Shoutout to my neighbor for changing my mind about reclaimed wood

Last month I saw him build a whole bookshelf from pallets and it actually looked legit, so I tried it myself on a small shelf last week. Has anyone else had luck staining pallet wood without it looking like a mess?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin69227d ago

Yeah I've noticed that with pallet wood you gotta sand it way more than you think. I learned that the hard way on my first try when the stain came out blotchy as hell. What worked for me was using a pre stain conditioner first, then a gel stain that's thicker so it doesn't soak in uneven. The whole reclaimed wood thing seems to be taking over lately, everyone I know is trying to save money on lumber by hitting up the dumpsters behind hardware stores.

the_linda27d ago

Pallet wood is just too unpredictable for me. The time you spend pulling nails and hoping it's not treated with chemicals is not worth the savings. @gavin692 you had better luck than I did, mine warped a week after I built the shelf.

mary_foster9216d ago

Right, because who doesn't love spending a whole weekend pulling 500 nails and hoping you don't get splinters in places you didn't know existed. The blotchy stain thing is real though, my first attempt looked like a toddler went wild with a brown marker. I actually gave up and just painted the whole thing a solid color, which kinda defeats the whole "look at my cool reclaimed wood" vibe. But hey, now it matches my dumpster-diving aesthetic perfectly.