In our throw away society today real recycling (not the bin you throw water bottles in) is rare. It is so easy to “replace” things and trash the old items, it has become part of our culture that fills up our landfills with building material. I would argue this is the most wasteful thing we could ever do. It makes the corporations stronger as they sell you the latest thing. In fact over the past several years there has been numerous stories that talk about companies using planned failure to know when their product will fail.
Of course this is in order to “predict” when a device is worthless. Apple and Samsung phones were caught up in this when developers saw algorithms not allowing the phone to charge properly and lowering battery capacity. Both companies claimed it was for optimization of your device. However more and more people looked into it and it was clearly to help drive new sales for replacement devices.
So back to our story today, could it be possible that old decking could have a second life? Especially boards from years ago that are from 1990? That is the last time our deck was updated (that is outside of our previous projects). The last post we discussed working on our deck walkway to not only replace the boards but also work on a leak on our outside roof. Nothing that compromised the house only and outside trim problem. So today’s topic can we use recycled deck boards to build other things?
59 Recycled Deck Boards
The pile was getting larger from our walkway project (about 59 boards at 3ft 8 inches in length) and I know I would need to do something with them. I thought hmm what should I do with them? Previously, I listed on Craigslist or Facebook marketplace items for sale at a very low price to have them removed. Heck I even paid someone $25 to take a HUGE pile of brush. Some things like listing old wood (even before the pandemic) is an easy way to recycle items that other people can repurpose. Believe it or not, recycled deck boards is a thing. People want and do use them for all kinds of projects. I have had many answers when asking “What are you going to do with them” – below are my top 5.
Top 5 uses of Recycled Deck Boards
- Make a chicken coop
- Build a hunting blind
- Add to my barn flooring
- Make a planter box
- Build a walkway
How Can You Recycle Things? Think Out Of The Box
In general, many items we replace can be repurposed for a second life. It depends on your outlook. Sit back and imagine, what could I do with items we own that are broken? While it maybe difficult to repurpose a failed toaster, I am sure someone out there has figured out how to. Walk away with that attitude. In my case, for these old decking boards it was easy enough to see how I could use recycle them. I needed to make a bridge to cover a small ditch up front.
It may be a small area, however I have to run through it with my ATV and Yard cart often. It always ends up getting muddy and erodes the area (which I would like to limit).
Gather Good Decking Boards
Remove Nails or Screws
How To Build A Bridge – Lay Out Your Pattern
Final Assembly Of The Bridge from Recycled Deck Boards
Overall, a simple project but it shows you that YES you can throw things out but if there is a purpose for perfectly good things we encourage you to reuse them. It can take extra effort (YES) but like many things of value that is the point. You not only learn how to do something today, you get a cool conversation piece that has a nice rustic look.
I will be coming back to add stone to create a more durable walkway very soon but this is a great start to keep down erosion and mud being in the yard.
As always THANK YOU for stopping by, we hope this is a beginning for people to think about how to build a bridge in not throwing things out but using them for a second life.
Until next time!
