Pallet D.I.Y. projects

[kaylah_rose]

I was recently researching vertical and herb garden ideas. For myself there are two things that make or break my decision to undergo a project. 

1. Is it easy and achievable?

2. Is it low cost?

In my findings I stumbled across a pallet vertical garden, which really intrigued me. It was different, looked easy enough to complete and didn't use many materials at all.

This then got me thinking about what else pallets could be used for around the home. To my surprise there are a lot of great ideas that people find for timber pallets. I have been able to find many nifty ideas using pallets which seem like easy, low budget alternatives for all sorts of things. Here are just a few of my favourites.

Would be really interested to know if anyone else has been inspired and used pallets for any DIY projects? Will definitely be trying some of these myself. 

[Vicki65]

I wish someone could do a pallet class on their backyard. So much to learn.

Vicki

[Yorky88]

Hi @Vicki65 where are you located? I would be happy to run some pallet furniture build get classes I might actually start videoing them actually. 

Can you post videos on this platform @Jason

[Jason]

Hi @Vicki65,

We have loads of pallet experts in the community, including Marty (@Yorky88) who has kindly replied to you asking for your location. I'm sure our members would be happy to help you get started. Have you done any woodworking before? 

Marty, you can embed YouTube videos in your posts by hitting the Video button on our text editor. We are also considering adding hosting functionality down the track to take out the extra step of having to upload to YouTube first, so you could upload video from your phone just as easily as uploading a photo. Let me know if you ever need a hand.

Thanks,

Jason

[Vicki65]

Hi Yorky

I live in paradise. I also have sewing equiptment for cushions.

Thank you for the response..

Love to watch or learn icki

[Yorky88]

Hey @Vicki65 is that as in Surfers paradise? Yeah cool so making cushions is easy for you then. Maybe you can teach me how to sew cushion covers. 

I am in in Perth so I’ll work on some videos. Is there anything in particular you want to see how to build? 

[Tara86]

@kaylah_rose It’s amazing the ideas out there!! I just made an outdoor planter bed for my partner out of pallets. Lucky to have left over 6ft pallets from my kids playground. 

Im also using an old pallet as storage for our garden tools. Keeps it all neat and take some up lil to no space! 

[Bundaboy]

@Kermit LOL, you must always paint Chep pallets....

[Tinyfeather60]

There cute ideas I like those

[r23on]

I have raised this topic before :-The use of and the recycling of wooden pallets and as I have seen the recycling and use of the pallet in the house, the garden and for the construction of tables where food will be served. 

The question is how safe is the pallet for use?

Eg. what chemicals have been used for the treatment of the pallet? 

      what country did they come from and chemicals did they use 

Do you know how to tell if its safe for use 

Do you know where to look on the pallet for the number used to Identify what chemical/country 

“Australian regulations

Australia complies with the international standard ISPM 15, which covers the use of solid wood packaging material. The purpose of this standard is to prevent the spread of bacteria and timber pests across international borders.”

While I agree with recycling what concerns me is the way pallets are dumped out on the. street for people to take with out being aware of the impact these pallets may have on them in the long term. What it boils down to is we are removing / cleaning up someone else’s problem. 

We jump up and down about MDF and its inherited problems and warning for use, yet we know nothing about the chemicals used in pallets nor do we have any warning about the use of or the recycling of pallets.

For further reading if you are interested in the health of your family etc.

https://diyprojects.com/know-safe-use-pallet/  This is not an Australian site but it still applies to the pallets used in Australia

[Jason]

Many thanks for raising the topic again Ron (@r23on). I've moved your post to this long-running and popular discussion so more members who are interested in pallet projects will be alerted to it. 

Let me tag @EricL for his thoughts on how best to seal pallets to ensure there's little to no risk when using in a project like furniture. 

Thanks again,

Jason