Pallet Pirate Ship

What do you get when you make a pirate ship out of pallets?...lots of splinteRRRRRRRRs! 

I have a very small and odd shaped backyard. Over the years I have pondered on how to best utilize the space. One of my fence corners creates a very narrow triangle. I have often pictured a ship's bow at that spot. I have also wanted to jump on the pallet up-cycling craze. Shiver me timbers, an idea began to form. 

Free pallets are everywhere. You can't search "free stuff" on craigslist without stumbling upon a pallet listing. And not all pallets are created equally. My pallet quest led me to the downtown area of the city I live in. Over the past couple years construction has been underway for all new government building. Such a major project must produce some serious pallets. And I hit the jackpot!!! Not only did they have many very large, substantial pallets, they were wanting to get rid of them ASAP. They offered to load them on a truck and deliver them to my house for free. They then turned down the tip I tried to insist on giving them. The crafting gods were smiling down at me!!!! I vowed to honor their woody gift with the best damn low budget pallet pirate ship that has ever sailed the suburban seas. 

 After a little more creeping around the back of some local businesses, what I also like to call "quality time with my little brother", I ended up with a nice variety of pallets.

I broke down the 2 largest pallets and used the 2 x 4's for a lot of the framing and structure. I removed the boards from the underside of the second largest pallet and used them to fill in the gaps on the top to create the floor of the ship.  I had 2 slightly smaller pallets that I stood on their sides to make the walls. Then with a handful of power tools and steady stream of itunes radio, I put together a ship.

I did have to purchase more wood for the project. That's when I tapped into one of my favorite project resources, the 70% off "damaged" wood bin at Home Depot. And as an added bonus, the purple stray paint they use to mark the discounted pieces adds a pop of color on my monochromatic ship. It also coordinates nicely with my free craigslist slide.

The only real purchases I made were for good quality hardware and the super cool plastic ship wheel and telescope (with attached compass).

Since these pictures were taken, I have added a pulley line from the house to the ship (to send supplies back and forth) and some decorative items, including a cast iron bell to signal the crew below deck. I have a lot of ideas for embellishments in the upcoming months. I'll keep you posted. 

And to address the concern some feel about using potentially toxic pallets to make a play structure, I have weighed the risks and rewards. The ship is half pallet and half store bought wood...wood that is also chemically treated. If they were sleeping on it every night I would feel differently. But my kids have promised to not continuously lick the pirate ship...well, at least keep it to a minimum.