What's inside
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Contents
Why Cedar Works Indoors For a Boot Tray
A boot tray lives a hard life. It catches snowmelt, mud, road salt, and grit right by the door where heat cycles from indoors to outdoors constantly. Most softwoods soak that up, swell, and start to smell after one winter. Western red cedar and aromatic cedar handle it because the wood is naturally rot-resistant and dimensionally stable. It doesn’t need pressure treatment, it stays lighter than white oak, and it won’t bleed tannins onto your tile like red oak will.
For a compact indoor tray, aim for 24″ long x 14″ wide x 2-3/4″ tall. That fits two pairs of adult winter boots side-by-side or three pairs of shoes, and it still slides under a bench or against a narrow entryway wall. Any longer than 30″ and the bottom starts to sag unless you add a center support, which complicates drainage.
Materials and Cut List
You don’t need a lot of wood. One 1×6 cedar board, 6 feet long, is enough for the entire tray if you rip it down. Better to buy 1×4 cedar boards instead — less waste and less ripping on a small job. Get kiln-dried, not green or wet construction-grade cedar. Wet cedar will shrink and open gaps at the joints as it dries indoors.
For a 24″ x 14″ tray:
Long sides (2): 1×3 at 24″ length
Short ends (2): 1×3 at 12-1/2″ length (fits inside the long sides)
Bottom slats (5): 1×2 at 22-1/2″ length
Bottom cleats (2): 1×2 at 12-1/2″ length (to support slats and raise them off the liner)
You will also need a shallow plastic drip tray or boot mat liner, 23″ x 13″ or slightly smaller, to sit inside the wood frame. Do not rely on wood alone to hold water. Even cedar will eventually leak at the joints and stain your floor.
Fasteners: 1-1/4″ 18-gauge brads or 1-1/4″ stainless steel trim screws, plus waterproof glue. Avoid standard yellow PVA inside. It will soften with standing water.
| Material | Cost for This Tray (approx.) | Water Resistance | Weight | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Red Cedar | $18 – $28 | High, naturally rot-resistant | Light | Soft, dents easily if you drag boots |
| White Oak | $30 – $45 | Very high, closed grain | Heavy | Expensive, harder to work without sharp blades |
| Pine / SPF | $8 – $14 | Low, needs heavy sealing | Light | Swells, molds, and turns black under a liner |
| Poplar | $14 – $20 | Low to medium | Medium | Not rot-resistant, better for indoor furniture only |
If you are building this for a rental or to see if you actually use a boot tray, pine is fine for one season if you seal it completely and use a plastic liner. For anything you want to last 3+ winters, cedar is the cheaper option long-term because you won’t rebuild it.
Tools You Need
This is a beginner-friendly build. You can do it with a miter box and hand saw, but a miter saw makes the slats consistent.
Essential: Tape measure, speed square, pencil, miter saw or hand saw, drill/driver, sander with 120 and 180 grit, clamps, and a shop vacuum for cleanup. A simple 18-gauge brad nailer speeds up the frame assembly and leaves smaller holes than screws, but screws hold better if you don’t have clamps to keep joints tight while the glue sets.
If you glue and nail, you need a true waterproof wood glue like Titebond III. Standard Titebond Original or II will eventually creep and fail on a tray that sits in water. Stainless or coated fasteners are non-negotiable. Plain brads will leave black rust streaks in cedar within weeks.
Step 1: Cut, Sand, and Dry-Fit
Cut your sides, ends, and slats to length. Check your board for cupping first. If a 1×3 is cupped more than about 1/16″ over its width, swap it out — it will not make a flat, stable frame.
Sand all pieces to 120 grit before assembly. It is much harder to sand inside corners after the tray is together. Break the top edges lightly with 180 grit; sharp cedar edges splinter when boots hit them.
Dry-fit the outer box: long sides outside, short ends captured between them. You should get a rectangle that measures 24″ x 14″ outside, with an inside dimension of 22-1/2″ x 12-1/2″. Check for square by measuring diagonals — they should be within 1/16″ of each other. If they aren’t, tap the frame until they are.
Step 2: Assemble the Outer Frame
Run a thin bead of waterproof glue on the end grain, clamp, then nail or screw. Use two fasteners per joint on the 1×3 sides. If you use screws, pre-drill cedar. It splits easily, especially within 3/4″ of the end.
Do not try to make this joint watertight with glue alone. The plastic liner does the waterproofing. The wood frame just needs to be square, tight, and strong enough to be carried with wet boots in it — about 20-30 lbs total.
Wipe off squeeze-out immediately with a damp rag. Dried glue will not take finish and will show as pale spots under oil or polyurethane.
Step 3: Build the Slatted Insert
The slats should not be fixed to the frame. Build them as a removable insert so you can lift it out, dump the liner, and hose everything off.
Lay the two 12-1/2″ cleats parallel on your bench, 19″ apart. Lay the five 22-1/2″ slats across them, perpendicular. Space the slats with a 1/4″ gap. A 1/4″ gap drains well and supports boot heels; go wider than 3/8″ and small heels fall through, go tighter than 3/16″ and mud bridges the gaps and blocks drainage.
Use a scrap of 1/4″ plywood as a spacer. Glue and brad each slat to the cleats with one brad per intersection. Keep the insert 1/8″ smaller than the inside of the frame on all sides so it lifts out easily even when the wood swells slightly in winter.
The cleats raise the slats about 3/4″ off the liner. That air gap is what keeps boots out of standing water and lets the tray dry. Don’t skip it.
Finishing for Wet Use
Do not use straight linseed oil or Danish oil. It offers almost no standing-water protection. You need a film finish on all sides, including the bottom.
Two practical options: Exterior spar urethane (satin) or marine spar varnish. Apply three thin coats, sanding lightly with 220 grit between coats. Spar urethane stays flexible enough to handle wood movement in an entryway and does not turn milky from water as quickly as indoor polyurethane.
Finish the slat insert separately from the frame and finish the undersides. Failure almost always starts on the bottom where people don’t finish. If you don’t want a film, use a penetrating epoxy sealer followed by paste wax, but that is more work than most people need for this project.
Drop in your plastic liner, set the slat insert on top, and you are done. Replace the liner when it cracks — $6 plastic is sacrificial, the cedar is not.
Common Failures and How to Avoid Them
Tray rocks on tile: Your frame is twisted. Fix by sanding the high corner or adding small self-adhesive felt pads to the bottom. Don’t try to force it flat with weight; the glue joints will crack.
Black spots under slats: Water sat too long and mold started. Empty the liner every 2-3 days in snowy weather. Drill two 1/16″ weep holes in the liner only if your entryway floor is waterproof tile — never weep onto hardwood.
Slats warp up: You installed them crown-up without checking grain. Sight down each slat and install with the crown down, or alternate crowns. And keep the gap at 1/4″. Tight slats trap moisture and cup faster.
Frame joints open in winter: Indoor humidity dropped to 20-30% and cedar shrank. This is normal. A 1/32″ gap is not failure. If you see 1/16″ or more, your cedar was not dry when you built it. Next time let the boards acclimate inside for 3-4 days before cutting.