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How to build your own incredible country house using pallets

Posted by Dobri on September 2, 2016
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Wooden pallets are usually used for such mundane things as transporting and storing goods. But they can also be used to make all kinds of furniture, and they make a great building material for your house. In fact, it’s possible to build a truly wonderful home from wooden pallets that could last a lifetime.

In case you still have your doubts, we at Bright Side have put together this handy guide to show you just how much potential these pallets have.

A house made of wooden pallets, inside and out

Millions of wooden pallets are thrown away every year all around the world. Yet their use to those who can’t afford expensive building materials is impossible to deny. Building a house out of these things does not, in fact, take much time at all. Pallets are most often made from the wood of pine trees, which is a very sturdy material — it can support up to 1,000kg of weight. Provided it’s supplemented with the right things, a house made from pallets can be both functional and cozy. It can also be constructed in a modular fashion to fit the needs of every kind of family and weather condition. There are even stories of pensioners being able to build this kind of house in just one and a half months, and they turned out to be sturdy enough to withstand hurricanes!

Stages of construction

Choice of materials: To build a small country cottage, you need around 120 pallets. So where can you get hold of them? For the most part, you can find them at pretty much any warehouse or wholesale distribution center, where they’re sold at a very low price and sometimes given away for free.

It’s worth pointing out that not all kinds of wooden pallets are suitable for use as building materials. In particular, you shouldn’t use:

  • Pallets that have been damaged;
  • Pallets that have been painted — they may contain formaldehyde;
  • Pallets that bear the marking IPPC, which have been saturated in harmful chemicals;
  • Pallets that have been used by street vendors — these often have unpleasant smells and have been exposed to too much moisture.

Some of your pallets can be broken down into wooden boards immediately, and it’s best to keep hold of the nails when you do so, as they will come in handy later on.

Design and calculating expenses: As with the construction of any home or building, you have to start with a design, and this will determine whether it’s successful or not. If you think you really know what you’re doing, then you don’t necessarily have to turn to the professionals for this.

Erecting the foundations and laying the subflooring: Foundations for a house of this kind aren’t obligatory; some blocks made from bricks may be sufficient as the base upon which you lay the wooden boards that will make up the basic frame.

Building the walls and putting up the roof: The next step is to raise the vertical supports for the windows and doors, as well as the supports for the roof. Wooden pallets shouldn’t be used for the roof unless they’ve been taken to pieces first, owing to their weight.

Insulation and inner walls: For thermal insulation, you can’t beat glass wool. But for a simple summer cottage you can also use ordinary polyethylene . The inner walls can be constructed using the planks from the pallets.

Once construction is complete, it’s a good idea to apply an antifungal substance to the wood and then paint it.

If this is something you really want to try out, watch this video that explains in greater detail how to construct a house from wooden pallets. It was made by Jose Farre from the DIY Pallet Furniture company.

Based on materials from: proekt-sam.ru and labioguia.com
Adapted by Bright Side
Preview photo credit: emerce.nl / woodmizer.com