The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Buildings & planning => Topic started by: Pord on February 03, 2017, 03:52:37 pm
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Hi folks
I've successfully used pallet wood for small scale construction in the past, eg for flooring and doors in sheds. I have recently found a source for as many pallets as I want and have plans to make a couple of sheds, maybe a hen house etc. I see a few folk online expressing concerns about the chemicals which some pallets are treated with (usually marked CT, I think) and consequently not using them. Any thoughts or opinions?
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So long as you're not housing anything that likely to eat the wood, eg horses, donkeys, then I don't see that there should be a problem. Even then they'd have to eat a massive amount to be poisoned.
Best bet is to google the chemical and see for yourself what problems there might be.
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Major problem I had Pord was removing the boarding without splitting it, because the nails are ribbed and won't pull out. Nail holes may need filling. Another problem was shrinkage opening up gaps so the cladding leaked- I should have overlapped the boarding horizontally. I wouldn't worry about treatment as you'll have to treat it anyway. Untreated pallet boards seem to last about two years and then seemingly rot overnight?
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American pallets tend to be chemical treated, European pallets tend to be heat treated.
(Although thinking about it I have never seen anything but heat treated in the thousands, from all round the world, that I deal with at work.)
Pallets should have a code stamped on them telling you the country of origin, timber producer code and treatment method. If it is marked HT then it is simply cooked in an oven (long enough to kill any beasties in the wood that might be about to be shipped round the world).
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When I was a child my Dad made me a play house out of pallets. I used to spend hours in it. It hasn't done me any harm!
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Major problem I had Pord was removing the boarding without splitting it, because the nails are ribbed and won't pull out.
You can get a special tool for dismantling pallets without damaging the wood too much. That might be worthy of more investigation?
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If you dont want something pallet shaped (cos its only a £ a pallet) - buy real wood, its pretty cheap too ;)
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If you can get identical pallets in quantity then don't bother to dismantle them.
Make a base by joining 6 or 8 or 9 plates together (3x2,4x2 or 3x3) and the sides in the same way possibly using 1.5 pallets for side height. then cover the sides with cheap shiplap as used for fencing and possibly a couple of packs of chip composite clic lock flooring for the internal floor. Although pallets could be used for the roof its probably much easier to use some 3x2 and cover it with chipboard or ply then felt for waterproofing.
Using pallets will save a little on cost but increase the time to build.
Regen
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Time is of the essence if you're going to dismantle them. A nice new, dry pallet will come apart OK but one that's spent six months lying in the rain will have rusty nails that will refuse to budge. I've resorted to using a small diameter hole saw to cut out a plug around each nail head- which of course leaves a hole behind.
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Hi
I use a pallet breaker which i purchased off Ebay for under £30.00, great tool.
Cheers
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Thanks all for your posts.
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We built a number of chicken houses out of pallet wood some years ago. they lasted very well considering I only ever gave them the one coat of preservative when they were newly built. Biggest problem is the amount of labour required to liberate the decent wood from the pallets.