8+4+2= bunkbeds

[Rockerbox1]

8 - 2by6by8
+
4 - 2 by4by8
+
2 hours
=
these quick and simple bunkbeds.

needed to build a set of bunkbeds for my daughters, and threw these together pretty quick. course after they were built it took another 3 or so hours to sand and stain them, but all in all, a fun project for the afternoon.

I could have stained them a bit quicker and a LOT better finnish if I had taken them apart to stain, but don't have the room for 16 individual pieces of wood laying around to stain.

I know there was a thread about building with 2 by 4's but I couldn't find it, so if someone wants to merge this post into that thread.... go for it

tools used;
circular saw, tape measure, cordless drill, speed square, random orbit sander

 

[bdkruger1]

 

[Hiball]

Looks Good.. Im guessing its cold there? I see at least 2 heaters in the Pics. LOL..

 

[Rockerbox1]

hiball
yeah, it's cold. right now it's 0.5 degrees. and the garage is cold, no insulation in the ceiling....yet

I use the lp heater to heat it up everyso often, and the electric heater I just turned on to help keep a little bit of the chill off overnight.

bdkruger.... whats so confusing?

 

[scott37300]

I like the simplicity of it. But I do have some concern on the sturdyness of it. Maybe my concerns are unwarrantied but having done a lot of carpentry work it looks like you might be able to rack the beds pretty easy. One thing I noticed is on your 2x4 cross braces your screws are at the ends of the 2x4s. I would have put two more about 3 inches in, so you have 4 scres in each cross brace. This does 2 things, one is more sear strength because screws don't have very good shear strength and if the people using the beds are using the ends as ladders it might be a concern. And second reason is this will prevent the beds from racking diagonally. Probably could still add them if you wanted to strengthen it up a little.

My other concern is only 2 screws holding each rail to the uprights. Just hate to see the bed start leaning and tip over causing injury. Maybe it's fine, sometimes I over engineer everything.

 

[Rockerbox1]

as far as additional screws in the "ladder rungs" I thought about that after I snapped these pics, and added 2 more on each end... good eye

as far as the rails, those are pretty much strictly decorative. yeah, they hold the ends to each other, but the beds themselves are steel frames, with a combo, wire mesh and coil spring type design that bolt to the uprights, the rails are here mainly just to hide the steel framed pieces

I appreciate your concern tho

 

[Jack Olsen]

The bed looks great. It's amazing how much we pay for furniture that isn't as solid as what we can build ourselves for a lot less money and not much more of our time.

I think the end pieces look very solid. But I have to agree that the sketchy part is running wood screws into the heads of those side rails. The danger is that over time the soft wood distorts and loses its grip, slowly, so that you could get a 'collapsing trapezoid' situation (which might be what Scott means by rack -- but I don't know the nomenclature for this stuff).

I would get a piece of 1/2" plywood and cut two right triangles, 10"x10"x14-1/8" each, and put them over the joint where the 2x6 meets the upright. You can put them on the wall side so they're not visible. But then you'll have screws going into the side of the rail and the side of the uprights in a way that I'm pretty sure will be a lot stronger, over time.

If the bed is going to be in one location long term, and you're able to locate your wall studs, you could also run a couple of 3" wood screws through the upper side rail piece and right into the studs. That will arrest your lateral movement and time and repeated roughhousing will be kinder to those 90 joints.

Disclaimer: I'm not a carpenter or an engineer.

 

[Rockerbox1]

like I said, the side rails are purely decorative. they are just to hide the steel frame. I grew up sleeping on a set of bunk beds (store bought) that were made of a full 2 by 2 at each corner and 2 1 by 4's for cross members at each end. my bed never fell, or collapsed. the frame the matress sits on was the same thing then as I am using now (sorry I didn't take a pic, I will when I put this bed in their bedroom)

looks like this

 

[LEVE]

A few decades ago... I had a gaggle of kids home. I made a triple bunk-bed from 2X4's and 4X4's for posts. The difference is that I made a platform at each level from 1" plywood. The mattresses were laid directly on the plywood. The bed was heavy as the dickens and wouldn't rack if you paid it to... The kids finally out grew it and forced me to buy a new house with more bedrooms. The bed bought me time.

 

[MoonRise]

What, no dovetail joints or wedged through-tenons? Oh, the humanity!

Hey, you made it and it 'works' for you, so

But I also do have a bit of concern over the structure and the strength. (I have beeen accused of having a wee bit of 'overkill' in some of my 'stuff'. )

I understand you have the steel mattress support frame and all, but even so just putting a few (small) wood screws into the end-grain of some softwood 2x lumber is not such a good 'plan'. End-grain is really not all that good for screwing or nailing into (although hardwood end-grain, like say hard rock maple , does make awesome REAL butcher-block cutting boards).

Ahem, where was I? Oh yeah, wood, end-grain, screws, and structure.

Hmmm, the steel mattress frame will get screwed to the wooden side and end rails? Yeah, that should take almost all the load off of those end-grain screws. I say to just periodically check all the screws for looseness. If they all stay tight, then no problems. If they start loosening up, then you can 'modify' things as needed.

Hmmm, you don't seem to have wooden end-rails for the steel mattress frame to attach to, so the structure is then just the steel frame connecting to the wooden side-rails and then the steel frame visible and going across the end of the beds. I would have put wooden end-rails at the same level as the wooden side-rails to have the design (and structure) going straight across and around.

And with those end cross-rails and no other (shown) obvious ladder to get up to the top bunk, then they will get used to climb on. Or hanging from, or jumping off from, and whatnot. So I'd say it's a good idea to make sure they are attached strongly and well.



Jack, re: "racking". Yup, that is the 'collapsing trapezoid or parallelogram' event.

 

[Rockerbox1]

OMG.....
the steel frame bolts to the uprights. not the sides
the 2 screws on each post into the endgrain of the beds is fine.

this is a bed for my daughters, not some fatassed adults. and there is no structural purpose to the side rails, none, zip, ziltch

You know I have read tons and tons on here and learned alot, and have gained some valuable oppinions, but sometimes alot of you folks overthink things way too much.

so everyone is telling me 4 3.5 inch long construction grade screws isn't enough to support the weight of a 76 inch long 2 by 6 that is not load bearing........

anyone ever heard the expression "so smart it's stupid"?


Mods, please delete this thread, I won't start any new threads... trust me

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Were you able to buy the steel frame/mattress support locally? I would have never thought you could buy just the part you need. Bunk beds for kids are great, they don't take up alot of space and give the kids more floor space for play. They are cheap and when the kids outgrow them, you can give them to someone who needs them.

Good work.

Just ignore the naysayers. If, when it is all said and done, you find it have some end racking, you can add some gussets. If it seems sturdy and stays that way, then don't worry about it. I've seen store bought stuff alot crappier.

Charles

 

[Rockerbox1]

Charles
yeah, I got the frames from a local furniture store. I've had them for a couple years, but if I remember right, they were $30 each

and just to check to make sure I wasn't putting my kids in harms way, about an hour ago, I went out to the garage (needed a cigarette and don't smoke in the house), I climbed up onto the second rung of the end rails, and jumped up and down a couple times, shook, twisted, etc... I couldn't get the thing to budge, twist, creak, anything

once I bring it in the house tomorrow and get the frames on and put up, I will take pics again and post if anyone is interested.

And, just for those who think I am under engineering these, go to a furniture store some time and look at some wooden bunk beds..... most are very unstable and weak, mine aren't, trust me

 

[MalibuLX3]

Mods, please delete this thread, I won't start any new threads... trust me

Chill out man, they're just trying to give you some advice. No need to delete the thread, personally I like seeing peoples projects and I'm sure others do too.

Are you going to build a ladder also, or buy one?

 

[Rockerbox1]

each end can be used as a ladder

and I appologize for coming across so pissy, but trust me, I wouldn't build anything that would put my children in harms way..... and these bunkbeds are a ton sturdier than the ones I slept on for years as a kid.......

 

[islandkent]

Looks good my man! Nice and sturdy looking. Just bought my son a store bought bed about a year ago. It was a flimsy piece, had to sturdy it up with plywood under the matress. Cheap **** they make today and sell for big price (for a few 2x2's and a couple of 2x4 and some decking) What was I thinking.
Good job man!

 

[toxicz28]

Not much different than the one my kids sleep in. It'll work fine.

 

[bdkruger1]

There was nothing in your original post about how the mattresses were going to be kept up, thus the

 

[reinhardt]

oh no! with out the proper gussets on that bunkbed set your television may spontaneously combust! run for your life! i know the feeling w/ the naysayers, every time i post up a project i wait for the doomsayers. nice build man.

ben

 

[Rockerbox1]

wow, had to come back to this.... been 2 whole months since the bunkbeds were put into use (sorry, forgot to get pics) and OMG!!!!! the bed hasn't collapsed, it didn't fall over, it hasn't tweaked or racked, the sky didn't fall, etc, etc, etc

but since I did build them out of wood and didn't used 2by 3 box tubing and weld everything together and then bolt them to the kids bedroom floor and walls, maybe that's what cause the earthquake in Japan and resulting tsunami, and now radiation problems

 

[great white tj]

Get roll of duck tape, and a bowl of ice cream. You will be set, that bowl of ice cream can fix anything that gets to ya........ The duck tape, well everyone should have a roll or two. Some times I need two bowls of ice cream.

 

[Pukeballs]

I was wondering if you had to take the beds apart to get them inside? Most interior doors aren't wide enough to get the bunks through.

 

[Rockerbox1]

I was wondering if you had to take the beds apart to get them inside? Most interior doors aren't wide enough to get the bunks through.

yeah, definately had to take em apart. Two end pieces and the 4 side rails

and I appologize if my smartassed mouth pissed any of ya off this morning, I was actually in a good mood

 

[Spareparts]

My twin boy's went thru 2 bunkbed sets (store bought) so the next set was 2' X2" box tubing and 2" x 2" x3/16" angle for the side rails, 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" tubing for the cross braces for the ladder on each end. A little taller for head room on the bottom bunk, lasted several years and were given to a friend for his hunting cabin and he loves them. Kinda funny when you said they weren't welded out of steel tubing, but with 2 roudy boys that was what it took. Sometimes it is just rewarding to build something functional and safe for your family. Some times just buying it is not the only answer. Tip my hat to you

 

[larknut]

I, for one, would like to see a picture of the finished bunk bed.

 

[fergus]

I, for one, would like to see some plans that have been signed off by an engineer for the bunk beds.

 

[Professur]

I, for one, would love to be able to weld wood.

 

[MoonRise]

I, for one, would love to be able to weld wood.

Oh, that's easy.

http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?product_id=35

or how about

http://www.dap.com/images/products/00203.jpg

http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?BrandID=63&SubcatID=10

or goood ol'

http://www.dap.com/images/products/004900.jpg

http://www.dap.com/product_details.aspx?BrandID=62&SubcatID=10

(although I usually go for TiteBond myself http://www.titebond.com/ )