DIY Floating Pallet Deck

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As I mentioned in my first post about the backyard project, one of my primary mission objectives was to add a seating area somewhere in the yard - a place where Hubs and I could sit with an adult beverage and admire the weeds...I mean, flowers. Since the corner behind our shed gets zero direct sunlight and nothing grows there except horseweed - which has evolved, I assume out of sheer spite, to thrive in both full sun AND full shade conditions - it seemed like the best spot for a seating area. The thick tree canopy is also ideal for us fair-skinned girlies, for whom trying to dodge sunburns in summer is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.

The future home of our floating pallet deck. And yes, I power-washed the shed first. I'm not an animal.

Unfortunately, the mature trees that provide that beautiful cool shade have very well-established roots, making it almost impossible to dig down to lay a patio. The easiest solution would therefore be to build up. A floating deck is relatively easy to build and since it doesn't need to be strongly anchored, we can easily re/move it down the line.

With the cost of lumber still sky-high, I turned to a DIYer's best friend: pallets. I'd never worked with pallets before but given their design and construction, I figured they would make a decent base for my deck. Pallets are generally easy to find and affordable, as warehouses, garden centres, shipping companies, and even thrift stores look to offload their surplus. I was able to get my pallets for free and have since seen several ads on Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji for other freebies.

1. Prep the Area

The first thing I did was till the area where the deck would go, then raked to level it, and tamped it down. I made sure I had sand on hand to further level the deck as I went.

The picket fence is gone but sadly the ladder must remain where it is.

2. Measure the Space

Next, I measured the area behind the shed and determined how large I wanted the deck to be. Since this was my first foray into deck building, I opted to start small, with a base of just 5 pallets. We have a large maple tree behind the shed, which I also factored into my calculations, deciding to make a deck that resembled a "d".

3. Acquire and Prep the Pallets

I knew I needed five pallets to create my deck base, and then estimated that I'd need another five to harvest enough wood to cover the base (that calculation would prove to be very, very far off!) Once I had my ten pallets, I used a combination of tools (reciprocating saw, grinder, circular saw, and crowbar) to remove just the bottom slats from my five base pallets and all of the slats from the five extra pallets.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way: Not all pallets are created equal

While the standard North American pallet is 40" x 48", sizes can vary significantly. Pallets that looked to be the same size when they were stacked up weren't actually the same when I laid them all out. Luckily this didn't hinder my progress too much: I needed to create a notch in the deck to accommodate the maple tree, so I used one of my off-sized pallets for that.

It's also important to note that some pallets are easy to break down while others are sturdily built, making them much more difficult to pull apart. I spread the task out over several days because my wrists were getting very sore from wrestling with the stubborn skids.

4. Build the Base

Once the pallets had been disassembled, I connected my base pallets together with metal brackets and construction screws. I also levelled the base by adding soil and sand under low spots.

5. Lay Out the Deck Boards

I opted to lay the deck boards on a 45-degree angle. Not only do I prefer the aesthetic of diagonal boards, it also allows each of the deck boards to come into contact with the greatest number of supporting boards underneath. Unfortunately, laying boards on a 45-degree angle means you need more wood than if you just ran them horizontally, and once I started laying out my boards I realized I was coming up short.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way: Not all of the wood harvested from pallets is usable

In the end, roughly 25% of the wood I dismantled from my pallets was either rotten or split. Some of the boards could be cut down to remove the affected area while other boards were total write-offs. I failed to factor this into my calculations when determining how much wood, and therefore how many pallets, I'd need.

Not wanting to be bested by a deck, I salvaged some of the boards from our shitty picket fence, as well as some cutoffs from our other projects to supplement the pallet wood. I was preparing to go out to get more skids when I saw someone local selling cutoffs from their own deck project on Facebook Marketplace. I was able to get 4' boards for next to nothing, which, combined with the shitty pickets, gave me just enough lumber to cover the entire deck surface.

I love how the boards look when they run diagonally, but it added another layer of complexity to the project.

6. Secure the Boards

I laid the boards out in small sections before screwing them down with deck screws. This ensured I was happy with how the boards fit together before permanently securing them. Since the boards were all different shapes and sizes, the deck started to take on a charming patchwork quality, and I had to kiss my typical perfectionist nature goodbye and simply embrace the rustic haphazardness.

Rustic vibes.

7. Trim the Edges

Once all of the boards were secured, I drew a straight line along the deck edges and used a circular saw to cut off the overhang. I may add skirting boards in the future but the step up to the deck is so minimal, it's not really necessary.

The Result

Overall I'm quite pleased with how the deck turned out. It's just large enough for the two of us to sit on and best of all, it hardly cost anything to make! I really love the different colours and textures that the mismatched boards provide!

The area behind the shed is now a more functional space.

UPDATE

I have since discovered that the beautiful big trees that shade our new deck are a favourite perch for the neighbourhood birds. And where birds land, they also poop. Within hours of finishing the deck is was absolutely decimated with berry-flavoured bird bombs. Seriously, it looked like a paintball battlefield. We have since installed a sail shade canopy over the deck to mitigate the defecation damage. The blue berry stains on the boards, however, are there forever. We'll call it "patina" and move on.

The Bird Bomb Barrier. The Defacation Deflector. The Shit Shield.

I got the shade from Amazon. Since we were only testing out the concept, we just used zip ties to attach it to the tree branches. We'll likely invest in the sail shade hardware for permanent install down the road.