Man Uses Old Wood Pallets To Build A Backyard Hideaway With An Impressive DIY
Everyone has thought about it, a few have tried, and at least one kook has turned wood pallets into a budget-friendly workshop subfloor. But TikTok "DIY engineer" speedym82 has the most successful full pallet shed build we've seen. They use 36 pallets for the walls, a concrete paver floor, and a metal roof. Everything about it is nearly perfect. Code compliant? No.But still nearly perfect.
The foundation is well-built with a crushed rock base layer, a layer of compacted granite dust, and a thick pour of concrete into which concrete slabs (pavers) are set. Based on the 48-by-40 inch industrial pallets used, the structure measures about 20-by-14 feet, including a window and French doors. These are set into walls made of pallets staggered like bricks for strength, then connected to each other with steel nail plates and 150mm screws where there are no plates. The walls are insulated with 20mm bubble wrap insulation supplemented with spray foam and covered with OSB. The exterior wall is wrapped with Protect FCM 750 floor membrane, which is a vapor-permeable barrier like standard housewrap, then clad on the left, right, and back with random lengths of same-width pallet boards. Reclaimed timber cladding was used for the front, and up top is a single-slope metal shed roof.
This Scottish shed was built from mostly reclaimed materials after @speedym82 got a quote he considered too expensive. This was not his first pallet shed, and it shows. We haven't seen a final price yet, but this appears to be an extraordinarily affordable masterpiece.
Evaluating the viability of a pallet shed
Whether you could manage such a build using recycled pallets in the U.S. depends on a few factors ... including how much time you're willing to spend on Facebook Marketplace looking for free materials. The last price we saw for @speedym82's materials was £677 – impressive given the quality of the build. For comparison, we priced structural insulated panels (SIPs) for a 20-by-14 building at well over $8,000 just for the exterior wall structure, not accounting for labor, shipping, or any additional construction materials.
@speedym82 a shed this size and quality would £££££ss...💷😎 #diyonabudget #palletbuild #mancave #jackofalltradesmasterofnone #fyp
Another very real issue is code compliance. Nothing about a pallet wall is quantifiable (or fire-resistant) in the way inspectors prefer. But if your HOA and local ordinances can deal with it, you might be able to build a less-than-permanent shed with pallets. Localities often have a size threshold of around 120 square feet, above which you need a permit — and therefore inspections and code compliance. @speedym82's shed is more than twice that size. Electrical wiring, plumbing, and HVAC installation might also trigger the need for a permit.
Then there's the pallet ownership problem. The red and blue pallets @speedym82 uses are likely the property of CHEP (blue pallets) and LPR (red) – companies that rent rather than sell their pallets. @speedym82 claims in one video to have painted the pallets blue, and who are we to argue? In any case, you can usually find free pallets for DIY projects in and around hardware, grocery, and pet stores — as long as they are not ownership-stamped.