Hey Guys.
So I did have a question up on another part of the forum and uploaded content and pictures there. But i have decided to start a new thread, to make it easier to see and see my mistakes.
Here goes.
The Mrs wanted to change the flat, and have a space for her plants where the cat does not have access to them. I think i failed on both those objectives, but more on that later.
I decided to be an eco warrior and use reclaimed wood to make a feature wall.
The plan was:
1. Use reclaimed wood - maybe pallet.
2. Have a sturdy wall, that covered around a 3 meter width and floor to ceiling. - I later changed this to 2600mm, and a rise of 2400mm.
3. Maybe have back lighting
4. Give some way of putting plants on it.
So initially i set about looking for pallets, quickly realised they wouldn't fit into the car. Luckily a really nice guy on Gumtree had a load and said he would even deliver i took them all. Problem was, i didn't check how many there was - i just said yes.
Here is what arrived:
Yes, a few too many and all sorts of condition... I split them out to pick out the ones in decent condition and trying to work out what to do with the rest.
I bought a second hand reciprocating saw (which failed after a short while - anyone that can help me fix it would be appreciated). I used it to cut through the nails between the Stringer and the deck. This took a while and gave me a really sore hands and wrist.
Without the saw i think there was only on other option a pallet crow bar. But they are quite pricey.
All in all, i dismantled around 10 pallets. It took around 4 hours.
I then de-nailed all the planks using a Nail punch and hammer. Quite an arduous task given there is 6 nails per plank, without it you will have unsafe rusted nails in the board and rip up your sand paper. - Around 450 heads.
I then took out the belt sander, and sanded down one face of each plank, some needed the edges doing as well. I didn't want a totally clean finish so it was a light brush. Although i lost quite a bit of character doing that. - Unavoidable.
Once finished, i lined all the wood up to see how much coverage i had. I estimated around 7m/squared, as it turned out this would be just about enough - there will be LOTS of wastage from off cuts and bits you cant use. Additionally i found most of the pallets varied in plank dimensions, some around 95mm width vs 70mm vs 75mm. Lengths varied too: 1000mm vs 1100mm. Even the depth of wood but only marginally.
Luckily, the wall it was going on didn't need much prep, i drew out an approximate plan, then drew a perfectly vertical line.
Once done, i planned how many batons and how to hold them on.
I tried to look for stud work and electrics, but for some reason it was near enough impossible in these walls. This was the most difficult part finding secure areas to mount the batons to.
Additionally, some batons had no studs, and cavities behind them., Luckily i found to very top screw and the very bottom screw would hit what felt like breeze blocks, so used appropriate wall plugs - I hope the plugs i used are secure enough!
I used 40mm x 60mm batons with the 60mm on the wall. - This would give a 40mm clearing for plugs in sockets and a bit of clearing for the LED strips for accent lighting. - Again exactly vertical.
There is about a 450 (+/- 20mm) split between batons.
So I did have a question up on another part of the forum and uploaded content and pictures there. But i have decided to start a new thread, to make it easier to see and see my mistakes.
Here goes.
The Mrs wanted to change the flat, and have a space for her plants where the cat does not have access to them. I think i failed on both those objectives, but more on that later.
I decided to be an eco warrior and use reclaimed wood to make a feature wall.
The plan was:
1. Use reclaimed wood - maybe pallet.
2. Have a sturdy wall, that covered around a 3 meter width and floor to ceiling. - I later changed this to 2600mm, and a rise of 2400mm.
3. Maybe have back lighting
4. Give some way of putting plants on it.
So initially i set about looking for pallets, quickly realised they wouldn't fit into the car. Luckily a really nice guy on Gumtree had a load and said he would even deliver i took them all. Problem was, i didn't check how many there was - i just said yes.
Here is what arrived:
Yes, a few too many and all sorts of condition... I split them out to pick out the ones in decent condition and trying to work out what to do with the rest.
I bought a second hand reciprocating saw (which failed after a short while - anyone that can help me fix it would be appreciated). I used it to cut through the nails between the Stringer and the deck. This took a while and gave me a really sore hands and wrist.
Without the saw i think there was only on other option a pallet crow bar. But they are quite pricey.
All in all, i dismantled around 10 pallets. It took around 4 hours.
I then de-nailed all the planks using a Nail punch and hammer. Quite an arduous task given there is 6 nails per plank, without it you will have unsafe rusted nails in the board and rip up your sand paper. - Around 450 heads.
I then took out the belt sander, and sanded down one face of each plank, some needed the edges doing as well. I didn't want a totally clean finish so it was a light brush. Although i lost quite a bit of character doing that. - Unavoidable.
Once finished, i lined all the wood up to see how much coverage i had. I estimated around 7m/squared, as it turned out this would be just about enough - there will be LOTS of wastage from off cuts and bits you cant use. Additionally i found most of the pallets varied in plank dimensions, some around 95mm width vs 70mm vs 75mm. Lengths varied too: 1000mm vs 1100mm. Even the depth of wood but only marginally.
Luckily, the wall it was going on didn't need much prep, i drew out an approximate plan, then drew a perfectly vertical line.
Once done, i planned how many batons and how to hold them on.
I tried to look for stud work and electrics, but for some reason it was near enough impossible in these walls. This was the most difficult part finding secure areas to mount the batons to.
Additionally, some batons had no studs, and cavities behind them., Luckily i found to very top screw and the very bottom screw would hit what felt like breeze blocks, so used appropriate wall plugs - I hope the plugs i used are secure enough!
I used 40mm x 60mm batons with the 60mm on the wall. - This would give a 40mm clearing for plugs in sockets and a bit of clearing for the LED strips for accent lighting. - Again exactly vertical.
There is about a 450 (+/- 20mm) split between batons.
. I might experiment with some of the boards and wash them.