SNAFU Is Not Always a Bad Thing

Many of you have been keeping up on the progress of our entertainment center which began back in November of last year with the idea that we could create just about anything out of free materials, one just had to know how to find them. For anyone who has not been following along I encourage you to check out Matt’s updates: Part I is here, Part II here.

This weekend would mark the installation of the entire unit, now that the paint was fully cured and feet were attached, including Matt attaching the doors with hidden hinges and drilling through the doors to secure the hardware. What ended up happening was installation of the unit itself, a whole bunch of swearing and an entirely new plan for an even better base to the unit. Let me explain.

I finished painting the piece and its associated parts this past week. The deep chocolate brown color we chose is modern yet sleek enough to last even after the trend of this color goes out of fashion and due to the sheer size of the furniture it would make a really bold statement (read: the focal piece in our home). We purchased a drill bit (total cost for the entire piece is at the end of this post) so Matt could attach hardware and he got to work placing the doors at about four yesterday afternoon.

It was too quiet in the office for the couple hours I spent reading my library book so I knew something was dreadfully wrong.

Upon a check in I found Matt on the office floor with a screwdriver in his hand, a scowl on his face and sweat on his brow. Not to mention it was six and only two of the four doors were even attached. Clearly, the doors were not working out. My heart sank as I envisioned us living another week with all this stuff scattered about the house and I wondered what the number was to the local mental hospital.

Matt is one of those people who is so dedicated to complete something correctly he will not allow himself to redirect even after it becomes clear he must. Both a blessing and a curse I assure you. So, since I am a person who likes things to keep moving no matter how many detours I have to take to get there, I suggested we just install it anyway. You know, just to get an idea what it looks like in its home. He begrudgingly obliged and we made the swap from mish-mosh, college style, eclectic hand me downs to the center. The doors were showing all kinds of gapping, did not completely close and also the two bottom center ones kinda, sorta, got in each other’s way when opening. I blame the engineering, not the Engineer, but this would mean our pull out shelves were no longer viable and realistically the entire base unit was just for show.

I must give Matt credit -- no tears were shed or tools thrown although there were many moments of self depreciation which I figuratively smacked him for by reminding him this was built from scrap material and the single largest & most complicated piece of furniture he had ever constructed, there were bound to be a few snags.

We finally agreed to just hook up all the components (another fun challenge as always!) and take the doors off completely for now until we devised a solution that would make them work. Here is Matt during the initial install (he is 5’-9” so it should give a good idea how tall this baby is!)


From this angle the doors look great but in person, well off they came! We began filling it with everything intended for the unit from video tapes to cd’s to dvd’s to components and more and finally crashed at about eleven last night to recuperate from the efforts. As we both sat there looking at our full, streamlined, gorgeous piece of hand crafted furniture I had an epiphany.

Two large doors for the base that open out would alleviate all of the hinge/slide shelf issues. Yes they would be large but they would also give the base a grounding substance.

The more we both looked at it the more we actually liked the top without doors because just by residing in one piece everything instantly looked less cluttered. So it was settled that we would be returning the hardware we had purchased (pulls and hinges for six doors now only needs to be for two) and using that money to acquire the lumber required to create the two new doors that will finally and functionally complete this piece.

Neither of us are unhappy with the development because sometimes you just never know until you try and there are a lot of lessons we both learned this time around that will stick with us for future projects.

So far total dollars spent is about $75 because we made use of so much scrap material, gift certificates, store credits and exchanges that we have managed to pay only for the hinges (approximately $58), the paint (approximately $15) and the drill bit (the final $3). We hope that the exchange for lumber is a wash and I have plenty of paint left over to complete the doors, no problem. In the meantime, it might still have a slightly cluttery look but neither of us are complaining about the total transformation of our space.

Before:

After:

That's what I'm talking about!

AngelFood Ministries is Helping Neighbors

Last night was the second Bennetts Brook Green Group meeting and although there were fewer members present this month there was still fantastic conversation going around with relation to many different environmentally related topics. We started the night discussing the progress of our entertainment center and some of the snags Matt has encountered with using the pallet wood (update soon; the snags are not what one might think). Melissa talked about her recently renovated basement and the benefits of researching prior to purchasing potentially unneeded materials. We discussed my Mom’s amazing efforts to reduce her electric bill through unplugging and other simple methods and then discussed benefits and drawbacks of certain types of de-icing materials. Sue provided some wonderful information with regard to the drawbacks of sugar and then she shared details of a program a friend, who was interested in saving some money, had passed on to her called AngelFood Ministries.

The mission of AngelFood is to provide brand name, wholesome foods to all people at a reduced cost. The ministry operates out of Grace Church in Hudson, Massachusetts and food orders can be placed either in person or online. The most exciting part of the program is that, according to their website, it is open to anyone not just church congregants. For thirty dollars a box of food can be ordered and it is enough to feed a single person for up to a month or a family of four for about a week. There is no application process and no income verification but orders must be picked up in person at the church.

The food provided is not day old or dented cans but restaurant grade meats and fresh produce. Also, there is no limit to the number of units or special orders that can be purchased however an initial purchase is required prior to ability to purchase special orders containing meats such as steak, chicken and pork products. When picking up the food the purchaser must bring their own bag or box.

In tough economic times it is a wonderful affirmation to see caring and compassion stretching to such a humanitarian cause as ensuring people are fed for a little bit less financial outgo.

For those in Massachusetts who are interested in checking out the program I encourage reading through the website, visiting Grace Church at 353 River Road in Hudson or calling the AngelFood information line at (978) 562-8550 x109 (answering machine).

Uncle Traveling Matt: Episode II -- In the Workshop

Although he was not sending postcards to Fraggle Rock, there were a lot of picture messages sent to me from the cave-like workshop where Matt is working on our free entertainment center. He has had to slightly modify the materials in order to ensure the unit will be structurally sound and will not warp as the temperature and humidity levels here in New England rise and fall, however in keeping with the original basis of a completely free piece of furniture, he is utilizing “scrap” wood from friends and family in addition to his neatly cut pallet planks.


Here is Part II of Matt’s entertainment center construction journey.

March of the Pallets: Part 2 (Reality Strikes!)

Having obtained a large sum of free pallet lumber, I was faced with the challenge of turning the raw materials into something useable. If any of you have ever seen pallet lumber, it's a little...well....ugly. There are splits, nail holes, and the surface of the wood is usually filthy. Just below the surface, however, lies some of the most attractive wood you will ever see. And it's all available for free!

My first step in renewing the wood was to cut the end 2-3" off of each piece. This removes most of the splits, and 4 out of the 6 nail holes. I then squared up each side of the wood on a table saw, cutting off about 1/4" on each side. At this point, I started to get a preview of the color and graining of the wood. The filth and wear that pallet wood exhibits barely sinks below the surface, so once you cut just a small amount off, you can see the true beauty of the wood. Then comes the real show! I ran each piece through a planer/joiner removing about 1/4" from both faces of the lumber, and that revealed the full glory of new-old wood. Each side was now showing as if it was fresh, new lumber....except for two small nail holes in each piece.

After the work to square up and clean up the lumber, I took some time to cut it to length to build the frame of the entertainment center according to my ever changing plan. Enter my friend, B. B has been doing woodworking for as long as I can remember. He has a better equipped wood shop than most professionals, and probably as much experience in fine woodworking as anyone I know....except for maybe my Father-in-law....who IS a professional woodworker. B had a few comments that made me take a step back from the project and re-evaluate how I was going about it. Sometimes reality sucks, but it's better than the alternative.

Pallet lumber is a solid hardwood. Solid hardwoods expand and contract rather substantially with changes in humidity, temperature, and other environmental factors. If I had continued to build the entire entertainment center out of just the pallet lumber alone, B pointed out that our 100+lb TV would have most likely ended up on the floor the first day with relatively low humidity. As the wood contracts in dry weather, all of my fancy wood joints would have either cracked or pulled apart, and our TV would have landed in our downstairs neighbor's apartment. His suggestion was to use the pallet lumber as a non-structural coating to dress up a plywood case.

B also pointed out that re-using pallet lumber may only be a mild savings to the environment, as the amount of energy used to re-cut and re-plane each piece of wood is probably more than a lumber mill uses to cut it originally. Additionally, the wear and tear on blades to rework the lumber may be a factor, as the creation of the metal used to manufacture a replacement blade would have an adverse environmental impact. The upside, however, is that less trees need to suffer for our need for a practical storage solution.

In the spirit of creating this entertainment center with little to no additional "virgin" lumber, B had some scrap plywood from prior projects that he offered to the cause. It was a little smaller than I had designed the entertainment center around, but with a slight rework, I was able to utilize the scrap plywood with virtually no waste.

Keep tuned to The Green Leaf Reviewer to see the progress of the pallet/scrap wood entertainment center.

For those still keeping track:

Time Spent to Date: 24 Hours
$ Spent to Date: $4 (all transportation related)

Is That Entertainment Center Hazelnut or French Roast?

Matt decided he wanted to do the write up of the progress to date on our free entertainment center so without further ado, here is his experience with the first steps in locating, acquiring and prepping the lumber in his very own words. Welcome to Green Leaf Reviewer Matt!

March of the Pallets: Part I

A few days ago, Jenn introduced me to the idea of using recycled pallets to create our desperately needed entertainment center. Since then, my mind has been abuzz with ideas on how I can execute on this plan to create a free, yet functional piece. There seems to be some mis-conception that because the material is recycled pallets, the piece will be flimsy, unattractive, or full of splinters. In my vision, the pallets are simply a source of free raw material. In this series, I plan to document the process of building the entertainment center all the way from acquisition of the pallets to the final reveal with all electronics and storage utilized.

Finding free pallets could not have been easier! A five minute search on craigslist.org free stuff pointed me to a number of locations around Boston that had anywhere from a dozen up to hundreds of pallets for the taking. I was particularly interested in a listing for 12 hardwood pallets at a local coffee distributor. So, while Jenn was at the FUMC Craft Fair, I went to get some free lumber.

Right at the loading dock of the distributor sat 12 pieces of brown gold. As we drive a small car, and not a truck, I knew I would have to take the pallets apart on-site before loading them. This is no easy task! Pallets are designed NOT to come apart. Fortunately, I brought a pry bar and a sledgehammer anticipating this. The pallets put up some pretty heavy resistance, but persistence, patience and a little elbow grease goes a long way. After about 2 hours of prying, I was able to load approximately 5 pallets into the trunk of the car. I then cleaned up the site of any nails or shards of lumber, as I want to be invited back in the future for more pallet-diving. Upon arriving home, I took another 3 hours or so to remove all of the nails, and stack the lumber on the balcony to dry.

My yield from this trip was about 50-60 pieces of 1"x4"x 40" lumber. (mostly oak....some pine) The wood is not all consistent in thickness or quality at all, but overall the oak is of very good quality and the pine is not nearly as good. In my next article, I will turn the raw lumber into factory fresh wood with few if any splinters and start creating "pallet-plywood."

A hint based on my experiences this week:

-Bring a battery-powered circular saw to the location of the pallets. It will allow you to strip the pallets much faster. If I had done this, I would have cut my 5 hours of work in half and saved a few bloody knuckles and 4 letter words. The saw combines 3 steps in one:

1)Lets you remove the two outside skids leaving only the middle one to pry off manually.
2)Eliminates the need to pull the nails from the two ends of the wood, cutting nail pulling time by 2/3.
3)Cuts off the last 2" on each side of the wood, giving you a fresh edge with fewer nail holes.

For those keeping track:

Time Spent to Date: 5 Hours
$$ Spent to Date: $0.82 in gas for pallet acquisition (12 mi R/T @ 30 MPG, Gas currently at $2.05/gal)

That’s Pallet-able

It is amazing what kinds of products can be created out of material that was once thought of as a one time use object; take for example pallets. Pallets are used in almost every shipping industry as a riser for products to rest on and due to their open underside, a forklift can scoot in and move thousands of pounds of material in one smooth movement with virtually no effort. Those pallets full of merchandise are placed on trucks and sent off to their final destinations, such as retail establishments. While the merchandise is placed out on the floor for sale, the pallet is most often discarded. A large number of people and companies have decided to make great use of this often overlooked resource creating everything from furniture to home goods to entire homes out of the recycled wood.

In researching this unique building material I came across so many products, people and companies it would be impossible to showcase all of them so here is a random sampling of designs built out of shipping pallets. Clearly they can be used for anything the imagination can conceive! Click on the photos to go directly to the website.

Now who wants splinters in their butt? I think the answer would be no one so after constructing this funky chair it is time to rip up those old bed sheets that were getting tossed and cover a cushion to provide maximum comfort. Old bed pillows no longer sufficient to sleep on are a fabulous resource for back and bum cushions!


Mark Dabelstein of PalletArt.com creates many functional and decorative pieces out of old pallets or barn boards. Show your patriotism with this baby!

Want to build a house for free? It may take some time collecting, constructing and outfitting the home but how worth it will it be when it is complete? Michael at Tiny Free House is telling us all about his journey doing this very thing. Back in September he had about half of the walls up and he posts regular updates. I am truly inspired!

As a side note, Matt and I are sorely lacking in functional, space saving, storage solutions, most notably an entertainment center. We have a lot of media (some of which is “dark ages” kind of stuff like VHS tapes) that has nowhere to go but on our mismatched conglomerate of furnishings. In doing the research for this post it hit me that we too could make great use of free shipping pallets and then would not have to wait until the turn of the century to create our already planned out entertainment center!

Here is a before photo of our current set up showcasing everything but the bookshelf and in the design Matt has created at least 90% of this stuff as well as about 20% of the items in the bookshelf, will find a new home behind clutter free doors.

He is excited to start a new plan with pallets but here is the original concept.

I will post updates on where we are acquiring our pallets, how much (if any) resistance we encounter, challenges we are facing in using them in construction and any other fun tidbits of hilarity along the way so stay tuned!