Advice required on building a pallet bed.

[LFS19]

Hi,

I’m wanting to build a pallet bed.

The above design is what I’d like to go for but without the headboard. For the headboard I wanted one that slides up and down on battons. The reason for this is that the bed will be in front of a window, so I want to be able to lower the headboard during the day so it doesn’t block out the natural light.

Now, I’m unsure of where to get eight uniform pallets. I also don’t know what restrictions there’s are on the U.K. so far as chemicals on the wood, so I don’t want to use one that could be dangerous.

Can anyone offer me some advice?

Thanks!!

 

[nev]

This will help you identify which pallet wood is non toxic
https://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/

Just remember not to use any edged tools you'd like to keep in good condition as most used pallets will be embedded with grit, staples and gawd knows what.

 

[LFS19]

Thanks a lot for the reply and link, I’ll bare the above in mind!

 

[MattRoberts]

That's a bad design. The slats are supposed to go horizontally (perpendicular to the body). I'd recommend adjusting the design

 

[topchippyles]

Sand all timbers thoroughly and if you have a little router then use a little round over bit on all the slats,You should smell any treated wood so avoid and stick to clean timber.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

You might want to be careful what you get up to on that . The stack of bits that serve as legs might be a bit wobbly if there were any racking forces in the head-foot direction

Edited to add - where did that picture come from ? I wonder if they are not specially constructed "pretty pallets" from nicer grade timber than usual. They don't normally come looking like that.

 

[custard]

Can anyone offer me some advice?

Wear steel toe-cap slippers. Stubbing your toe on that would smart.

Seriously, it's a crepe design. As Matt pointed out the slats should run East-West not North-South, and if the designer got that fundamental wrong then what other mistakes have been made?

 

[Racers]

Would you like to live under a railway bridge as well? :wink:

I can believe you can get that past the wife!

One of the best pallet tips is to run a blowtorch over them to get rid of the splintery stuff.

+1 on the slat direction and racking.

Pete

 

[julianf]

We pick up no end of pallets - our home is heated on them!

The pallets in the photo look like theyre probably euro pallets, which is a type. Otherwise pallets are just made for the job in hand, and considered disposable.

Euro pallets are much sturdier and generally re-used. I believe they even get repaired. We probably get one euro pallet for every 100 other units we pick up, and, indeed, if you have a stack of them, they have a market value of about £3 each (im told!)

Ive not checked the link you were given, but a non-single use pallet will be marked as to what it has been treated with, and its HT that you want to look for - heat treated.

Theres a standard, i cant remember it - isps or isscs or something. If you work it out, a web page will tell you all the info.

 

[Bm101]

I don't think that bed is even made out of pallets. I think its been made to look like its been made out of pallets from non pallet wood.
It's like we have reached the stage of pallet inception. What a time to be alive!

If you like the look that's fine of course but redesign it so it doesn't rack, the slats run the right way and the underbed storage pulls out ok.
If I had to drop the headboard down I'd make sure it was a lift and drop design otherwise it's not going to happen after day 3. You'll inevitably just leave it up if it's too much faff. Same goes if it's too much effort to lift it back up when you go to bed tired at night. Doable but needs sensible thought.
Not being negative, everyone likes different stuff, I can even see the appeal in some ways but rubbbish design is another thing entirely and should be treated with the disdain it deserves. Even I could do better than that and that's saying something.
If you want the look of it, fake it yourself but do it properly so it works as an actual bed.

 

[Geoff_S]

Is it 50% off until Friday?

 

[LFS19]

Thanks for all the replies.

On the design: in all honesty I just searched online for “pallet bed” and picked the photo without analysing it that much. I knew wanted 2 to 3 pallets stacked for the height and then however many for double bed dimentions, so I just wanted something to resemble that.
In retrospect, however, the design does look cr**. :lol: Didn’t even notice the slats.

 

[LFS19]

We pick up no end of pallets - our home is heated on them!

The pallets in the photo look like theyre probably euro pallets, which is a type. Otherwise pallets are just made for the job in hand, and considered disposable.

Euro pallets are much sturdier and generally re-used. I believe they even get repaired. We probably get one euro pallet for every 100 other units we pick up, and, indeed, if you have a stack of them, they have a market value of about £3 each (im told!)

Ive not checked the link you were given, but a non-single use pallet will be marked as to what it has been treated with, and its HT that you want to look for - heat treated.

Theres a standard, i cant remember it - isps or isscs or something. If you work it out, a web page will tell you all the info.

Thanks for the reply. So in general, should I be looking for Euro pallets? Getting several all the same is going to Ben an issue I’d imagine, too.

And with the treatment, then, is heat treated good or bad?

Thanks!

 

[dzj]

Or buy some ordinary 19mm timber from the store and make a pallet-like platform.
With pallets, you never know where they've been.

 

[LFS19]

I suppose. Ideally I’d like to do that but it’s just the cost.

Thanks.

 

[julianf]

Heat treated is non-chemical - its what you want to be collecting.

Personally, i would not sleep on a bed made of reclaimed timber unless i could be sure that it was not covered in chemicals. MB is methyl bromide, etc.

Just looked it up, its IPPC.

Wikipedia will tell you stuff -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet

eg -

...that said, i doubt that single use pallets are ever treated.

Pallets are so variable though. Most of them are rubbish wood, but occasionally i pull out a bit that is heading for the firewood pile, and set it aside. Some of the bearers that goods are shipped on are decent timber for construction use, but, not for furniture, as, regardless of markings (or lack of them) its apparent that they have been treated.

 

[eezageeza]

UK pallets are typically 1000mm x 1200mm; Euro pallets are most commonly 1200mm x 800mm, so you'd need to design you bed around these numbers.