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I've written about our use of reclaimed brick and our need to recycle tee posts.
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I've written about our use of reclaimed brick and our need to recycle tee posts.
We are now repurposing pallets!
Why? You might ask..
We like the different types of the wood in the pallets.
We like the different widths of the wood in the pallets.
We like the different looks of the wood in the pallets.
Not one pallet is the same!
Drewman has been collecting pallets for several months now.
He actually had a pallet route for pick up, at one point.
We have started tearing the pallets apart.
Flower Boy and Drewman found it best to use the sawzall.
The sawzall cuts through the nails, which are embedded into the pallet wood, leaving the wood whole.
They attempted to pull the wood from the pallet, but the result was broken shards of wood.
It will make nice kindling for the camp fire.
Once the pallets were taken apart, we pulled nails.
Or better yet, we punched nails through the front side of the wood.
This is the result of several hours of removing nails.
By days end, Drewman's pickup bed was full of repurposed pallet wood.
He has taken it to wood shop, where he will square up each end, make the widths uniform dimensions and plane one side to make it all one thickness.
Your next question might be..
What are you doing with the pallet wood?
Check in later to see.
It's going to be stellar!
Im I the first here?
ReplyDeleteGuys I've just saw this post and I loooooooooove it. Im about to floor my floor (how do you say that in English?) hahaha anyways.. I will follow your instructions and tell you how was it!
THANKS!
Let us know how your project turns out. We would love to hear and see!
DeleteThanks!
About how many pallets did you need for how many square feet, roughly? Thanks for all the direction it's an exciting idea for sure.
ReplyDeleteLantar,
DeleteThe number? It simply wasn't something we kept count of. So much of the pallet wood was unusable, warped, damaged, stained or too thin. We do estimate 100+ pallets were used to complete our floor, but the number torn apart to collect the amount of pallet wood needed is unknown.
Thanks for stopping by!
Rancher Girl
What type of pallet wood was used
ReplyDeleteCody,
DeleteThere are 7 or 11 different types of wood on our floor. It has been to long to remember the number now.
Thanks for stopping by!
I was just trying to find the right pallet wood does it really matter what type pallets you use. The flooring people I've talked to say hard wood but most of the pallets I come across are soft woods. Any help would be helpful thank you
DeleteI was wondering what the thickness of pallet boards should be to start with, what would you recommend.
DeleteCody,
DeleteWe collected 100's of pallets to do this project. Our son actually had a pallet route.
We sorted hard woods. We do estimate over 100 pallets were used on our floor. There is soft wood down on our floor, but not much.
The planks were planned down to 5/8", so we started with the thicker/heavier pallets. Many of the planks were to thin to start with. After doing all the prep work on the useable planks, many of those didn't go down on the floor because the planks were twisted or warped.
We love our floor and have had no issues with it. It has held up to everything our boots and dogs throw at it. We were very particular and precise when choosing what planks we put down. We also had input from our builder, his professionals and our sons wood shop instructor.
Good luck with your project. We are here if you need us.
Thanks for stopping by!
My husband is wondering about the old nail holes. Did you fill them or can you tell that there are holes in the wood when you were done?
ReplyDeleteSamantha,
DeleteWe did not fill the holes with anything but the finish. The finish was a thick epoxy type finish. Yes, you can "tell" there are holes. We love the look! It fits perfect with our ranch lifestyle and decor of our home.
Thanks for stopping by!
I love your floor! I'm a single mom, looking for a DIY wood floor, and I thank you for putting out the details of how to do such a floor. One question: when you drive nails from the pallets, can you be more specific about how you do that? What tools did you use? Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteVera,
DeleteThe tools used to drive the nails from the pallet were simply a hammer and a punch. Place the punch over the nail and hit it with the hammer, driving it out of the plank.
Thanks for stopping by!
I have no access to a wood shop. What would be your suggestion?
ReplyDeleteAmy,
DeleteIf you don't have access to the proper machine tools, I wouldn't suggest you attempt this. I say this because we did have access and over half of the wood we prepared was not able to be laid on our floor due to warping, twisted and bowed planks. It took us months to prepare the planks.
Thanks for stopping by!
I took pallets apart to use the wood to make a raised bed garden. I used a hammer and a pry bar....that was some back breaking labor....lost some of the boards from doing it that way too.
ReplyDeleteDid you put a tongue and groove of any type on the wood for the floor?
ReplyDeleteLindsay,
DeleteWe did not tongue and groove the planks. All of the planks, on our floor, are butt jointed and top nailed. This goes with the same way floors were laid 100's of years ago. There are no cracks or separations in the joints. Although it took 3 of us to lay the floor properly and many many hours, we couldn't be happier with the outcome. We LOVE it!
I absolutely love your floor! I know what kind of work this entailed! I've been tearing down pallets for small projects and it's hard work! Once again, just beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what type of tool was used to square the ends of the wood pieces? We live in a farming community where we have a lot of access to tons of pallets and you have inspired me to try this.
ReplyDeleteMarcy,
DeleteWe squared the ends of each plank on a table saw.
Happy to know we have inspired others!
Thanks for stopping by!