Pallet Shed / Building / House

Shared by one of my permaculture friends back East!

http://summerville-novascotia.com/PalletWoodShed/

those are great thanks

i put a wanted ad on craigslist a while back for pallets in my area (for some compost bins.)
i got a response form a Kia car dealership nearby for 5'x10' pallets,many as i wanted as they came in often.
i found out they werent the only dealership happy tog et rid of these big pallets,most pay soemone to haul away.
i had no need of such a large pallet and got other replies for easy to movestandard ones.but i bet they'd make a hell of a shed.
i do need to build a new shed. i'm debating  on doing the pallet thing with ply and shingled roof. or just make some metal conduit hoops and cover with a heavy tarp...which would be a lot less work and cost.

This building cost nothing to build. Well, nearly nothing. It is built of mostly pallets. Used pallets. Pallets that would have been thrown in the garbage. Karen Biondo of La Biondo Farm and Kitchen tells us the story and shows us around.

It's a sturdy shed that is used for an honor system farm stand in the front and the "No Trash Bash Stash" in the back.

The "No Trash Bash Stash" is where folks in the Vashon Island community can come and borrow plates, forks, cups and all the fixins for a party without having to resort to plastic forks and the like.

back in the 1970's we had access to as many 7'6" x 30" oak pallets that we could remove..and remove we did.

we burned some for firewood and gave a lot away..but i stood a bunch of them on end and screwed them together side by side with a header board and sill board 2x4 under and over them to make 8' high approximatley..we had an old foundation that we had gutted and filled with fresh cement..for a floor..so the new shed was built on this foundation..it was 12 x 16' ..We used regular boards from the lumber yard for roof rafters, and used t 1 11 sidinig and plywood and shingles for the roof..we cut a double door from t 1 11 siding for the front and used a salvaged door with a window for a side door, and used pallets to make a division between two sides of the building..we insulated it and use it for a nice tool shed/garden shed.

it has stood solid for more than 30 years here..and is very handy..you can see it on our blog..close up first picture in first link, and distant view 2nd picture in 2nd link

http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/thought-id-throw-in-few-wildlife-photos.html

http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html

Here's one in Moscow. She's built a fence of door and a door shed. Pretty cool inside actually. It's a 10 x 12. http://recycledhomeprojects.blogspot.com/

An individual in N. Central Arkansas is constructing a small home (maybe 600 sq./ft) using reclaimed pallets. I've only seen it in passing from the highway but it appears to be quite well constructed. It sounds (looks) like a good idea to me.

I've seen quite a few piles of pallets over the years. Just no houses came of them as of yet. Bet that would be interesting though.

I have been working on a construction site recently where we have been building a typical (for this area) block and concrete house but one of the guys was designated to build a storage shed from pallets that was sided with long boards and then corrugated steel on the roof. I was looking at it and thinking the doorway looked pretty narrow. I saw another guy walk in and bash his shoulder on the door frame. This confirmed my suspicion. hehe. Anyway a few days later, the guy that built it and a couple of other guys had to carry a large generator across a couple of trenches and then up a recently made embankment of loose subsoil to stash the generator in the shed. It was a real struggle for them. Imagine how they felt when they finally got it to the door, only to find the generator wouldn't fit through it. lol

Here is a photo of the almost finished pallet building (looks like a barn rather than a house) in Arkansas. Pardon the photo I snapped it on the fly. It is coming along nicely since I last saw it.