Salvage Wood, Pallets, etc

[wizer]

Hi

I want to build some cheap veg planters and raised beds. All over the net you're recomended to use reclaimed wood, pallets and the like. Anyone know a good way to obtain said wood? Is salvaged wood from reclamation yards actually cost effective?

Comments Apprecieated

 

[JFC]

Builders yards have loads of them .

 

[martyn2]

try and get some scaffolding boards they are a good size for planers and raised beds i built them up so they are on top of each other and lined them with a cheap pond liner

martyn

 

[dennyk]

Yes definitely

I built all the wall cupboards, under bench drawer units and my router table in my workshop out of reclaimed timber, I got most of the timber from demolition sites. I managed to buy 33 lenghts of roof trusses all were 15 ft long varying sizes mostly 9" x 2" the cost me £110.00 delivered

I built a beautiful shaker hall table complete with drawers all from reclaimed timber from a school that was being pulled down near me,

My friends and family call me the skip chaser

 

[beejay]

most industrial estates have a few skips with plenty unuseable /broken pallets. A word of caution however,,run a metal detector over the slats before you put them through your PT.
salvage yard wood tends to be good value for money especially if you find some old stuff which tends to be more stable and closer grained than modern day kiln dried stuff.
beejay

 

[wizer]

thanks guys, i'll have to hunt some down!

 

[devonwoody]

Wizer:

You try and take a palette apart its terrible. The nails have most probably been put in with a machine (more powerful than a nailer) I could not knock the nails in or pull them out on the two palettes I got his year( )

So you are eventually reduced to cutting very short lengths or splitting the boards in an effort to separate them.

Scaffold boards are definately the best. Don't go removing them from a site at night though, think of poor Paddy next morning walking along the boards :twisted:

 

[wizer]

is it worth passing the scaffold boards through a planer/thicknesser? After taking the iron work off obviously? Or will a good sanding be sufficient?

 

[devonwoody]

Wizer: If you are going to use them in the garden I would not make the effort of either just coat them with a preservative of your choice, unless you can get Wimpey to do that for you

 

[ike]

DW wites:

You try and take a palette apart its terrible.

Laughing!. Yeah, but by the time you have dismantled about 50, you have the knack. I fenced 50m of the back garden last year with pails made from pallets. All I had to buy were a few extra rails and replacement posts - A tedious but satisfyingly cheap job - ah well, it helps to keep me fit!

PS Made a load of strawberry planters. But beware of growing in planters - I found out too late that vine weevil like then too much. I suspect because of the higher soil temperature.
Although you can treat for vine weevil it's not recommended for edible crops.
Ike

 

[cambournepete]

I would use pallet wood for anything but a bonfire. Even with preservative it doesn't last and rots down in 3-4 years in my experience. Scaffold boards are better.
I've used wood from the building sites here in Cambourne and after being in the dry for a few weeks it's twisted and split to be nearly unusable. As this is reject wood I just hope my house is built with better stuff...

 

[devonwoody]

Alright Ike, what did you do, lever those nails out with a 4ft bar?

 

[wizer]

Well I had a good ring round all the local scaffold yards, none of them will sell me old boards. Went through the local salvage yards and nearest thing I could find was old floor joists at 60p per foot. But they don't deliver and a little too far for me to convince the missus to take me. I guess the last option is to try local building sites but I don't hold up much hope.

Oh well it was a nice idea, I'll see how much new wood would cost.

 

[dedee]

Tom, for your raised beds you could use logs. I did this on one side of my veg plot using large logs from a laurel tree that I cut down a year or so back. Tree surgeons may be able to help with supply

Or of course railway sleepers - but these can be expensive, heavy (very) and could release toxins into the soil - not good for veggies.

Andy

 

[wizer]

not a bad idea Andy, have to keep an eye out for logs. I have just agreed to take on an over grown allotment so logs would be good for that. For the planters on the deck I think i'll look at costs for new wood. I wonder if ply wood could be used for this application?

 

[garywayne]

Hi WiZeR,

Being as poor as I am, I have to keep an eye out for cheep or free timber. I came across a local building/maintainance contractor who gave me permission to raid his skip. Alas, since having found a questionable supply, I have been in and out of hospital and unable to raid said skip. So I don't know if it is a good sauce. Give it a go.

Good luck on your search.

ATB Gary.

 

[frank]

dw i used a hammer and bolster chisel when i made a fence a few years back i just split the the nails .

frank

 

[devonwoody]

dw i used a hammer and bolster chisel when i made a fence a few years back i just split the the nails .

frank

Was that the whole 4" of them.
Must have been were I was going wrong, I tried knocking them in.

Seriously though isn't there a jumper, a contraption which you place over the nail, whack in and then extract, a sophisticated corkscrew thingy?

 

[ike]

though isn't there a jumper, a contraption which you place over the nail, whack in and then extract, a sophisticated corkscrew thingy?

My nail puller has a pair of claws which clinch the nail head using a slide hammer on the handle.

 

[Alf]

Speaking from zero experience, aren't the nails used in making pallets ring shanked or summat? Just about the worst sort to remove, no? I seem to recall a tip somewhere that suggested using a hole saw; small as possible, but large enough for the pilot drill to be clear of the nail while the nail itself was within the hole you bore. i.e. The hole is off centre from the nail, but removes it in a plug. Then, in theory, you can neatly plug the hole.

Bet that's as clear as mud...

Cheers, Alf