DIY Outdoor Garbage Bin

Since this has been “nagging projects” week, I have to show you something…

This is the side of my house.

Worse, this is the side of the house that my neighbours see whenever they descend their staircase. They have a window that looks directly over at my garbage pile.

Granted, it isn’t always this bad – usually it’s just the blue container filled with dog poop bags – but the view (and the smell) are not even remotely pleasant.

My neighbours never complain though, or the neighbours before them, or even the neighbours before then… perhaps it’s because of this view that I’ve had so many different neighbours?

A nagging project that I’ve been meaning to do for years now, is to DIY an outdoor garbage bin to remove the eyesore at the side of my house. I looked online and couldn’t find an outdoor container that was the size I wanted and without the front ‘gate’ option. I only needed a bin large enough to hold one garbage can and perhaps an extra bag on occasion, and I keep our garbage can bagged, so I didn’t need to open a front gate to wheel the container to the curb. I just lift the bag out and take that. It does save on getting a skip service but I know there are cheap skip bin hire services that useful when I have a ton of rubbish that I can’t handle. There was so much rubbish at one point, I was considering using brisbane skip bins to make the mess seem slightly organised.

So I had to come up with plans myself.

Forgive the photos here – I built it before I drafted plans, so there are a few mistakes in the ‘real life’ version that you won’t see in the plans.

You will need:

• mitre saw
• Rockwell Versacut or table saw
• drill
• 2″ deck screws
• Kreg Jig
• 2 1/2″ pocket screws
• two 6″ gate hinges

DIY Outdoor Garbage bin

Frame cut list:

• cut four 2×4’s to 29″ long
• cut two 2×4’s to 25″ long
• cut two 2×4’s to 29″ long – one end is to be cut at 10 degrees on the mitre saw.
• cut two 2×4’s to 24 1/2″ long – one end is to be cut at 10 degrees on the mitre saw.
• cut two 2×4’s to 25 1/2″ long – both ends angled at 10 degrees, parallel to each other (see diagram 2)

Using your Kreg Jig, drill two holes on either end of each of the 2×4’s listed above.

Starting with the base, use your 2 1/2″ pocket screws and attach one 29″ board in between two 25″ boards, widest side facing outwards (see plan above). Attach the second 29″ board between the other ends of the 25″ boards to create a rectangle.

Attach your 24″ boards to the front corners of your bin – the angled top will slope upwards towards the back of your container.

Attach your 29″ boards to the back corners, again with the angled tops sloping in the same direction as the front ones.

Attach your 25 1/2″ (angled end) boards on top of the front and back posts with 2 1/2″ pocket screws. Repeat on the other side.

Attach the remaining 29″ 2×4’s between the front and back posts to complete the frame. Line them up as close to the top of the angled boards as possible, without them jutting above.

The next part is to cover your DIY outdoor garbage bin frame – I used 8 fence boards measuring 5/4″x6″x8′ – but I chose to only cover the front, sides and lid of my bin. If you want to keep your bin completely enclosed, you’ll need more wood for the back and the bottom. If you choose to space your boards differently, or if you buy narrower cuts of wood, this will alter the number of boards you purchase as well.

I wanted the front of my DIY outdoor garbage bin to have a smooth face, so I began by panelling the sides. I cut 5 boards for each side at 25″ long.

I started by tucking paint sticks underneath the bottom board (so the siding was slightly raised off of the ground) and then used 2″ deck screws to attach. You could use nails and/or a nail gun as well.

Between boards I inserted the paint sticks again to give me an approximately 1/4″ gap all the way up.

As you reach the top of the bin, incorporate your paint stick spacer and then trace the angle of the frame onto the top board/s before attaching. I used my Rockwell Versacut to cut this line, but a table saw would work as well (with a jig). Repeat on the other side.

Repeat this entire process on the front of your DIY outdoor garbage bin, with boards cut to 34 1/2″ long – to cover the side panelling as well as the front of the frame.

There’s no real magic to the lid – I lined up five of my fence boards cut to 36″ long and attached them together with some scrap wood pieces and deck screws. The extra width will give you a 3/4″ overhang on the sides.

My placement of these scrap boards is intentional – they are set inside the frame of the garbage bin and the centre one is holding together two smaller boards (I ran out of fence boards).

Attach your 6″ gate hinges and you’re done!

The sienna wood looked okay, but I wanted my DIY outdoor garbage bin to recede from vision, so I used up the remainder of my “Midsummer night” opaque stain (Arborcoat from Benjamin Moore).

My container is large enough to hold a large (industrial sized) garbage can with a bit of room for another bag if necessary.

Because this bin will hold mainly dog poop and leaf recycling bags, I didn’t need a back or bottom to keep critters out. If you build one and use it to hold household garbage, you’ll want to cover the entire thing – back and bottom as well. You may even want to reconsider the 1/4″ spacing if flies and maggots are a concern.

As it is, this is the new view my neighbours will see:

Much better right?

Even from the front of my house, it doesn’t draw any attention.

The best part? Remember that wood that was dumped next to my shed (from yesterday’s post)? I used most of it up to frame up this little baby, so my wood pile has gone down, yard is cleaned up, AND I only spent $40 in fence boards and hinges to build this baby!

I say “Good fences and good garbage bins, make good neighbours”.

Have a great one!

Linked to:

• Between Naps on the Porch