Here’s a terrific idea for a gorgeous-looking pallet patio deck on the cheap. It only used around 25 pallets, and I only had to spend about 40 bucks for supplies.

First, I used eight pallets for this pallet deck base and arranged them around a brick fire pit and walkway we already put in a while back. I secured them together with screws. Next, I broke down the other twenty pallets. The deck boards were applied in a diagonal pattern, even though it would cost a little more scrap loss.

I always used a power drill to pre-drill my holes to avoid splitting. I didn’t bother with sanding, stain, varnish, or anything else. I’ll let it age naturally. The supply cost was only two saw blades at $9.99 each and a box of screws at $20. Tools used: miter saw, circular saw, power drill, and battery drill.

Neokentin

Engineer, Co-founding partner of 1001Pallets. I earned my Engineer degree in Aeronautics & spatial telecommunications and navigation systems from INSA (Toulouse, FR). I worked as a sub-contractor for Airbus Aerospace & Defense for more than 12 years; I was the guy who worked on the black box inside the aircraft that give its exact position, useful if you want to land in the right place :). Since September 2015 I'm full-time working on 1001Pallets.com & Recyclart.org. I'm passionate about recycling, vintage & refurbished things; I'm always amazed by the creativity of people around the world and how with their two hands and some imagination they can transform almost anything into beautiful objects, I also love to explore flea market in search of the "unfounded" object. I'm also a kind of a geek, and I'm behind the technical aspects of 1001Pallets.com & Recyclart.org, so if something is not working as it should, it's all my fault, and you should contact me for debugging purpose. In my spare time, I love going in the countryside, hiking in the mountains, drinking a delicious glass of wine with my friends and traveling to explore the beautiful places of this earth and meet other people and cultures.

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  • Pallet wood is not treated to withstand the elements and ground contact. It will make a nice meal for termites and carpenter ants though. Use pressure treated and build it once.

  • I love this idea. I need a space to do my outside painting projects next to my garden shed and husband wanted to pour concrete (not in the budget), I wanted to build a deck (again, not in the budget) so THIS is the perfect answer! Breaking down pallets is not an easy task, but honestly shouldn't be too bad. I will need to level the area with a load of gravel first. Thanks for the tip!

    • Always level the ground and place down a light pad of Decomposed Granite or DG to prevent the pallets from rotting prematurely. Also spray a wood sealant on the pallets before you lay them down.

  • I get all Oak pallets from where I work at Oak will last seven or eight years but we are going to waterproof it and possibly stain it

  • Just curious, how has it held up over the winter? I was told it is cheaper, in the long run, to buy treated wood that will hold up in the weather, considering the labor costs of tearing apart the pallets and making them usable. What do you think?

    • My experience has been that pallet material exposed to weather only last two years, possibly three if you try to treat them. The wood used in making pallets comes mostly from trash trees shush as hackberry and any other fast growing tree. It's not good material to start with with few exceptions. Used fencing is good but it is thin and can break under a load. In my oppenion time spent is worth starting with treated material. Just saying.

      • Pallets are made from many hard woods and medium woods - depending on application. The most common woods in the U.S. used are pine and oak, but I've gotten maple, poplar, and more. ANY wood, exposed long enough to harsh conditions will eventually fail. We always recommend that you encapsulate outdoor wood with outdoor-specific products. Paint provides more UV protection, but clear coatings, if outdoor-use, have UV additives as well that'll extend the life. The key is to fully seal all surfaces. I've got a chaise lounger I built out of pallet wood. I did indeed paint it and it's going on year four now. Same with some outdoor chairs I replaced the wood with pallet slats. My outdoor locking bench gets beaten by southern Cali sun every afternoon and made it into the local newspaper a few months back, so it's holding up quite well too...but again - it has several coats of UV-protective poly. It's how you treat the wood that'll determine the life span.

  • Very nice You can go down to your local fence building co and see if you can pick up some of the old wood fence they bring in, then use it to cover the pallets.I have done several projects using used fence material. One was a fire place that we put a elect fire heater with the electric flames in the fire pit.ever one wants one.

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