My middle school class designed and built a basic prototype for a house made of pallets. The pallets are for the basic wall structure, and other materials can be used as sheathing, the floor, roof, etc. With a little imagination the builder can fill in the gaps.
One inspiration was Alexander Saunder's op-ed piece in the New York Times about helping victims of a 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. His piece "Give Them Shelter" suggested buying garden sheds from Sam's Club en mass and dropping them into isolated regions. It is an interesting idea.
We also used several sites dedicated to a "Tiny House" movement, which we first saw in a local piece "Stuck in Vermont". Tiny houses are houses about ten-feet by ten-feet and intended to be lived in (windows, loft beds, water and the like). There are many other sites dedicated to the movement. This movement, in turn, was inspired by Thoreau and Walden, which we read excerpts from. Many of these sources stressed simplicity and self-reliance. They also dovetailed with groups looking to solve the problems of homelessness and the environment.
There are several Instructables that will support this project, but "Pallet Playhouse" is mentioned several times in the article as it has excellent information on deconstructing pallets and using their cannibalized parts in interesting and creative ways. I suggest you read it during the design phase and revisit it periodically.
Because we embraced the ideas of civic involvement and recycling we put down two simple rules:
First, everything had to be found. Because of this, we used pallets. You will see that we used a refrigerator door for the door. Even our nails were a rusted mass that we found, and much of it was bound with twine. We speculated the builders could use anything from scrap wood to crushed soda can shingles for siding or the roof. The user of this design can use their own ideas and the resources available, as more appropriate nails and ties will make your own results much more sturdy. The aesthetic, though, was renewable and found so that materials could be found at the site for free.
Second, it was designed to be moved. We hoped that the basic structure could be manufactured at a central site, sent to its permanent site as a shell and finished with local materials. Therefore, it had to come apart and reassemble easily. The main conceit is that the pallets are nailed two each into a panel. Then, all other connections come apart easily. In this way, the entire frame can be stacked and moved on the back of a truck or pushed (bound) out of a cargo plane. On site it can then be assembled.
Mainly, though, we wanted to create a simple shed that anyone could build from materials anyone could find. Adapt to suit your needs and change your own little piece of the world.
One inspiration was Alexander Saunder's op-ed piece in the New York Times about helping victims of a 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. His piece "Give Them Shelter" suggested buying garden sheds from Sam's Club en mass and dropping them into isolated regions. It is an interesting idea.
We also used several sites dedicated to a "Tiny House" movement, which we first saw in a local piece "Stuck in Vermont". Tiny houses are houses about ten-feet by ten-feet and intended to be lived in (windows, loft beds, water and the like). There are many other sites dedicated to the movement. This movement, in turn, was inspired by Thoreau and Walden, which we read excerpts from. Many of these sources stressed simplicity and self-reliance. They also dovetailed with groups looking to solve the problems of homelessness and the environment.
There are several Instructables that will support this project, but "Pallet Playhouse" is mentioned several times in the article as it has excellent information on deconstructing pallets and using their cannibalized parts in interesting and creative ways. I suggest you read it during the design phase and revisit it periodically.
Because we embraced the ideas of civic involvement and recycling we put down two simple rules:
First, everything had to be found. Because of this, we used pallets. You will see that we used a refrigerator door for the door. Even our nails were a rusted mass that we found, and much of it was bound with twine. We speculated the builders could use anything from scrap wood to crushed soda can shingles for siding or the roof. The user of this design can use their own ideas and the resources available, as more appropriate nails and ties will make your own results much more sturdy. The aesthetic, though, was renewable and found so that materials could be found at the site for free.
Second, it was designed to be moved. We hoped that the basic structure could be manufactured at a central site, sent to its permanent site as a shell and finished with local materials. Therefore, it had to come apart and reassemble easily. The main conceit is that the pallets are nailed two each into a panel. Then, all other connections come apart easily. In this way, the entire frame can be stacked and moved on the back of a truck or pushed (bound) out of a cargo plane. On site it can then be assembled.
Mainly, though, we wanted to create a simple shed that anyone could build from materials anyone could find. Adapt to suit your needs and change your own little piece of the world.
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For the frame of the structure we used:
Pallets. We chose them because they are plentiful; indeed, everyone seems to always want to get rid of them. Still, check with a store manager to be sure (our local food coop gets a deposit for returning theirs). They should be uniform in size. Some pallets are treated with a chemical to prevent bugs hitchhiking to foreign lands via international trade, while others are pressure treated. The Wikipedia article "Pallet" has extensive information about sizes and also how to identify how they were treated. You will want at least sixteen for the building we made, plus extras to cannibalize for lumber. The nature of pallets are such that you may find some are not sturdy or "quite right", so spares are worth having about. Also, if you wish to use pallets for your floor or roof you will need to calculate in those extras, too.
The Instructable "Pallet Playhouse" has excellent information on deconstructing pallets and using their cannibalized parts in interesting and creative ways.
* Three inch nails or screws
* Twine and duct tape
* More pallets
Considerations for finishing the structure:
* Door. We used a refridgerator door from the dump (free).
* Hinges.
* Windows.
* Sheathing
Again, "Pallet Playhouse" has some interesting ideas about this.
Tools required are:
Hammer
Handsaw
Pry bar
Drill to pre-drill (pallets are made of a hard, hard wood)
Pallets. We chose them because they are plentiful; indeed, everyone seems to always want to get rid of them. Still, check with a store manager to be sure (our local food coop gets a deposit for returning theirs). They should be uniform in size. Some pallets are treated with a chemical to prevent bugs hitchhiking to foreign lands via international trade, while others are pressure treated. The Wikipedia article "Pallet" has extensive information about sizes and also how to identify how they were treated. You will want at least sixteen for the building we made, plus extras to cannibalize for lumber. The nature of pallets are such that you may find some are not sturdy or "quite right", so spares are worth having about. Also, if you wish to use pallets for your floor or roof you will need to calculate in those extras, too.
The Instructable "Pallet Playhouse" has excellent information on deconstructing pallets and using their cannibalized parts in interesting and creative ways.
* Three inch nails or screws
* Twine and duct tape
* More pallets
Considerations for finishing the structure:
* Door. We used a refridgerator door from the dump (free).
* Hinges.
* Windows.
* Sheathing
Again, "Pallet Playhouse" has some interesting ideas about this.
Tools required are:
Hammer
Handsaw
Pry bar
Drill to pre-drill (pallets are made of a hard, hard wood)
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Pallets used for international trade need to be treated so that bugs do not go from one country to another. There are two methods used: Heat and Chemical. Heat treatment is marked HT and, from what I can gather, is considered safe. I also use local pallets not designed to leave the area (there is a pallet factory five miles away).
Be careful. Do some research. Check the markings for HT.
What a great way to recycle pallets.
It would be very easy to make a wood shingle roof
out of more pallets if you have a band saw.
Great post!
This is not meant to be oneupmanship. Just to say that the stuff is durable (same pallet material as here). It has been up over 10 years without any maint. Probably cost me less than $500 to make about a 20X20 shed.
A friend once took an uninsulated outbuilding and lined the inside with first plastic, then cardboard to make a cozy home for himself.
http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/images/bothbins.jpg
You are right. Not only is it very difficult to pull, you risk cracking the board as they tend to be hardwoods.
Pallets are made for a heavy load, to be knocked around, scraped, poked with a forklift, dropped and then shipped around the world. In short, they are tough. Johnpombrio is correct: The wood is rough and hard, all held together with nails that will not quit. The author of "Pallet Playhouse" finds some ways around it, but even his methods produce a lot of sweat and waste.
Still, those same attributes make for a heck of a strong frame. Put some plywood of this frame and it is not going anywhere.
Where I live, pallets are accessable since many carpet plants are in the area. They can be used for so many different projects, such as chicken coops, vegetable gardens, dog houses, etc. Why not put them to good use?
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If it is built outdoors it should rest on and be connected to 4+ foundation blocks (buckets filled with concrete) with thread sticking out, so it can widthstand storms.
Be careful for splinters!
Building regulations...vs. hiding in sight
As we built my students had a hundred ways to improve it, shore it up, and make it something more than a scrappy eyesore ready to fall over. What I liked about their design--and our project--is that it serves as a base from which people can adapt it to their resources and needs. This is why we stopped at this point; we hoped those who found use for it would make it their own.
Half of my students wanted to take it home, and each had a different idea of what to do with it (it will become a shed for my wife's motorcycle and some garden tools).