How to Fix a Weld Without Welding

The weld attaching the handle to my watering can broke a few weeks ago.

 

This set me off on a quest to buy a new watering can, as I thought the only way to fix my old watering can would be to have someone weld it. I planned to do that eventually, but there was too much gardening to get done to hunt down a welder at that time.

But then my father told me that I didn’t need to weld it to fix it, he could fix it with his “pop rivet tool”. Conveniently, he was coming for a visit the next week. Excellent!

 

When I saw how the first pop rivet went in, and what an easy fix this was going to be, I had to stop everything and start filming so that I could share this with all of you. Take a look as Garth Wunsch (my dad) uses pop rivets to fix my watering can:

 

What a cool little tool that is, and it retails for less than $15 CDN. Thanks for fixing my watering can Dad!

 

Here is the equipment he used:

• Pop rivet gun and rivets*
• Cordless drill

 

Here’s a close up of the repaired area, so you can see what the rivets look like:

 

And this is what it looks like inside the can–there are some little nubs sticking out:

 

My father tells me that the rivets have a hollow end, and when the tool snaps them into position, they expand/squish to fill the space. I was skeptical that this would form a watertight seal, but it worked. The watering can holds water, with no leaks!

 

So now you know what to do if your watering can handle comes off, or if you have other small repairs that you were putting off because you thought they needed to be welded. You just need a pop rivet tool!

 

*Disclosure: some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.