Start at Home: DIY Pallet Top Table

The top of this sofa table was missing it's glass when I picked it up (before here). I wasn't too heart broken, I am not a huge fan of glass tops anyway. I had to come up with a new idea for the top of this table. Originally I was going to go and buy some pine planks and use that until my brother-in-law dropped off a perfect pallet! What is better than a free top with amazing texture?! And it was super easy to make!

First you will need a pallet. When you are searching for a pallet make sure you inspect them for splitting wood. If the wood is splitting in many places when you remove the planks they will fall apart. Once you have your pallet you will need to remove the top planks.

I found the easiest way to remove the planks of wood is with a sawzall. Make sure you have a metal blade and position your sawmill in between the plank and 2x4 and saw right through the nails. I found this to be a much better alternative to prying them off with a hammer. You can take them off with a hammer, just be careful not to split your planks in the process.

Once you have your planks of wood off they will be really rough like these.

I used 80 grit sand paper and my disc sander to sand them all smooth, make sure you sand the sides as well to avoid splinters.

Once you have sanded all your planks your wood should look nice and smooth but still have a texture to it. I love the texture of pallets, it adds so much character.

After your planks are sanded turned them wrong side up and lay them out how you want them. I didn't want all my seams together so I staggered them. (as you can see above)

Next you need to brace the underside to hold them together. I used wood glue and a finish nailer to hold the braces on.

Once your glue has dried you can place your pallet top on your piece. The pallets hang over 1 inch on each side of this table. I then glued my pallet top on and used my finish nailer to secure the top

Once my top was secured I sealed the top with a spar urethane.

There you have it... A beautiful new top!