.
02:21Okay.
02:21If it was gasoline, maybe the fumes coming off of it.
02:24Yeah.
02:24It's not gonna erupt.
02:25Okay, well, how am I doing?
02:27Doing good.
02:28Okay.
02:42It's an oil sludge nightmare.
02:46Definitely sounded a little more hollow than that.
02:49We got a bit of clean up to do.
02:50A little bit of clean up.
02:56So this is like a solvent.
02:58This is a stripper that's just gonna help clean off the inside of the ring.
03:03Just so we make sure that, like, no oil is leaching into the soil.
03:09Okay, now that we've got our four pieces, maybe you can see it.
03:14Planter, fire wood ring, fire pit ring, and another planter.
03:19So I'm just throwing on a different kind of blade.
03:23And this blade is going to just, like, sand down the edges.
03:28So now that I have the planters cut, I need to drill some drainage holes so that water doesn't get
03:34stuck inside.
03:35Now I'm gonna work my way up to the right size hole.
03:38But I'm gonna start with this bit here.
03:43I might just use a spot that already has a little bit of a depression.
03:48And there's not really a rhyme or reason to where I'm placing these.
03:51Just kind of evenly spacing them around the bottom of this tank.
03:57Whoa!
03:58Gotta be on top of this one.
04:00So I drilled the first hole with the bit.
04:03But it's taking too long, I think.
04:06And so I want to try a different technique using the angle grinder, which was pretty quick to cut it.
04:11I'm just gonna get power out here.
04:17There's no big secret around power tools.
04:19It's just knowing and educating yourself on how to use them properly.
04:22And then having the right safety gear, you can do it with confidence.
04:27You can do it and use them the right way to make something as crazy as this.
04:33I'm the kind of person who goes in blind to a lot of things.
04:36But I do think when you're using power tools, it's really important to watch a tutorial.
04:41Especially when it's something that can be dangerous that you can cut yourself with.
04:46I have no idea how much this weighs, but I'm weak and I can pick it up.
04:50So now that the tank is clean and we took out all the oil, I'm gonna drop in a layer
04:56of wood chips.
04:58I stopped a tree trimmer on the side of the road and I said,
05:03Can I have those wood chips?
05:07And a couple hours later, he drove up to my house and was dumping them in the yard.
05:13I'm just trying to get them so they'll sit right, right on top or right underneath the lip of the
05:21planter.
05:22I don't want them sitting above it. I just want them sitting right below it.
05:25It's time to get these plants into the planter.
05:28So I decided that I wanted to go with a perennial arrangement.
05:33And that just means plants that come back every year.
05:36The other criteria that I wanted for this planter was natives.
05:40That means plants that are native to this area.
05:43And then pollinators.
05:45I wanted plants that would foster habitat and food for bees and butterflies.
05:51And today she's looking abundant and looks like a bee and butterfly playground.
06:04We're left with our firewood ring and our fire pit.
06:08So now we just have to get these things up there.
06:10They are light enough, oh gosh, to roll.
06:21I love this little spot on my property.
06:23There's only an acre, but there's this little spot right above my house.
06:27And it just has the perfect view of the ridge line.
06:30And it's just like such a good elevation for a fire pit.
06:35And there's this like natural break in the trees for the smoke.
06:39Yeah, we just need to like right there.
06:41Yeah, that looks, that'll look nice.
06:45Can't carry it.
06:46Okay.
06:47Do a little digging, set this in, let's say like four inches,
06:51enough to get that little spout underground.
06:54So I've seen variations of these kind of firewood rings to wrangle your firewood online.
07:01And I just, we had so much of this tank that I figured it was an easy,
07:07kind of an easy solution instead of, as you can see, this giant pile of firewood.
07:14So I'm just going to kind of level this out here.
07:17And then I'll just secure it with two rocks.
07:20Sweet.
07:21And I just want, just want to build it up on the front a little bit.
07:26Firewood is best when it dries out.
07:29So you can't cut a tree down and the same day expect to burn it.
07:32It needs to sit and dry out.
07:35I think that can take, you know, a year.
07:39This is a tree that was dead.
07:40So hopefully it's dry enough to burn.
07:45The last piece.
07:47I'm going to see how Liam's doing.
07:50You dug.
07:52Now you're using that board to smash it into place.
07:56Yeah.
07:56Would it help if I stood on it?
07:59Probably.
08:00Yeah.
08:05I'm scared of this.
08:06This board is about to break.
08:08Yeah.
08:09Yup.
08:10Uh, let's build a fire.
08:16I'm pretty happy with the way that this transformation turned out.
08:19I was able to take this giant piece of metal and turn it into three things that are pretty useful
08:25to me.
08:26This project was really rewarding for me because during home renovation, you create a lot of waste.
08:32And so this was a nice change of pace to be able to take something that pretty much was trash
08:38and turn it into something else.
08:40It's a good reminder to really assess the things that you're tossing in case they can be used as something
08:46else.
08:47Cheers.
08:48Oh, you don't have a marshmallow.
08:51Now I just got to finish the house.
08:54And just that.
08:56Thanks.
08:57Yay.
08:58Thanks to Sue for coming out.
08:58You
Comments

Recommended