Loft bed

[Cochese]

The missus has given me a project to think about and decide if I want to do it.

Do I want to do it? Absolutely. But I don't know if it's cost effective.

I have twin 4-year old girls, and the thought was to give them some dwarfish loft beds. Leave four feet under the bottom rail for them to play, read, whatever.

I''d like to make it out of dimensional pine lumber. There's no real need for finish-caliber wood, but I'd still like it to look nice. Any advice or hints at how I should tackle this? I'll obviously need to build two.

I was thinking either 4x4 or 2x4 posts, with support rails done in some form of tenon or lap joint.

[cabinetman]

If you're planning two loft beds, installation may include attachment to the wall, and the posts as you mentioned. Having the posts poses the possibility of them being in the way. They would have to be attached to the floor. Either that, or the beds would have to be suspended from the ceiling if it's structural enough.

Do some planning and do some rough sketches of what you have in mind. From there the materials and joinery can be figured out. I'm not suggesting bunk beds, but I'm including this setup that I did in a very small room. You might get some ideas. It has two beds, drawer storage, and a desk.
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[Cochese]

I definitely want them to be freestanding. I am either going to put a table or some book/toy storage on the interior of the posts.

[chopnhack]

LOL, just remember hot air rises and beds that are up higher like that can be stuffy in GA summers

[mpc]

Remember most 2x4 and 4x4 material is rounded on the corners. That makes neat joints difficult - for "T" joints or "+" joints. You might have to rip/jointer a quarter inch or so off each board to get really square stock. Keep that in mind when laying out dimensions.

If you go with 2x4 material but want a 4x4 look, glue two 2x4s together back-to-back. Then wherever you need a lap joint, just cut boards short:
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Okay, ASCII characters make a lousy diagram but hopefully that's enough to show what I mean. Instead of cutting a notch into a single 4x4 post, use 1 long and 2 short 2x4 pieces glued/bonded together. This makes setting the depth of the joint easy too - it's virtually automatic unless your 2x4 stock is inconsistent in thickness.

Give some thought to how you'll keep the structure from "racking" with kids climbing on it. "Z" braces or some diagonals may be essential. Or a plywood "shear" panels along one side and the back. Cover the exposed portions of the plywood with bulletin board material or paint it for hanging pictures.

good luck and have fun! Cost effective? Phffpt! Get the wife and kids involved with the painting or maybe some of the final assembly so it becomes a family project and that'll be well worth the extra cost.

mpc

[jdon]

Several years ago I built a loft for my older son- 2x6 frame with a 4x8 sheet of plywood laid in rabbets to be flush (he wanted some more room than just for a mattress, with a play area retreat from a pesky younger sister).

I used 2x4's and 2x6's for each leg, but even with corner braces between the legs and the platform frame, there was a LOT of wobble when my son moved around on the platform. I had visions of a middle of the night crash, so I ended up putting some lag screws through the frame into wall studs, which made it rock-solid. I put a spacer between the frame and the wall, to allow for the offset from base molding at the floor. When I eventually dismantled the loft, the lag screw holes were easily spackled.

Your design and construction technique might be better than mine, but remember that this is essentially a bed on stilts; anchoring to the wall gives more support where it's needed (at the top) than bolting to the floor. Good luck- your daughters will love it!

[sscherin]

When we built our first loft it was 4x4 legs and 2x12 bed box..

the legs were half lapped into the side rails and bolted through into the end boards with a bed bolt type setup... That locked them in so racking was not an issue. 2 bolts pr leg.. We didn't dowel it but there is no reason you couldn't.. It would probably make assembly easier.



We didn't use the special bed bolts.. Just regular grade 5 bolts, nuts, washers and some plastic plugs to cover the bolt heads.

Ace Hardware has some nice chrome bolt head caps that might look nice.

[Cochese]

That's similar to what I was thinking.

[sscherin]

We did have some problems with the 4x4 legs bowing and twisting over time so a laminated leg of two 2x4 or four 1x4 may be the better way if it's built from fir or pine.
The 4x4's also tended to check as they dry..

[Richard in Smithville]

Dimensional lumber such as 2x4's can make beautiful furniture but using it straight from the lumber yard can give you grief. The moisture content can be way too high. It may be a high as 16%-20% depending on where you live.
Your best bet is to let the lumber continue to dry by stickering the lumber and let a fan blow on the stack for at least a week before you use it( longer is better). Check out publications by Michael Fortune or Steve Maxwell for building with dimensional lumber.

[pelligrini]

I did my bench out of SYP demensional lumber, but I used 2x12s and a few 2x10s and ripped them all to size. Glued up 5x5 and 5x7 legs. Most all of the 2x4 and 4x4 material I had access to had 'issues'.

I also did an unusually tall queensize bedframe (32") using ripped 2x12s. It had to be knockdown so I designed it so each side and end was and firmly attached to a leg portion and the legs had a couple of thru carriage bolts fasteneing the ends to the sides. It ended up being very rigid.

[capncarl]

The twins will not be shorter than 4 feet very long, so keep in mind phase 2 of the bed project. If it is not built to grow with the kids you will be cutting it out and designing another system.

capncarl

[Cochese]

It looks like I may spend the money and order a set of plans from OP loft beds. I could easily build one from the dimensions given, but I like to customize things to my need, and having the measurements will make that easier.

As for height, yes, they will grow. But they might not even want these by the time that happens. And I could always either extend the height or replace the posts.

[Cochese]

We ended up getting a fantastic deal on two loft beds and matching bookcases off of CL for cheaper than I could have made them. Nice solid pine, made by a company in NC that is unfortunately expired.

[cabinetman]

We ended up getting a fantastic deal on two loft beds and matching bookcases off of CL for cheaper than I could have made them. Nice solid pine, made by a company in NC that is unfortunately expired.

And all this time I thought you were cuttin' gluin' and sanding.

Just kidding. That's sometimes the case that an item can be purchased for less than making it. It's the fun and craftsmanship that goes into a project that can be rewarding.
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