Building a DIY Porch Swing Using Pallet Wood

Building a DIY porch swing was something Carla asked me to do since the day (or soon after!) we moved to this house. But, we finished the garage, painted almost the whole house, built an office desk, finished part of the basement, remodeled our master closet, and completed many other projects, some of which are not even in the blog, and the swing just kept getting pushed back all the time.

One day, I just felt like using, at least, one of the few pallets we have sitting outside with the intention of completing some projects. It made sense to do something outside the house and finally build the swing after over four years of waiting.

When I told her what I was going to do, she was all smiles, coming up with color ideas and even said she was making a cushion for it! (Don’t miss it on Step 7!)

BUILDING A DIY PORCH SWING USING PALLET WOOD

This DIY porch swing has been one of the fastest projects I have completed. It took me a couple of hours to break the pallet apart, cut the wood and sand it. I also put it together and applied the coat of primer in one afternoon. All in all, it took about three days to complete!

We didn’t have to get a bunch of materials either, to build it, we only used:

• One Pallet
• Sawzall, Hammer & Pry Bar
• Measuring Tape
• Miter Saw & Table Saw
• Sander
• Wood Glue
• Air Compressor, Pneumatic Nail Gun & Nails
• Primer, Paint & Painting Supplies
• Drill & Drill Bit (3/8”)
• 3/16” Wire Rope, Sleeves, Thimbles, Eye Bolts, Eye Screws, some Washers & Nuts

And followed the next steps.

STEP 1: BREAK THE PALLET APPART

I’ve found that the easiest way to break pallets apart is by using a Sawzall. You can also use a hammer and a pry bar, but you risk breaking some of the boards. I’ve also found that most of the time when I use the hammer and pry bar the nail heads either break or deform, so it is then harder to get them out.

With the Sawzall though, the nails will remain in the wood, so you have to be careful when cutting it so you don’t damage your saw blades. In some cases, they end up sticking out a little so you also need to hit them with a hammer so they go all the way in.

In other words, both techniques have their pros and cons. You can use whichever you think works best for you.

 

STEP 2: CUT THE PORCH SWING PIECES TO SIZE & SAND THEM

After breaking the pallet apart, I went ahead and cut all the swing pieces. I kind of had an idea of how I was going to build it, but it wasn’t until  I started cutting the pieces that I envisioned how I was going to put it together.

I ended up cutting the following pieces:

• Two 54” x 2” & two 14” x 2” pieces for the lower (seat) frame of the swing.
• Two 48” x 2” & two 16” x 2” pieces for the backrest frame of the swing.
• Two 16” x 1” & two 10” x 1” pieces for the armrests.
• Nineteen 17 1/2” pieces for the seat & backrest.

All of them are the original width of about 1 ¼”.

When I had all the pieces, I sanded them with 60 grit sandpaper. It was mostly to remove slivers, not to make the wood super smooth.

 

STEP 3: ASSEMBLE THE DIY PORCH SWING

To assemble the porch swing, I started with the lower frame for the seat.

I grabbed the two 54” pieces and attached them to the two 14” pieces using glue and the nail gun to make a rectangle shape. I left three inches from each end of the 54” pieces to leave space for the hanging eye bolts & wire.

 

 

 

 

I repeated the same process for the backrest. However, this time, I left 2” on the lower part of it to attach it to the lower frame.

 

Right after, I nailed all the 17 ½” boards to the seat.

 

 

Then, I attached the backrest to the seat.

 

Moments later, I was ready to nail the 17 1/2” boards to the backrest.

 

 

 

 

Before moving forward with the next step, I drilled the holes I would later use for the eye bolts.

 

 

 

At this point, the swing was almost ready, however, I decided not to install the armrests just yet, to make the painting process a bit easier.

 

STEP 4: PRIME & PAINT THE PORCH SWING THE COLOR OF YOUR CHOICE

I applied one coat of primer and two coats of paint using a roller and a brush.

 

 

 

 

 

STEP 5: INSTALL THE ARMRESTS TO THE PORCH SWING

After priming and painting the swing, I  proceeded to install the armrests. Using the same glue and nails that I used to put together the rest of the swing.

 

STEP 6: HANG THE PORCH SWING IN YOUR FAVORITE LOCATION

Although the pallet wood has a rustic finish, we didn’t think rope was the best choice to hang our swing. We decided to give it a more modern look with wire rope. We got about 32 ft. of 3/16” wire rope, some sleeves, thimbles, eye bolts, eye screws, washers and nuts to hang it.

 

 

First, we put on the sleeves and thimbles on the wires. Then, we drilled holes on a couple of joists to screw in the eye screws.

 

 

 

Finally, we lifted the swing, put the eye bolts in the holes we drilled on Step 3 and tightened the nuts.

 

STEP 7: MAKE OR GET A CUSHION FOR THE SWING (OPTIONAL)

As you can see in the pictures, Carla wanted the swing to look nicer and be more comfortable, so she made a cushion for it! Although we love it, it is totally optional!

 

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