Changed my mind about using old pallet wood for a workbench

I was grabbing some free pallets from behind the hardware store in Bellingham last month to build a bench. This older guy, Mike, saw me loading them and just said, 'You'll spend more time pulling nails and sanding out grit than if you just bought two decent 2x4s.' He was right... I fought with one pallet for an hour before I gave up and spent the $22 on new lumber. Has anyone else learned the hard way that some free stuff costs too much?

2 comments

2 Comments

quinnbailey2d ago

Oh man, I was totally on the pallet wood train for a while. I tried to make a set of shelves out of it last year. Half the boards split when I pulled the nails, and I spent an entire weekend just grinding out embedded gravel and mystery gunk. The "free" wood cost me a whole Saturday and a pack of sanding discs. Sometimes the cheap way out is just more work.

patricia422d ago

Ugh, tell me about it. I was so proud of my "upcycled" coffee table until it snagged every sweater I owned. That pallet wood felt like sandpaper no matter how much I worked on it. I basically built a splinter factory that held up my mug. The romantic idea of free wood totally blinds you to the reality of all that work. My time is worth more than that, lesson learned the hard way.