free decking, will it work

the_gorgeous_one

Advice needed, we have just put a shed up in our back garden and there is an area to the front and back that would look good with decking. We have enough wood for the joists for the decking to sit on, we also can get lots of pallets for free and my husband plans to make the slats to walk on from the pallets, will this work. I thought decking strips had slats in them. Is it false economy, has anyone else tried this and what is the best way of doing this. Thanks in advance

eco-friendly_2

NOooooo, pallets are not FIK enough the lenghts are too short, the timber is too hairy, and it'll look orrible-nice try though!

cbrown372

http://www.gardenzine.co.uk/pallet-deck.html

ormus

of course itll work.
it wont look like a 5000 quid deck, but itll be free.
once its painted itll be decent enough for a freebie.

the_gorgeous_one

Thanks for all your responses, it is only a small area and wont be used daily so will try the pallets for a year or 2 then will have the money to buy something more permanent if we still want it. Thanks CBrown372 for the link, really helpful.

patman99

Un-grooved planks will get very slippery when wet. If you have access to a router, then you can soon add the grooves yourselves.

If your hubby can, get the thickest pallets as the slats will be stronger.

I once made a 6ft picnic bench out of pallet wood. It out-lasted my friends expensive store-bought one by a good 5 years.