How do I build a bin store?

Almost all bin stores fail on one of two things: they are too small once the bin lid is open, or they are so awkward to use that the bins live outside them. Both are solved at the measuring stage.

What you'll need

• Treated timber framing and slats or feather-edge boards
• Hinges and a stay for the lid
• Roofing sheet or board for the lid (optional)
• Exterior screws
• Slabs or gravel for the base

Step by step

1. Measure the bins, with the lids open.A standard UK 240 litre wheelie bin is roughly 740mm deep, 580mm wide and 1100mm high, and needs around 1.5m of vertical clearance for the lid to open. Measure your own — councils vary.
2. Add clearance and decide the number of bays.50mm each side per bin, and enough width to wheel a bin in and out without catching. Separate bays are tidier; one open bay is easier to use.
3. Sort the base first.Slabs, or compacted gravel with a permeable membrane. A firm level surface means the bins wheel in and out easily and any spills drain away rather than sitting.
4. Frame it and clad it with gaps.A treated frame with slats or feather-edge boards leaving small gaps. Ventilation cuts the smell dramatically compared with a sealed box.
5. Make the lid liftable with one hand.A hinged lid with a gas strut or a simple stay, or a lid split into sections. A heavy full-width lid needing two hands means the bins get left out.
6. Leave the front fully open or fit wide doors.Wheeling a bin out through a narrow opening at an angle is what makes a bin store unused. Full-width access, or no front at all.
7. Deal with the animals.A lid that closes fully and a base with no gap underneath stops foxes. If rats are a problem, a solid base and no food waste left loose matters far more than the store design.
8. Treat everything, including the underside.Bin stores get splashed and stay damp. Preservative on all faces before assembly is far easier than after.

Tips

• Build it where the bins already get left, not where you would like them to be.
• A sloped roof or lid that sheds to the back keeps rain off you when you open it.
• Check the collection crew can still get the bins out easily — a store on the wrong side of a step causes friction quickly.

Common mistakes

• Sizing the store to the closed bin — The bin has to open inside the store or you have to pull it out every time. Allow for the lid swing, which needs around 400mm above the closed bin height.
• Building a sealed box for smell control — It concentrates the smell and holds moisture. Ventilated slatted sides smell far less than a sealed store, and dry out after spills.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask