How to build a small deck with pallets?

[jaydeeng]

I'm looking at building a small deck in the backyard with pallet wood. I have the pallets and im not sure how to start. The area I'm intending on building it on is builders sand. It's a new build so there is lots of sand space to cover and thought a small wooden deck off the rear patio would make a great addition for extra seating area. 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jaydeeng. It's marvelous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building a deck.

Using pallets to build a deck sounds like a fun project. As pallets are not designed to be building materials, it's a little hard to give specific advice on how to use them. You might like to look at this wonderful project on Recycled pallet and crate timber decks by @Arcc. They pull the pallets apart and use the timber to construct the decks.

Given that pallet slats make it hard to walk on them, were you thinking of using pallets for the understructure and then installing decking boards over them?

You need to be aware that any project constructed from pallets should be considered temporary. Pine pallets are not treated suitably for continuous exposure to the elements and typically will start to disintegrate within several years.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Arcc]

@jaydeeng 

When I built the three large decks out of pallets I had the full understanding that they would all be temporary. At the time we were needing to keep our finances under control (as it was a new house and we had many projects planned for it) and so we needed a cheap alternative that would last at least a few years. I envisioned we might get at least five years out of them but was also hopeful that seven years might not be aout of the question. 

The pallets were actually built over four and a half years ago and they all survived really well in the weather. A couple months ago we had enough funds to get proper decking installed which replaced all three of the original decks. This meant that I had to physically dismantle the pallet boards from the frame which ended up being a very big undertaking because the decks were all still in almost pristine condition. I had built them with five years of use in mind, however I have no doubt that in the condition the decks were in, they would have lasted at least ten years and most likely more. I was surprised. I ended up taking the freshly lifted boards to my dads place and remounted them on his decking frame. He had had to pull up his own deck earlier this year because it had been hit by termites and so it was fortunate that the boards were not wasted and were still of use. 

I must itterate though that when I was originally building the decks, I had made sure at the start that each of my decking boards were good quality and had been very careful in making sure I was happy with the standard of each timber used.