Pallet Deck Tutorial

I wanted to build something under my deck that would make the space useful and decided on a deck. I started researching the possibilities and considered a wood deck, pavers, stone, and concrete but each option was going to be expensive. You see, the space I wanted to fill was 10 ft x 24 ft, plus another 4 ft x 12 ft. That is a HUGE space. I didn't think the concrete would be very pretty and I didn't think the stone would work because the previous home owners had already tried that.

Then my sister mentioned doing a pallet deck. I searched around and found a few examples. But many people just used pallets for the base/foundation and then bought the wood for on the top. My problem was that no one really explained how they put it togther. And absolutely no one said how they did their foundation. Most people said "it was free wood, so it doesn't matter if it only lasts a year". I wasn't about to put my soul into a deck that would rot and I'd have to replace in a year, so I decided to take pictures of all my steps in the hopes that it could possibly help someone else know where to start on their own pallet deck.

First off, I spent about $150 on this deck. But depending on what tools you have, you could spend a lot less or a bit more. The tools that I already had were a drill and driver  (which I only ended up using the driver), shovel, sander, wheelbarrow and a hammer. Here is the breakdown for everything else

Pallets- I was able to get every single one for free from a local company. The hard thing was I never knew which kind of pallets they would have and sometimes they didn't have any at all.
Bricks-$20 -I bought these when they were on sale for $0.30 each
Reciprocating saw- $50- I used this to cut the nails on the pallets to make taking them apart faster
Saw blades (10 pack of 9 inch)- $ 17
Crow bar- $10- I used this to pry apart the boards where I couldn't saw the nails first
Screws- $40
Sandpaper-$10
Sealer- I got this free from the local recycling center reuse shed

The main thing you need for this project is time and patience. I started this deck on March 5, 2016 and just barely finished on August 2, 2016. But, I did do all the labor myself (minus a little help here and there from great friends) while taking care of two kids. I learned that taking apart pallets is a lot of work and very time intensive. If I had had constant help, I'm sure this could have easily been finished in about 2 weeks if I had all the wood at the start.

So here is what I did.
I was sick of mud everywhere. My son was getting in it every day and it was getting tracked into our house every day. The space wasn't used and when we tried to, it was just muddy and miserable. When the mud was dry, it was bumpy and hard to walk on.

For taking apart pallets I used the reciprocating saw method. I would cut through as many nails as I could and pry apart the rest of the pallet with a crow bar and hammer. I would then hammer out the nails and take out the cut nails with a nail and hammer. For the deck, each piece of wood needs to be roughly the same thickness. I took out most of the nails in the boards, but every so often I left one that was deeply embedded and not going to be a problem with walking feet.

First step to making a deck was to clear the space.

 

In my case, I had to level the ground by taking out soil, grass and lots and lots of rocks. Luckily my father-in-law came over to help me since after I took out the first row of rocks, I really didn't want to take out anymore. And lucky for us, the rocks only went half way under the deck.

 My child ate a lot of mud balls in the process.

Once the rocks were out I then had to level the ground. I removed about 4 inches of dirt because I didn't want the deck to be six inches off the ground, and because that is what I had to do in order to get it level. I then sprayed weed killer on the area to keep weeds from growing up under the deck.

Once the ground was level, I laid out the pallets that I wanted to be the base (I actually did this earlier with my friend before I leveled the ground so that I didn't accidentally take them apart for the wood). You want the pallets to be close enough together that a board will be wide enough on top of it to connect them. And you want all the tops of the pallet boards to be facing the same way. I took the bottom boards off of the pallets so that just the middle pallet board was closest to the ground. That way it was easier to adjust height and make sure all of the pallets were the same height.

 We then placed bricks under all of the corners of the pallets so that they would be raised off of the ground and not have contact with the soil. We then leveled the pallets and made sure that they were even and stable.

 Once the bricks were in place, then we started screwing on the wood. It was like putting together a puzzle because we had to make sure that each piece of wood ended and started on a wood plank. If they didn't, then we either tried a different piece of wood, or added another plank on the pallet below. I used 1 5/8 in decking screws. There were a few times that I wished the screws were a tiny bit longer, but in general this length was good.

Slowly but surely I was able to add more and more boards.

And eventually I was done! I added extra boards around the base for aesthetics and to keep things from rolling under the deck.

Once all the boards were down, I sanded the entire surface to remove slivers and even out some of the boards and connections between boards. I then cleaned the surface with a blower and deck wash which helps remove any mildew and make sure the wood is ready to be sealed.

24 hours after washing the deck I applied deck sealer to keep out the water. It cured for a day or two and then the deck was completely done!

I'm so proud of the hard work that I did and that I did it all by myself, making it up as I went. I learned so much about using saws, drills, and cutting wood. The deck isn't perfect and there are plenty of gaps due to  uneven wood. It definitely has a reclaimed wood look, since that is what it is. And although it took a really long time, it was so worth it. The space is so beautiful and usable now.