Making a Grill From Junk
A few homes ago, a neighbor moved out and left his old dilapidated grill in the backyard. I snagged it knowing someday I might make it nice again. It sat in my garage for too long now so I needed to get my ass in gear.
I wanted to clean the entire thing up and refresh it. I also wanted to add some useful features.
- More countertop space for plates and meats and 50 or 60 beers.
- Storage space for consumables like charcoal and wood and cobwebs.
- Wheels. EVERYTHING MUST ROLL!
Watch the video above and enjoy the motion-y goodness, or if you are wasting time at work, look at the old fashioned method using pictures below.
Clean Your Junk
Nobody likes dirty junk. It smells funny, makes your hands gross and is generally unappealing in many ways. Ladies and gentleman, let's all clean our junk.
Once all the crud was cleaned out, I belt sanded the loose rust and did general cleaning of the entire grill. I painted the entire thing with high-temperature paint.
Lowes, Wal-mart, all the usual places have this. You can also grab it on Amazon of course if you are unable to stomach being around people that shop at Wal-mart or the general public.
Build a Box
Just like every video/guide ever made, you gotta make a box to start your project. If there is no box, there is nothing.
Just sadness.
...
Make a box-like object that resembles a tall desk or a workstation.
Now Cut a Hole in That Box
Now Stick Your Grill in Dat Booooox
Put Wheels on It.
WHEELS MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER!
The only problem with wheels is cost. HOLY hell wheels are expensive. I paid 15$ each for mine at Lowes. Be smarter than me, get them online. I found these on Amazon after spending 30 seconds looking.
Mount the Box
I think this box euphemism is pretty dead at this point.
I definitely didn't want the old grill cart under my fancy new setup so I drilled lag bolts through the grill into the pressure treated wood. I added a bunch of washers that will hopefully act as buffers and keep the entire thing from turning into a giant lump of coal on wheels. Once the grill was mounted I pulled the old cart out of the bottom.
Shelf on the Bottom
Speaking of bottom, I cut some wire closet shelves down, painted them black and put that under the grill to use as shelving.
Remember, Stay Hydrated
Now Weather Seal That Bad Motha'
I like the satin stuff. You can get it at Lowes or Amazon of course if you enjoy having people deliver things to you in the middle of the day like it's Christmas.
Get Extra People to Help, There Is a Lot of Area to Cover
Now Look at It.
YEAH, LOOK AT IT!
Bask in My Accomplishment
The entire thing cost just as much as buying a new shiny grill, but that's not my style. I wanted this to fit into a specific space and to have a few upgrades so it all worked out for the best.
I now store charcoal and a chimney starter and the usual grill type stuff in the bottom for easy access.
This Is Going to Burn Ya Dummy.
I've heard that quite a bit now.
It's not a huge shock. I used pressure treated lumber and I did my best to isolate the heat, but eventually the PT lumber will dry out and char. I know this grill won't last me for years and years to come, but honestly, how long do 200$ grills from the big box stores last? A few years at best. I suspect this will last the same amount of time. Besides, by then I may be in a different house or on some weird "all bug" diet. Who can predict the future?