Wooden Pallets as Building Materials
Yesterday while taking a noontime walk around the neighborhood, I discovered a collection of wooden pallets stacked outside of a warehouse that’s for sale. My guess is that they will stay there, exposed to the elements and insects, at least until the warehouse has a new owner. After that, they’ll probably go to the landfill.
A 1999 study from the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association with statistics from the U.S. Forest Service reported that 190 million wooden pallets are sent to landfills each year. That number has certainly dropped over the past decade. Pallet recycling companies now will repair salvageable pallets and grind up for mulch, animal bedding, or woodstove pellets those that aren’t. In addition, pallets made from recycled paper are now available (at least one manufacturer claims they’re actually stronger than wooden pallets). If North Carolina’s new ban on dumping pallets in landfills spreads to other states, that number will surely decrease even further.
But I suspect that if most of us were to intentionally look for discarded pallets, we would find some. As long as that’s true, creative people can help keep them out of landfills by finding clever ways to reuse them. Here are links to a few projects even fine-home builders should find “pallet-able”:
http://summerville-novascotia.com/PalletWoodShed
http://www.oklahomahistory.net/palletshed.html
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/at-austin/look-shipping-pallet-house-austin-060707
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Underneath the siding on this tool shed are twenty 42-in. by 42-in. wooden pallets.
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Pallets are great... tough to use compared to store bought lumber but definitely doable. See my tiny house under construction at tinyfreehouse.com.
Around here there is no quicker way to get arrested than to take pallets from behind stores. Had a friend get arrested, not ticketed mine you, but taken to jail for taking pallets out of a dumpster behind a grocery store. Cops follow people with pallets on their pickups and arrest them unless they have a receipt.
Florida,
Without evidence of theft if is probably easy to get off but even easier would be to obtain permission from the owner in writing. I would think that most people who use dumpsters are aware of the cost of filling them too much and would rather have you haul away pallets. Also, this could also create a relationship where you can call ahead and get some put aside for you when you need them. I have such a relationship with a few business owners in Illinois.
Wow nice looking shed. Would you mind sharing a brief construction diagram? I have built a couple of nice stick built sheds but really like the pallet idea.
As a business owner let me explain: some pallets come with a refundable deposit. You pay for them and then get repaid when you return them. If you take these you are stealing. Other pallets are non-returnable. They are usually crappy, but most people will be happy for you to take them so they don't have to pay to have them hauled off.
You should always ask before you take. Just because they are ugly doesn't mean they don't have a deposit on them. But as a general rule, the free ones are usually pretty crappy.
Since most pallets are not 8' wide it will take two of them to build a wall. Sheathing the outside only strengthens half of the joint between the two pallets. If you aren't planning on sheathing the inside, the using full-height 2x4s might actually make more economic sense. Though I suppose you could nail some metal strips up the center of the walls or plywood strips along the joint or something patchy like that.