How to Build a Pallet Daybed
First let’s talk dimensions. A standard twin mattress is 39″ X 75″, but there’s a few inches difference between most mattresses, so pick your mattress first, then your pallets. Pallets come in many sizes, I used 48″X40″ which is fairly standard. I just went downtown to an area I like to call the “pallet district” where there’s tons of spots that sell pallets to any takers who drive up. If you google your city and pallets or look in the yellow pages, you will find the pallet distributors in your area. Most will only deliver large amounts, but are happy to have you drive in and purchase a few. Ask for the nicest, newest, least chemically-est pallets they have. These were the finest pallets I could come by, and they were $3 each.
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and those pallets down. Start with the lowest grit (60) and move up. Make sure you wear eye protection and a mask to keep all that nasty dust and chemical treatments out of your lungs and eyes.Keep sanding for a long time, until you have a nice, smooth, splinter-free pallet.
Now, originally I had planned to leave the pallets their current size and make a back for the couch out of a third pallet. So I didn’t cut the base pallets down to size at this point. But once I had it all assembled I realized that with a back it would be too deep for my deck, so then I had to go back, cut it down, and reattach the casters. So I advise you cut your pallets to size first. You’ll be attaching the sides with the wood frame, which on these (and most) pallets is the 48″ side. So you would have a base that is 48″ deep and 80″ long. So you would want to cut the 48″ side down to about 40″ to accommodate your twin size mattress, for a final bed base that is 40″X80″ (for a 39″X75″ twin mattress and room for the arms we will add later). But you’ll see that I did that backwards.
So, now it is time to drill holes to attach the two pallets together. Carefully measure and mark three holes on each pallet, one close to the front, one close to the back, and one in the center. Drill the holes with your 3/4″ drill bit.
Now add rollers to the corners and you are done!
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