Introduction: Reclaimed Crate Wood Laundry Room
Remodeling a whole house can cost a fortune turns out and can use up loads of resources not just including $. So to lessen that amount using repurposed materials is always ideal. This project focused on the laundry room and saved loads of cash and gave a few food crates an extra life!
Step 1: The Crate
I didn’t take a picture of the assembled crates but this is a close example.
Each Crate had 4 walls and a bottom and an open top. Made from either ¾ or 1” plywood or luan. Each wall measured close to 48”x48” the walls were attached to one another using rivets which had to be drilled out or hammered out using a punch. Apparently food crates can only be used 1 time to carry food then they are deemed dirty and up for grabs to be reused.
16 pieces of walls and 1 bottom were salvaged
Each Crate had 4 walls and a bottom and an open top. Made from either ¾ or 1” plywood or luan. Each wall measured close to 48”x48” the walls were attached to one another using rivets which had to be drilled out or hammered out using a punch. Apparently food crates can only be used 1 time to carry food then they are deemed dirty and up for grabs to be reused.
16 pieces of walls and 1 bottom were salvaged
Step 2: The Floor
The floor of the laundry room was covered in some aged vinyl that had to go. However after removing the old vinyl it was found that the laundry room was in bad shape and would need to be replaced. The bad flooring was removed and now only a subfloor remained which was now 1” lower than the adjacent kitchen.
So 4 sheets of crate wood were used to cover the subfloor and bring the room back to the same level as the kitchen floor. To eliminate a weak spot in the floor where the 4 sheets came together the sheets were staggered and cut to fit the space.
So 4 sheets of crate wood were used to cover the subfloor and bring the room back to the same level as the kitchen floor. To eliminate a weak spot in the floor where the 4 sheets came together the sheets were staggered and cut to fit the space.
Step 3: The Stage
The sister wanted the washer and dryer to be elevated a few inches off the floor if possible. Well it just so happened that the bottom of the crates where built stronger than any stage I could have built and would raise the washer and dryer 4.5 inches. The crate bottom was cut using a circular saw to match the footprint of the washer and dryer.
Then the washer and dryer were hooked up and placed on top to see how we did.
Then the washer and dryer were hooked up and placed on top to see how we did.
Step 4: Folding Table and Bench
The base was built and now came the fun part, designing and building a clothes folding table and bench. These were items the owners wanted to have but left the design process up to recycled wood master…watch out.
Examining the space it was decided to place a long table surface near the window height to create a space to fold clothes and then next to that a bench for taking off shoes could be placed. Crate wood determined the size of each feature.
The bench would be just shy of 48” long and a good sitting height was determined. Trying to reduce waste as much as possible each cut was pre-determined and 2 sheets of wood were needed to make it happen.
I wish I would have documented this process more but at the time I wasn’t thinking hey this project might be instructable worthy!
Its nice when a plan works as intended and for the most part things went fast and smooth.
Using left over oak from past project a face trim for the table and bench as well as the leg supports where ripped and cut to length.
For strength my father recommended using a lap corner joint of sorts which was one of the more intricate processes of the project and added a nice little detail.
You can see the profile of the cut from a piece that was removed.
The unfinished item kinda had the look of Swedish furniture I thought but due to cosmetic flaws in the crate wood it was decided to paint the all the surfaces white and stain the oak trim to match other oak items in the adjacent kitchen.
Examining the space it was decided to place a long table surface near the window height to create a space to fold clothes and then next to that a bench for taking off shoes could be placed. Crate wood determined the size of each feature.
The bench would be just shy of 48” long and a good sitting height was determined. Trying to reduce waste as much as possible each cut was pre-determined and 2 sheets of wood were needed to make it happen.
I wish I would have documented this process more but at the time I wasn’t thinking hey this project might be instructable worthy!
Its nice when a plan works as intended and for the most part things went fast and smooth.
Using left over oak from past project a face trim for the table and bench as well as the leg supports where ripped and cut to length.
For strength my father recommended using a lap corner joint of sorts which was one of the more intricate processes of the project and added a nice little detail.
You can see the profile of the cut from a piece that was removed.
The unfinished item kinda had the look of Swedish furniture I thought but due to cosmetic flaws in the crate wood it was decided to paint the all the surfaces white and stain the oak trim to match other oak items in the adjacent kitchen.
Step 5: Paint and Stain
The table and bench were then disassembled and the trim was stained first followed by some painter tape and primer and 1 coat of white cabinet paint which was left over from the kitchen cabinets.
The tape was pulled and thank god left some crisp lines behind the stain was then clear coated with poly.
The wall of furniture was re staged for a final photo but the flooring was not quite ready to be placed and the weekend was over so have to get a final update photo next time!
Total cost was about $7 in screws the rest was all left overs from past projects. Recycling tends to make sense when it saves you dollars and cents ??!!
The tape was pulled and thank god left some crisp lines behind the stain was then clear coated with poly.
The wall of furniture was re staged for a final photo but the flooring was not quite ready to be placed and the weekend was over so have to get a final update photo next time!
Total cost was about $7 in screws the rest was all left overs from past projects. Recycling tends to make sense when it saves you dollars and cents ??!!