Repurposing old tree shipping crates

   / Repurposing old tree shipping crates #1  

jjeff

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2011
Messages
2,769
Location
MI
Tractor
kubota l2850, kubota l4150
So wife wants to remodel down stairs so after a few crazy expensive estimates, I'm kind of handy, I thought lol. After much discussion and compromise we came to agreement on doing one or two downstairs rooms at a time and keeping the 1990s era oak trim and existing hardwood flooring.
#1 get rid of all down stairs carpeting it was trashed anyway using a rug Dr. Is not my strong suit nor is taking off shoes when we're busy doing stuff outside, replaced with 30 mil wear layer vinyl plank (first time I ever worked with floating plank floors) had to raise existing sub floor where carpeted floor areas which were almost over a half inch to existing hard wood floors for transition, 7/16 osb worked good.
#2 Convert old formal carpeted dining room we never use to home office.
#3 convert old parlor or whatever bougy folks call it into a mud room involved using free repurposed tree shipping crates sitting in a orchard for a few yrs from a real farmer, who was going to torch them anyway, converted 4 of them into lockers complete with storage shelves for shoes (cripes do we have shoes) it's still in progress, any ideas for What can be added is appreciated fortunately wife likes the reclaimed weathered seasoned wood look (and will touch up cut ends with gray colored stain). I do to especially after getting a few estimates for lockers by real cabinet makers lol. #4 redo kitchen which will involve buying real actual cabinets this winter. Money we saved by this diy remodel bought me a new tiny tractor so far lol. More to follow if interested. .
 

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   / Repurposing old tree shipping crates
  • Thread Starter
#3  
So I also replaced old cracked wannabe marble tile in front of fire place with 12" ceramic and hardibacker.. I think code is 18" separation from combustible materials? I ended up going out over 2' from fire box. Wives are amazing for picking out finishes, definitely not my strong suit either. In fact when I was building my up north cabin I wanted to be cheap and use accordion type doors she put a stop to that instead using conventional pre hung interior doorswith threats of never wanting to come up north with me if cheap accordion doors were used lol.
 

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   / Repurposing old tree shipping crates
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#4  

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   / Repurposing old tree shipping crates
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#5  
All shelves she wants in place and fastened using a hodge podge of left over 2" and 1 5/8 deck screws and 2.5" finish nails from a nail gun, plus old wood glue that hasn't dried out yet, cut up and pulled all the nails and screws on a few left over crates and the tops so I could get worn weathered looking lumber for shelves, staining edges and hook placement for coats with her guidance next. So since labor Day weekend we put down over 600 sq ft of vinyl plank, ripped up that amount of destroyed carpeting and underlayment padding, removed and reattached all oak base cut all door jambs and trim to finished floor height put down 600+ sq feet of 7/16 osb to raise existing sub floor so finished vinyl plank and existing hardwood floor transition properly, laid and grouted 20 or so 12" tile after tearing out fake looking and cracked marble tile. In the meantime entertaining and hauling kids around, doing some work usually behind a computer which I really dislike for actual job that pays the billz. total cost under 2k for all materials, some cordless power tools I already own my 7 1/4" skill saw with a $50 vinyl plank cutting blade, plus got a free sense of accomplishment to remedy all the f-ups I committed on this project. kitchen reno this winter and probably down stairs 1/2 bath remodel. Being a self proclaimed tool junky I can tell anyone that wants to know what tools I used were invaluable and time saving plus made my occasional frustrations more pg than rated r language wise. Btw our shoe rack shelving was only supposed to be 2 shelves they ended up being 5 plus the floor so 6 I guess with the humorous agreement between my wife and I that I'm not a perpetual shelving builder so she or the kids can get more shoes. 😂
 

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   / Repurposing old tree shipping crates
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Well all be darned my wife bought me a new pair of shoes when she went shopping today guess she didn't understand what I discussed with her of me perpetually building storage units for shoes 🤔 😕 😂. If confused See end of last post for a recap.
 
   / Repurposing old tree shipping crates #7  
Well all be darned my wife bought me a new pair of shoes when she went shopping today guess she didn't understand what I discussed with her of me perpetually building storage units for shoes 🤔 😕 😂. If confused See end of last post for a recap.
IDK, the prior agreement mentioned above just covered your wife and kids, so...🤣

Love the setup and cabinets!

All the best, Peter
 

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