I have a lot of empty 5-gal. buckets, usually from drywall compound, and I stack them up to save space. They inevitably get stuck together, to the point where a lone person has a hard time getting them apart. Holding the bucket stack with my feet and pulling up on the top bucket often doesn’t work.
I realized there was a better way to separate them using cedar shingles, which are basically long, narrow wedges. By wedging a shingle between two buckets and moving it around the gap while pushing it down, I can gradually pry apart the buckets, no matter how stuck they are.
Paul Vernooy, Hockessin, DE
Leave a sliver of shingle in between the buckets as you stack them. This will help keep them separated from the get go. Keep the sliver small enough and spread around that they don't create a 'leaning tower of Pisa' effect.