How to Make a Floor Out of Pallets

Preparing the Pallets

• 1

  Pry the wood off of the pallet frame with a pry bar. Insert the end of the pry bar underneath the boards on the ends of the pallet. Pry upwards to pop the boards off the frame. Take care not to splinter the wood as you work.

• 2

  Examine the wood and throw away any unusable pieces. The boards should not feel dry and brittle to the touch. If they do, discard them as well as any pieces that are badly damaged.

• 3

  Scrape any dirt off the boards with a chisel. Look for ground-in dirt and scrape it out of the wood with the end of the chisel.

• 4

  Remove any remaining nails in the wood with the end of a hammer. Check for any stray nails in the middle of the boards.

• 5

  Sand the boards down with a hand sander. The boards must be smooth to the touch. Sand with the grain of the wood. Make multiple light passes instead of over-sanding.

Installing the Floor

• 6

  Measure the width and length of the floor area. Write this measurement down.

• 7

  Determine how many rows of boards you will need by measuring the width and length of the boards. For example, if each board is 4 inches wide and 4 feet long, and the room is 12-by-12 feet, you would need 36 rows with three planks each.

• 8

  Cut some of the boards shorter with a circular saw. You do not want matching seams on your hardwood floor. Cut some of the boards down to a length of two feet, and others to three feet.

• 9

  Lay out the first row and nail it into place on the subfloor with a nail gun. Place a nail into each joist in the floor. Use a blind nailing technique by angling the gun at a 45-degree angle into the side of the board.

• 10

  Start every other row with a shorter board to stagger your installation. Continue nailing the wood boards until the floor is complete.

• 11

  Sand the floor one more time with a fine-grit sanding block. Sand with the grain of the wood.

• 12

  Stain the wood floor to the desired color. Use a stain applicator or paintbrush and apply at least one layer of wood stain. Let this dry for 6 to 8 hours. Sand it lightly and re-coat if desired. Otherwise, sand it once lightly before the polyurethane coat is applied.

• 13

  Apply at least one coat of polyurethane to the floor using a floor applicator or by hand with a paintbrush. Let it dry for up to 24 hours between coats and before allowing foot traffic on the floor.