How to Make the Ultimate Bin Storage Unit
What you'll need
Make bin day easy and be the envy of your neighbours with our free-standing bin storage unit. This project will challenge your woodworking skills as well as hide away your unsightly bins. With weatherproof storage compartments for all your recycling receptacles, and easy access doors and lids, bin day will never be the same again.
Before you begin your bin storage unit there are several things to consider. First how many bins you need to store. And most importantly, the size of your bins as they all differ. Measure each bin at the widest part. Consider also how you store the bin, access for taking the bins in and out and where you are going to place it. Our bin storage design is free- standing meaning you can access your bins from the front and back. But you can adapt the design to suit your requirements.
This is a simple project that uses off-the-shelf, treated 46mm square timber and feather board cladding, and is simply screwed together, so no fancy joinery is required! The treated timber will last years in all weathers, and don't forget to use stainless steel screws to prevent rust.
Make yours
To make your own free-standing bin storage unit you can watch our useful video guide, or follow our step by step guide below. Remember to adapt your measurements to suit your bins and configure your doors to suit how you use your bins.
Make the end frames
The two end frames are made first. To work out the angle of the top, lay out the batten sections on the ground, measure these out to the required sizes and set up a sliding bevel to the required angle. Cut the batten sections to the lengths. These are pilot drilled and screwed together. A simple drilling block makes the drilling quicker to do and more uniform. Drilling a pilot hole helps pull the two surfaces together.
The bottom rail is set up 46mm off the floor (with equals the width of the square batten). Lay the frame out on a flat surface and use a sash type clamp to help hold this in position whilst this is glued and screwed together. Repeat to make the two end frames.
The two internal frames are made in the same way. These are 46mm narrower across the width (the size of the batten). The longer upright is cut to the same size as the outer frames. To measure the sizes of the short leg, lay the batten section out on top of one of the assembled end frames. Again, drill a pilot hole and glue and screw together. The horizontal rail that makes part of the storage rack are also fitted at this point. Use a length of scrap wood and a layout stick to ensure this is set out level. Drill and fix in place.
Make the front frame
Measure and cut the battens to size. The two internal uprights are positioned to allow the internal frames to be fixed to these. Use a scrap of timber as a measurement layout board, to make the positioning accurate. Then, drill, glue and screw together
Assemble the end frames and main front frame and use clamps to hold this together. Drill a pilot hole through the internal face of the main front frame and screw to fix in place. Next, add the two internal frames; clamp these and screw to fix in place.
On the open side, measure and cut the battens to go above the door locations. Take the measurement from the front face to ensure this is parallel. Â Drill and screw to fix in place.
Make the internal storage rack
Cut a 20mm square length of batten (front to back). Then, glue and screw so that it is level with the base edge of the horizontal batten on the internal frames. With these fitted, measure the gap from side to side and cut the 24 lengths of 46mm x 20mm batten to length. These are evenly spaced apart, and fixed with a screw each end.
Make the doors
Next, make the four doors. To make these, measure the gaps and take 10mm-12mm off this size and cut the materials to length. Then, pilot drill, glue and screw together to make the outer frame.
On the front two doors, an intermediate batten is added. Use a length of batten as a measurement stick to set this out equally, which will help ensure the door is square. You can also check this by measuring corner to corner. Fit this across corner to corner to add more strength and stop the doors warping in the external climate.
To create and edge and a cover for the feather board, some corner covers can be added. These have a rebate cut out of the 46mm section leaving a 20mm L shaped molding. This can be bought, but might be different in size. It can be routed with a rebate cutter, or cut using a table saw with a floating crown guard set up. The longer lengths are fitted first, with several screws along the section. The front two are temporarily held in place with a screw top and bottom.
On the top of front face of both side an edging rail can be added between the L corner covers. This is cut to 20mm thick and then cut to length to fit and is screwed to fix into place.
Fit the doors
Fit the four doors using brass or stainless-steel hinges. Mark out around the hinge on the frame, and recess the hinge into this, then transfer the location to the door. Hold the door in a vise to cut the recess. Clamping on a length of ply helps act as a paring board that the chisel can sit onto. This will help to repeat the depth. Use a centre drill to accurately drill the screw hole. Fix with shorter screws to start with. These will be changed to a longer length when the door is finally fitted.
Add the feather board cladding
Measure the lengths, starting at the base working upwards. These are held in place with a clout nail.
A simple lay out board can be made to make the repeat overlap of each board quicker. This board also has the pilot hole drilling location to allow quick repetitive hole drilling. Pilot drilling will ensure the ends of the feather boards don’t split when nailed onto the backing frame.
The two doors are also feather boarded in the same way.
Make the roof and hatches
The roof and lift up hatches are cut from plywood. These can be cut to size and the sharp edges softened using a round over cutter and router. This will allow the felt to curve around the edges easier without splitting.
Cut the roofing felt to size. The aim is to allow a good 60mm overhang on each side. Cutting with scissors is easier to control. To help the felt flex, warming in the sun can help, but a hot air gun can also be used. This will soften the felt allowing it to bend around the plywood. To fix this in place, use felt nails, working along the lengths. The corner needs cutting and folding, and then fixing with nails.
Fix the roof panels in place
With the roof panels felted, these can be fixed on to the frames. Before doing this, ensure all the screws are in the hinges for the hatches, as these will be more difficult to get to later. Fix the central panel first and then the two opening hatches. These are fixed from the underside through the frames into the ply. Check the screw lengths. Clamp to hold these in place and use a 5mm spacer stick to create an equal gap between the central panel and hatches.
The back cover behind the two hatches is fixed in the same way. A rubber sheet was cut to cover the opening hinge gap and fixed in place with felt nails. A wooden cover strip can also be cut and fixed to cover the opening gap between the hatches and the central roof panel.
Fit the bin storage handles and catches
Fit the handles and catches to the feathered doors. Check the screws for the hinges are all changed to longer screws. The last item to make is optional - two hatch support arms which are cut and fixed to the underside of the hatches to support the hatch when open.
