Repurposed Pallets Into A Do-It-Yourself Bench

October 13th, 2020

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This was an awesome project. We ship our gutter guards from the plant to the main warehouse on pallets, so we had a few laying around and decided to make something out of them. After looking around a while on HomeTalk.com we decided to combine a few ideas to make our own repurposed pallet bench.

We used about 4 pallets (free) and bought one 10ft cedar 4×4 post, eight 10in bolts, some washers & nuts. We had some deck screws laying around and also some leftover paint/stain to finish it off. All in all, we spent under $20-30. Sizes and prices may vary depending on your material sizes and desired bench.

1. Breakdown all the pallets into individual boards.

Breakdown all the pallets into single boards.

This is probably the most time consuming and difficult part. There were many methods being used here. It kind of seemed like, whatever works best for you… use it!

Sometimes use a pry-bar. Sometimes whack it with a hammer. Put it on a table and use a 2×4 to spread out the impact across the nailed area, and whack that. Stomp on it. Twist it. Kick it.

This is an opportunity to get out your anger and stress. Look at it in a positive way.

2. Measure and cut boards for the seat.

Measure the length of the bench seat and cut.

We took one of the pallets, cut it in half (almost) and used that for the seat base. It was about 24×48 inches. So we cut the boards at 24inches for this part of the bench.

When attaching the boards, it is probably best to pre-drill the holes, otherwise you risk splitting the boards.

Screw all the boards on the seat of the bench.

3. Choose your angle & secure the legs.

Pick the angle of your seat.

This may be a little unconventional, but we used some boxes of material and a 2×4 to decide our height and positioning of our bench seat.

Next, the 10 foot post was cut into four equal parts, just under 2 and a half feet each.

Drill 2 holes through each post and use the bolts to secure them to the bench seat.

Attach the leg posts.

4. Measure, cut & secure the backrest.

Attach the backrest support and planks.

Instead of a more traditional straight or rounded top for the backrest, we went with a staggered look. Whatever way you go, choose comfort first.

The backrest boards are secured to a base board (that is fastened to the bench seat part towards the back), and then again to a crossbar (that is where the middle of your back would rest). That base board also doubles as extra support.

The armrests were cut from the 2 widest boards we got from the pallets. Figured it would be better to rest our coffee on.

5. Power-wash & stain.

Power-wash the bench clean.

Most pallets are going to be dirty so power-washing them is a good idea. Plus, it is a good rule of thumb to do that before staining or putting a new finish on wood.

Stain the bench for a nice color and seal.

6. Pick your view.

Pick your view.

We added a decorative outdoor cushion too!

Let us know if you have any questions!

Please share this article. Have you done something similar like this too? We want to hear about it!