Let me guess, you’ve seen some projects floating around on the web that use pallet wood. They look awesome and best of all the project owner says they’re cheap to make. You get all these ideas on what you’re going to make with pallets and then it dawns on you… where the heck do I get pallet wood from in the UK anyways??
In the UK, pallet wood can be brought from several online market places such as Etsy, eBay and Gumtree. Additionally, some companies specialise in supplying full pallets (mainly aimed at businesses) as well as pallet planks that have already been separated. You can also get pallet wood for free from manufacturing businesses that no longer need those pallets.
Fear not my friend – I love using pallet wood in my projects and I’m going to go through the sources mentioned above in great detail to help you identify the right source of pallet wood in the UK for you. I’ll also cover what to look out for when picking your pallets to make sure you get the best quality ones, although beware that in some cases you’ll have to just take what’s given.
For a nice bonus, see the end of the article where you’ll find a short quiz to help you decide on where to start your quest to get pallet wood in the UK.
By the way, if you’ve never worked with pallet wood before, make sure to check out this post on the benefits and downsides of using pallet wood before deciding if it is suitable for your project.
WHAT IS PALLET WOOD
Let’s be honest – if you’re reading this article then you’re probably well aware of what pallet wood is. Buuuut in case you stumbled across this by accident and are now intrigued as to what I’m blabbing on about, this section is for you.
Pallet wood refers to individual wooden planks that have been removed from wooden pallets. These wooden pallets are the sort that businesses use for transporting goods.
Below is an illustration of what pallets and individual pallet planks look like.
These wooden pallets are used for transporting all sorts of goods and they’re specifically designed to be lifted and moved with a forklift. Hence you usually have a top and bottom layer of planks that are separated by several chunky blocks to give enough space between the top, bottom and sides for the forklift forks to fit in. Some pallets don’t have the chunky blocks but instead have more pallet planks that are attached sideways to separate the top and bottom but I don’t see those often around here. I think that’s because it’s probably a bit restrictive in terms of which way you can stick the forklift forks into those.
TYPES OF WOODEN PALLETS
Here in the UK, we have many different types of pallets, including:
- UK Standard Pallets
- Euro Standard Pallets
- CP Pallets
- International Pallets
From my experience, all pallets are very different in terms of their size, individual plank size, wood type and structural design that it’s not often that you get the same planks from 2 pallets.
Each type of pallet has its own permitted ‘standard’ sizing which can be helpful if you want specific length/ width of planks. However, in my experience no matter how hard you try to match pallets to your project requirements, you ALWAYS end up having to faff around cutting them down in some way. So the point here is – don’t worry too much about the sizing, as long the planks are bigger than the minimum size you need OR you can easily and attractively join pieces to get them to the right size.
If you are interested in finding out what sizes each type of pallet can come in, I found this very informative resource that tells you just this: check it out here.
HOW ARE WOODEN PALLETS TREATED
Wooden pallets are treated in numerous ways. They can be heat-treated, chemically treated, painted, stained or left as raw wood.
Pallets are required to be heat-treated for movement between certain countries. I believe this is the case with the majority of new international pallets, however, some pallets that are older or used only domestically may not have been heat treated. The idea behind heat treatment is to dry the wood out making it stronger and killing off any bacteria living on the wood in the process. This reduces the risk of pests travelling in and out of a country. These pallets are perfect to use in your DIY projects. To tell whether a wooden pallet has been heat treated check for a stamp of ‘HT’ or ‘KD’ somewhere on the pallet.
Some pallets are just plain raw wood – these have no markings or have ‘EPAL’ stamped on them. These are also ok to use for DIY projects.
Some pallets are treated with chemicals to protect them from rot and pests. These chemicals can be extremely poisonous and you SHOULD NOT use these types of pallets in DIY projects. A chemically treated pallet will have ‘MB’ stamped on it.
Some other types of wooden pallet treatments include staining and painting. These should also be avoided because you don’t know what sort of stain/ paint was used – it could be toxic.
To summarise, the only pallets you should use for your projects are:
- stamped with ‘HT’, ‘KD’, ‘EPAL’ or have no markings at all
- are NOT stamped with ‘MB’
- are NOT painted/ stained
This all sounds a bit confusing but fear not – all you have to do is check for markings on a pallet as described above to make sure you’re getting safe ones. They’re usually really big and are in an obvious place so you won’t miss them.
WHERE TO GET PALLET WOOD FROM IN THE UK
Now for the main event… where to actually get pallet wood from. First of all, let me say that pallet wood is not necessarily free. It really depends on where you end up getting it from. Here is a summary of all the sources of pallets/ pallet wood in the UK that I’m aware of (you may need to zoom in if you’re reading on mobile):
Keep reading for more detail on the benefits and downsides of each source. Don’t forget, there is a quiz available at the end to help you figure out where to start your search.
1. EBAY – PALLET PLANKS
- Link: eBay
- Type: Pallet Planks
- Cost: £15-£20 per m2
- Difficulty: Easy
- Need Own Transport: No
Benefits:
These are pallets that have already been broken down into planks. This is fantastic if you’re happy to pay for pallet wood because no matter how easy someone on YouTube makes it look, breaking down pallets is a right peetake and you do end up breaking some really nice looking planks as you go (soooooo frustrating). Additionally, most listings that I saw offer free delivery meaning you don’t need to sort out your own transport to pick them up and you can order them regardless of where you live in the country.
Downsides:
The obvious downside to these is the cost. This is used wood so it will not be as long lasting as the stuff you can buy from the shop. However, if you do the math, per m2 this does work out cheaper than equivalent wood.
The other, not so obvious downside, is that there’s no way for you to know what types of pallets these are – you can’t see the stamps. I would highly recommend reaching out to the sellers and asking what pallets the wood came from before making a purchase and if they don’t seem confident or knowledgeable in their answer, find a different seller. Don’t risk your health, it’s not worth it.
Final Verdict:
Ready broken pallets are great for convenience and time saving if you’ve got a few extra quid to pay for them. If the seller is trustworthy and knowledgeable on the types of pallets they’re selling, go for it! I don’t buy my pallets in planks as my husband get them from work whole but if I didn’t have him around to break them down for me, this is for sure where I’d be getting them from. I’m just not strong enough to break some of the hardwood ones, unfortunately.
2. EBAY – FULL PALLETS
- Link: eBay
- Type: Full Pallets
- Cost: £0 – £5 per pallet
- Difficulty: Hard
- Need Own Transport: Yes
Benefits:
The biggest benefit of these is obviously the price! When I searched for full pallets, some listings came up free, others £0.99 and only a couple for £5 so it looks like the price is definitely on the lower side for full pallets. Realistically, with breakages and depending on what type of pallet you get, you will end up with about 0.5-1m2 from each pallet. Even if you pay £5 to get that pallet, this is significantly cheaper than already broken planks.
Additionally, you’re going to be able to see the stamps on the pallets yourself and can even ask the seller in advance so that you’re not wasting your time going to look at something you don’t end up buying.
Downsides:
Now for the downsides – my, my, my… unfortunately there are quite a few.
Firstly, these are full pallets (duh!). The downside here is that it takes a lot of time and is physically demanding to prep them for use. I will at some point write a guide on how to do this and link it here but until then know this – it is HARD work. Why? Firstly, because you end up breaking a sh*tload of them during the process which is just the most frustrating thing – especially when you’ve just spent 5-10mins trying to get this one plank off. Secondly, once you’ve finally managed to pry them apart and have some planks, you will see that they all have nails in – some will have just a couple of real thick boys on either side but some will have about a million thin ones sticking out. You will need to go through each plank and de-nail them. Then you will need to go through with a magnet and double-check that you’ve de-nailed them and what you will find is that some have snapped nails stuck right inside the wood that you couldn’t even see.
The second downside is that you will need a van of some sort to pick these up. They are wider than you think and won’t fit into a car boot. So the option is to either hire one for the day or if you’re lucky, borrow one from a friend. If you’re really lucky you may already own one in which case this isn’t an issue at all.
The third downside is that some of the listings I saw only have one or two pallets available. This means that if you have a biggie of a project, you may need to visit a few different sellers to get all the wood you need. This obviously is going to cost you in fuel taking that per metre price up.
Final Verdict:
If you’re happy to go through the physical and mental pain of breaking your own pallets down, and have access to a van, this is a great option. However, I would consider the cost of fuel in deciding if this is worth it – if your fuel is going to cost you £10 on top of the fiver you’re paying for the pallet, don’t torture yourself.
3. ETSY
- Link: Etsy
- Type: Pallet Planks
- Cost: £15 – £35 per m2
- Difficulty: Easy
- Need Own Transport: No
Benefits:
Ok, so this is obviously broken down planks, same as eBay. The benefits are the same – it’s super easy and convenient to get these. You don’t need your own transport as all the listings I saw offered free delivery.
The one upside on eBay I noticed is that majority of listings were selling pallets that have already been sanded to a good finish – they’re basically ready for use. The majority of the ones on eBay looked quite rough, I don’t think any sanding was done. I could be wrong though, it could just look that way due to picture quality.
Downsides:
The downsides are also the same as for eBay but also, these vary in price A LOT. Some are priced as high as £35 per m2. This is the only downside though as far as I can tell and not all listings were this expensive so I don’t think this is much of an issue.
Again, you aren’t able to see the type of pallets these planks are taken from so be sure to check with the seller for safety.
One extra issue I found is that from my brief look here, I couldn’t tell if some listings were for a single plank or 1 m2. This is frustrating as you need to be able to easily know what you’re looking at so you can work out the costs and find the most relevant seller for you. This could well be because I only read the short description at the top instead of looking at the longer bit at the bottom – but still, if you’re comparing 10 listings, this is annoying.
Final Verdict:
Ready broken planks are fab but ones that have already been sanded… that’s even fab-ber(?). These look great quality and are convenient if you don’t want to break your own pallets down. The fact that they’re sanded down too will save you loads of time. If you’re looking to buy planks rather than full pallets, there are some fantastic choices here but do be wary of ridiculously high prices and double-check exactly what where the wood you’re buying has come from.
4. GUMTREE
- Link: Gumtree
- Type: Full Pallets
- Cost: £0 – £10 per pallet
- Difficulty: Hard
- Need Own Transport: Yes
Benefits:
I found these to generally be priced cheaper than on eBay as most of the ones I saw listed were free. As mentioned previously, full pallets are great because you can see the quality of the wood and any treatments marked on them easily.
Downsides:
There are a few downsides to getting full pallets from Gumtree. The biggest one I thought of when I was researching this was the fact that so few relevant listings came up when I searched for ‘wood pallet’. The search did return over 140 results but a lot of these weren’t the wood pallets we’re after here. The relevant searches seemed well priced and decent enough, similar to eBay really, but they weren’t anywhere near where I live.
Additionally, all the other downsides mentioned already still apply – it’s a pain in the butt to break down full pallets and you’ll need a van to pick these up.
Final Verdict:
If you’re happy to break down pallets yourself and are lucky enough to spot some close enough to your location on Gumtree, go for it. The pricing was generally low, mostly free, so this looks like a cost-effective place to get them.
5. SPECIALISED PALLET STORES – FULL PALLETS
- Link: RotomShop
- Type: Full Pallets
- Cost: £10 – £30 per pallet
- Difficulty: Hard
- Need Own Transport: Maybe
Benefits:
Rotomshop, linked to above, is just an example of a specialised pallet store. If you google ‘buy pallet wood uk’ you will see that quite a few companies do pop up in the results. I’ll review Rotomshop here but I think the review is generally applicable across the board from what I’ve seen.
Getting pallets from a specialised store has a few great advantages. One is that they don’t just sell used pallets – they also sell new ones. This is good if you want pallet wood that’s a bit less tatty than the used stuff available normally.
Another one is that you know exactly what you’re buying – Rotomshop lists each pallet’s size, whether it’s new or used, the type of pallet it is and you can see the stamps in some of the pictures. You may need to enquire regarding the stamps for the ones you can’t see but these companies seem very knowledgeable as I think they specialise in supplying pallets to businesses so you should have no problem getting a response from them.
A potential benefit is that they do deliver the pallets if you wish, however, you either have to pay for this or you have to spend over a specific amount to get the delivery for free – for Rotomshop that amount is £300 (excl. vat) or the delivery will set you back about £55 (again excl. vat so even more if you’re not a business).
Downsides:
Following on from the delivery benefit – this is really a downside. I mean £55 for delivery if you’re not a business is… insane. If you don’t want to pay this, you either need to have a van to collect the pallets or spend over £300 with them. Not to mention these numbers are vat free so for us regular fellas it would cost even more.
£300 seems like a lot until you look at the pricing of their pallets – which is another downside. The more feeble ones were going for about £10 but the ones you really want are well in their £20s. You can see how, if you have a lot of projects planned, you may well end up spending the £300 threshold here.
Unfortunately, they don’t sell broken down pallets from what I could tell so you have to break them down yourself still.
Final Verdict:
While I love that you get information on the exact sizing of each pallet and that you can choose exactly the type you want, I just don’t think this costs in for regular DIYers like us. If you’re a business and are buying these in bulk (which you can get a discount for but you have to buy A LOT) then these are fantastic. For a bit of DIY here and there it’s just too expensive.
6. SPECIALISED PALLET STORES – PALLETS PLANKS
- Link: Rustic Direct
- Type: Pallet Planks
- Cost: £15 – £19 per m2
- Difficulty: Easy
- Need Own Transport: No
Benefits:
Along with Rustic Direct, there is another store that specialises in supplying pallet wood planks, PalletBoards.co.uk. They seem to be pretty on par in terms of prices (I think Rustic Direct is slightly cheaper) and what they offer but do check both out.
These stores are on par with some of the eBay and Etsy seller prices and yet their pallets are so much more organised. You can sort by colour and choose the exact finish you want (sanded or not). The sizing is regular too as they let you choose the range of sizes you’re going to get. All this makes these companies a fantastic choice if you’re happy to pay for your pallet wood and if you have a specific pallet wood finish/ colour scheme you would like.
Another benefit is the delivery – it seems to be free throughout mainland UK!
Downsides:
I think that overall the prices for some of the better wood are a bit higher than eBay which makes it a little less budget-friendly. Additionally, as with all broken down planks, you can’t see which pallets they came from. You can of course enquire and I’m sure that the companies will be able to give you plenty of info on what it is exactly you’re buying.
Final Verdict:
I think overall the prices for some of the better wood are a bit higher than eBay and Etsy but if you require a specific finish for your project and want a bit of uniformity from your pallets without the pain of breaking and sorting them yourself, this is a fantastic option. I am certainly considering using one of these companies to get my next batch of pallet wood and save myself from the effort of breaking them down myself (or more accurately, my husband breaking them down for me 😀 ).
7. FACTORIES
- Link: none, you need to search for your local factory park on google
- Type: Full Pallets
- Cost: £0 – £5 per pallet
- Difficulty: Hard
- Need Own Transport: Yes
Good old factories… this is where I get my pallets from. What do I mean by factories? I mean giant warehouse units, usually found in some business park surrounded by other warehouse units. My husband works in a food warehouse and he’s lucky enough to be able to take whatever pallets he wants from work for free. However, not everyone knows people who can do this. Fear not – this option can still work for you.
My husband’s factory goes through A LOT of pallets and they actually pay a company to come and collect them. This is why he’s able to take them for free – they’re an inconvenience.
The way you would go about getting your hands on some is:
- search up your local warehousing park
- get the number of a few companies – preferably food as they are unlikely to be using chemically treated pallets
- give them a call. I know this seems awkward and nobody likes talking on the phone these days but some of these places will let you come and take the pallets.
Be wary that some may ask you for a small fee and some will think you’re insane and will tell you no. But once you find that one gold goose that says yes – you can keep going there every time you need more pallets!
Benefits:
This leads us to the benefits of this pallet wood source. If you find a factory/ warehouse that lets you take their used pallets, they are likely going to be free or very low cost because chances are these places are already paying someone else to come and take them away.
Additionally, you only have to find one that says yes… you’re set afterwards as they’re likely to keep letting you come provided you don’t cause any inconvenience for them.
Downsides:
One downside is that you for sure will need a van.
Another is that, let’s be honest, ringing random businesses and asking for spare wood is a bit awkward and I bet reading this you’re thinking there’s no way you’re doing this. Honestly though, just give it a try – you don’t have to give your name when you first call (or use a fake one if they ask) and you can withhold your phone number. Nobody has to know it’s you if you’re worried about someone thinking you’re strange – you’ve nothing to lose!
An additional downside to this is that it’s unlikely that you’ll get to pick exactly which pallets you take. I think more likely they’ll ask how many you need and when you show up they’ll probably have them lying somewhere separate for you to take. This means that you may well end up with pallets that aren’t useable due to having been treated or just being in a bad condition in general and you’ll have to find some way to get rid of these after you’ve picked them up.
Final Verdict:
I think this is a great way to secure yourself a low-cost pallet wood source for life but I do appreciate that it’s not for everyone. Additionally, it will be frustrating if you do manage to get a warehouse to give you pallets just for them to turn out unusable – it is worth an ask when you speak to them on which pallets they use, they may be willing to help you before you show up.
HOW THE HECK DO I CHOOSE?
Ok, so you’ve read through all the above information but now have no idea which option is right for you. Fear not because I created this short quiz to help you decide exactly where you should start your search.
If you enjoyed this article and found it useful or know of other sources that I missed, please drop a comment below to let me and all the other readers know.
