Pallets take a beating in warehouse and shipping environments. Over time, boards crack, nails loosen, stringers split, and deck boards wear down. When damage occurs, businesses face a choice: attempt in-house repairs or send pallets to a professional recycler for expert servicing. The right choice depends on the type and extent of damage, the tools and skills available in-house, the intended use of the repaired pallet, and the volume of pallets needing repair.
Types of Pallet Damage
Before deciding on a repair approach, it helps to understand the common types of pallet damage and their severity.
- Minor board cracks: Surface cracks that do not affect load capacity — often acceptable without repair
- Broken deck boards: Snapped boards that create gaps or reduce load surface — repair needed
- Protruding nails: Nails that have worked loose and stick up from the surface — safety hazard, quick fix
- Missing boards: Boards that have fallen off entirely — structural repair required
- Split stringers: Cracks along the load-bearing stringers — serious structural issue
- Broken stringer sections: Complete breaks in the stringer — major structural failure
- Block damage: Broken or missing blocks that compromise fork entry — complex repair
- Warped or twisted pallets: Dimensional distortion from moisture or overloading — may be unrepairable
DIY Repairs: What Is Reasonable
Some pallet repairs are straightforward enough for maintenance staff with basic woodworking tools. These repairs are low-risk, do not require specialized equipment, and can be completed quickly without significant skill.
Good Candidates for DIY Repair
- Countersinking protruding nails: A hammer and nail set fix this in seconds per nail
- Replacing a single broken deck board: Cut a replacement board to length, nail in place with 16d nails
- Reinforcing a minor stringer crack with a sister board: Nail a second board alongside a cracked stringer
- Removing splinters or rough edges: Sandpaper or a belt sander smooths rough surfaces quickly
- Straightening bent nails: Accessible with a hammer on simple nail protrusion issues
Tools Needed for Basic DIY Repairs
- Hammer or pneumatic nail gun (nail gun strongly recommended for speed and consistency)
- Pry bar for removing broken boards without damaging surrounding wood
- Circular saw or miter saw for cutting replacement lumber to length
- Safety glasses, work gloves, and steel-toed boots
- Replacement lumber — use kiln-dried southern yellow pine or oak matching original dimensions
- Ring shank or spiral shank nails for better holding power than smooth shank
When to Call the Professionals
Professional pallet repair services handle more complex damage more efficiently, with better outcomes, and often at lower cost than in-house repair — especially at scale. There are clear situations where professional repair makes more sense than DIY.
Situations Requiring Professional Repair
- Multiple broken stringers: Stringer replacement requires specialized tools and expertise
- Block pallet repair: Block replacement is complex and requires precise positioning
- High-volume repair needs: Repairing 50+ pallets per week is impractical without industrial equipment
- ISPM-15 re-certification: Repaired pallets intended for export need re-treatment and re-stamping
- Grade restoration: Restoring pallets to Grade A quality requires professional inspection standards
- Contaminated pallets: Chemical stains, mold, or pest damage require specialized handling
- Unknown pallet history: Pallets of uncertain origin should be professionally evaluated
Safety Considerations for All Pallet Repairs
Pallet repair — even simple repairs — carries real injury risks. Nails, splinters, sharp wood edges, and the physical weight of pallets cause thousands of workplace injuries annually. Before any pallet repair work, ensure workers are properly equipped and trained.
- Always wear cut-resistant gloves — pallet wood splinters are notoriously sharp and painful
- Safety glasses protect against flying nail fragments when hammering
- Steel-toed boots prevent foot injuries from dropped pallets
- Never repair a pallet while it has product loaded on it — empty the pallet first
- Inspect your repair before putting the pallet back into service
- Do not repair a pallet to a grade higher than the underlying structure supports
- Properly dispose of irreparable pallets — do not return them to service
Cost Comparison: DIY vs. Professional Repair
DIY pallet repair has real costs beyond just lumber and nails. Labor time, tool depreciation, safety equipment, and the cost of incorrectly repaired pallets add up. Professional repair services amortize tool costs across thousands of pallets and employ trained staff who work much faster. For businesses repairing more than 10-20 pallets per week, professional repair is almost always more economical on a total-cost basis.
At Pallet Wichita, our repair team uses pneumatic tools, industrial lumber saws, and systematic inspection processes to repair pallets faster, more consistently, and more safely than in-house teams. We also provide assessment services to determine whether a pallet is worth repairing or better recycled. Contact us to discuss your pallet repair volume and get a cost comparison for professional services.