LESLIE: Olin is on the line with a wainscoting question. How can we help you today?
OLIN: Yes. I was wanting to install wainscoting in my living room. And I’d seen some people create wainscoting out of wood pallets, actually taking the pieces off and using the slats for the wainscoting. And I know they do treat them with some chemicals and stuff. And as long as I run it through a planer and everything, would that pretty much treat it, as long as its sealed up with polyurethane and all that to keep it from being toxic from – for the children and stuff?
TOM: I’ve torn a lot of pallets apart in my day, as things have been delivered, and I never really had a concern about treatment and never actually can recall smelling an odor from the treatment. To be sure, though, make sure those pallets are heat-treated rather than treated with chemicals.
OLIN: Well, I never would have thought about it but I looked at some pallet ideas online and I saw where some people had done wood floors with them and the wainscoting and it just – it looks stunning, really. It was totally different-looking from what you’d think a pallet would usually be. And so that’s what gave me the idea and I thought, “Well, that would be a cheap idea to use.”
TOM: Yeah. And hey, it’s an upcycling, too, Leslie. I mean you’re taking something and reusing it in a new and creative way. Better than sending it to ground to a dump.
OLIN: Yes.
TOM: I would say that if you detect any odors and you think that they’re treated, then by virtue of the fact that you’re going to seal them will probably minimize that. So I – for me, I don’t think it would be a concern.
OLIN: OK. Well, that sounds good then. I appreciate it, guys.
TOM: Alright, Olin. Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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