What is This?
As hurricane season picked up speed memories of Katrina got me thinking. I wanted to do something to help. It occurred to me that someone might find what I know about building with shipping pallets useful. So I setup this simple micro-blog to make it easy to show others how to build a tiny temporary house with pallets and provide information on disaster preparedness in general.
I’ve posted a few other pallet house designs on my Tiny House Design blog. The pallet house on this site uses pallets very efficiently but the other designs would make better long-term housing. View the alternate tiny pallet house design.
How To Spot a Good Pallet
Pallets come in a number of standard sizes and an infinite number of irregular custom sizes. In America the most common pallet measures 40″ by 48″. The thickness varies but is about 5.5 inches. If you can’t find perfect standard pallets you can still build with them it just takes longer and you end up cobbling them together. This is what I’ve begun doing with my tiny free house and it take a lot of extra work. Continue Reading »
Tools and Supplies Needed
Here is a short list of essential tools you’ll need to build a quick little pallet house. Other tools and supplies will help but this short list will get the job done. Continue Reading »
Build the Shipping Pallet Floor
First choose a flat stable surface to build on like a concrete slab or flatbed trailer. Count on the house weighing between 4000 and 5000 pounds when complete and choose your trailer carefully.
I’m suggesting this arrangement for the shipping pallets because it would most likely fit on many common double axle trailers you’ll find. It also is less than 8′ wide which is the legal limit for trailers in many states. In the drawings you’ll see the steps for bringing the pallets together. Continue Reading »
Lay the Floor
Now attach 4×8 sheets of plywood or another sturdy sheet material to the pallet subfloor. You might also want to take the extra step to sheet both sides of the pallet floor structure and insulate it. This will give you a very strong and sealed base for your house. The thicker the plywood in the floor the better, especially the surface you walk on. Continue Reading »
