# Do you reuse wood pallets?



## Admin (Dec 8, 2003)

> Used for shipping and transporting goods, wooden pallets are a waste product for many companies. For a DIYer like you, however, they are a goldmine! Free wood that can be used for a wide variety of projects if you have the tools and a little creativity. *6 Creative Ways to Reuse Wooden Pallets*


Some people love working with wood pallets and some people hate it. Do you reuse wood pallets? Why? Why not?

Are there any health risks with using them?


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

IMO it's more hassle than it's worth, I cut them up and put them in the shop stove. My oldest son had a friend who redid his mobile home cabinets using pallet wood and it did look nice but it was more work than I'd want to do.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

A friend lives near a siding wholesale company that gets product on 8 foot pallets, she used them for fence panels. Two acres fenced for the price of posts and concrete.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I am a little leery of using pallets, no way of knowing if chemicals were spilled on them or not.


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## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

> she used them for fence panels



How well has it held up to the elements? I used to drive by a trailer that used pallets to fence in the front yard [they had small kids] A few yrs later the pallet fence was gone, not sure if it was falling apart, the kids no longer needed it or what.


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## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

The wood makes great small project material.

Amazing what it looks like planed, and finished for small items. 

Had a friend that built an 8 ' tall fence from them, had to use steel posts set close together, then lowered the pallets over the posts, stacked two high. 

Took a lot of posts, but was sturdy enough that his dog (pit bull), could slam into it, and it held the dog. 

Slid the pallets with the posts between the slats, where the forklift goes in. 

ED


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

Wood pallets should all have codes stamped on them. I have read/heard one should familiarize themselves with the significance of those codes before reusing them in other projects.
Here is one of numerous links to the topic.
https://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/


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## TheEplumber (Jul 20, 2010)

I made this a 40" clock few years ago from 1x4 dunnage. Not really pallets. 
They were the shipping boards off of fiberglass tub/shower units.

It was white with black metal house numbers. But my wife wanted to change colors so out came the black spray paint.
We took the numbers off after painting and hit the clock with a palm sander

My mom liked it so well that she got a smaller version for Christmas that year :wink2:


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## PPBART (Nov 11, 2011)

BigJim said:


> I am a little leery of using pallets, no way of knowing if chemicals were spilled on them or not.


In a former life (before retirement) I was the Environmetal/Health/Safety Manager for a chemical manufacturing site. For decades we had allowed employees to take wood pallets home. Then we had a complaint about a case of skin irritation possibly linked to handling pallet wood. We did some tests and found significant levels of contamination in the wood. That put an end to the pallet giveaway!


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## ZZZZZ (Oct 1, 2014)

My local pluming supply store has piles and piles of near-new pallets free for the picking.

I put the pallets under my firewood stacks to keep the wood off the ground and to let air circulate underneath. Helps to keep bugs out of the wood, too.

But I'd never burn pallet wood. Too many containments and nails.
.
.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Often the quality of pallet wood depends on where you get it.

Check with places that sell farm or lawn vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles and the such. I find the pallets from these places are cleaner and of better quality wood than the big box stores. 

Places that get shipments from Central and South America will sometimes have pallets made of rough cut mahogany. It does not look the greatest rough cut but once planed can be quite beautiful.

Once the pallet is cut or dismantled it does not take much work with a planer to get usable wood. 

NOTE: Before planing the wood, insure there are no nails hidden it. 

Even close visual inspection can miss broken nails. 

You can make a cheap "metal detector" using some rear earth magnets. Secure the magnets to a thin strip of wood and slowly drag the magnets across both sides of the wood. The rare earth magnets will attract to any exposed nails. 

If you have any old computer hard disk drives laying around, the magnets inside those are as powerful and can be used in the same manner.


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## badtheba (Jul 3, 2011)

Here's one of my projects from the last couple years.

https://www.diychatroom.com/f49/lp-laserdisc-storage-pallets-487305/


I also have a decent looking hallway curio shelf I built for my wife, I'll see if I can get a pic.


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## badtheba (Jul 3, 2011)

Until I read this thread, I really hadn't thought too much about chemicals spilled on pallets. Nearly every one I've reused has come from the bike shop I used to work at, and held bikes or fitness equipment contained within cardboard boxes. Nothing would have leaked out, but I suppose they could sit in something else that spilled nearby in shipping.


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## Nickd83 (Feb 5, 2020)

Made a bunk bed for our dogs so they would stop sleeping in our bed. Worked, for a while, but then one became blind (maybe from the chemicals, more likely diabetes) so he's lucky he can find his way in. And the other one just wants to snuggle with my wife, usually worms his way in the bed around 5:30 or so. Built it 7 years ago, from a pallet of pavers.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Nickd83 said:


> Made a bunk bed for our dogs so they would stop sleeping in our bed. Worked, for a while, but then one became blind (maybe from the chemicals, more likely diabetes) so he's lucky he can find his way in. And the other one just wants to snuggle with my wife, usually worms his way in the bed around 5:30 or so. Built it 7 years ago, from a pallet of pavers.


Our daughter has to see this.:smile:


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

When I was a public school administrator, I saw a pile of pallets by a high school. All the food for food service arrived on pallets and we paid to get rid of them. I had our grounds crew put a dozen by the street with a free sign on Friday afternoon, Monday they were gone. No more paying for disposal. Saving those tax dollars!


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## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

I found the nails almost impossible to remove. I was much more likely to split the wood to splinters and leave the nails still standing. Maybe I got the wrong grade of pallet?


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## Retired24 (Oct 3, 2014)

My wife makes xmas-themed projects for friends.


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## Calson (Jan 23, 2019)

Where I live the companies started charging a deposit on pallets more than 20 years ago and so freight deliveries usually entail the driver retrieving the pallet and not leaving it behind. 

I would never bring a pallet inside my house as it could contain wood pests in the soft wood and the pallet becomes a Trojan horse for them.


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## Mystriss (Dec 26, 2018)

There's like two standard sizes that we see up here. Husband and I collect the smaller size to put in the basement and prevent our stuff being accidentally flooded. (High water table so if the power goes out we'll get inches of water on the basement ground.)


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## waltermitty (Mar 24, 2014)

I was fortunate to come across a couple dozen HD wood pallets with planed surfaces. I was thrilled to see that the top slats were a full inch thick. I used 4 of the pallets to create a tiny deck  on which to place my garbage cans. Very happy since I was quite bummed out at the cost of cedar planks I wanted to finish my fence. This was my consolation prize as the pallets were free.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

I had a few 10 foot pallets from a building supplies distributor. I used them under snowmobiles so I could store them in my loft for the summer.
Most pallets I see are oak or beech. Beech is assembled green, after it dries forget about putting a nail through it.


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## Norm202 (Apr 17, 2021)

As I always said, anything made from a pallet will always look like a pallet!
But with that said, and the current cost of lumber, as much as I hate using them I started to use them. But only if they are very clean and smooth. A lot depends on how you use them. Indoor furniture or decorations? NO! Outdoor enclosure or planters, sure. If you know what they were used for originally, you will be able to pick out pallets and be safe in terms of chemicals or bugs. One good thing about pallet wood is that it is almost impervious to the elements.

Look at the pallet I made from a coffee table.


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