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Home>Improvement : Add more space & impress guests (Part 1)
13 years ago
Now this particular tutorial might not be for everyone, but I have to say that I never want to go back now that I've been able to do this, and my fiance feels the same way. This is also a 2-piece guide, because even though it's the same concept and parts, each of us used ours for a completely separate purpose.
Part 1:
I really wanted a bunk bed, ever since I was little, but being an only child, there was never going to be one in my future, but you couldn't keep me from dreaming. In my high school and early college years, I started looking into the combination Futon/Top Bunks, but they were either super expensive, or only made to hold children, which would never work for me. I'm lightweight, but I'm also really tall, so I need an adult-sized bed.
Looking into custom-built wooden beds of all shapes and sizes, I stumbled across the wonderful concept of a Loft Bed: Basically the top bunk of a bed, with the underneath area being completely open. I kept looking into this new route, but the price and wait time for a custom-built loft bed was at least $1,000, and that was for chincey, poorly-made, ugly beds that were completely unfinished, wobbly, and probably wouldn't hold more than just myself and a thin mattress. A well-made bed that could hold myself and my fiance, not to mention a real mattress (and not some skinny little uncomfortable mat) was well over $2,500, even before shipping, which was a few hundred on it's own. I think the wait time was at least a month, as well. Obviously this was not going to work.
My fiance had somewhat recently built his own desk with an overhead shelf from a small set of industrial rack parts (which I'll cover in the second part), and I knew this was sturdy, since it holds his computer, 40"+ television, and a ton of things he didn't have room for before. I couldn't remember the exact weight limit, but I started looking into it anyway and discovered that I had two really nice options for this. The first option was a custom-made industrial rack from L.K. Goodwin Co., which would have been roughly $500 after shipping and all of the necessary parts, but I'd still have had to wait at least 3 weeks and be sure to be home when the shipment arrived.
The second option was less custom, but cheaper, and available immediately, was to go the same route my fiance had, and head to a local hardware store to buy industrial rack pieces in person. I believe they are Edsal brand, which is also available at other hardware stores, but in my area, the only store that carries them on hand is Lowe's. Prices can vary depending on location or inflation, but I do believe it cost me less than $500 for all of the pieces I needed.
Now, for the parts I used... I wanted a Queen bed, since I've been sleeping on a twin my whole life, and I wanted more length and enough room for my hubby when he comes over, so I had to use two sets.
A queen-size mattress is roughly 60" wide by 80" long, so I needed something at least that big. There's only 3 separate sizes for each part, so I chose the ones that worked best for me.
Four 96" tall by 30" deep Welded Steel Frames
Six 96" long Steel Beams
Eight 24" wide by 30" long Wire Shelves (to support the mattress)
Six 30" long cross beams (no link available), which come with the nuts & bolts to attach them to the frame (sometimes the baggy comes off of the bar in store, so make sure yours has it's parts).
And some extra pieces to keep everything together:
Three Iron C Clamps (used to clamp the two sets to each other)
Ten to Thirty sets of Nuts, Bolts, and washer pairs (used in the unused slots of the end pieces to help hold the two rack sets together)
Eight 2" square furniture anti-scuff cups (placed underneath the feet of each of the end pieces. Perfect fit for the ones I bought from Big Lots)
One 84" to 108" adjustable curtain rod
Zip ties
The mattress I bought was a Queen size innerspring futon mattress for about $80 or $90 from Wal-Mart (Really great bed, actually), and I used a Queen-size sheet set for it. I bought a queen size futon mattress cover, but I can't imagine trying to put it on and take it off every week to wash it. Any mattress you use is going to be heavy, so it's best to have someone help you lift the mattress onto the frame.
The room I have now has an angled ceiling that goes from 8' high on one end to just over 12' high on the other end, so I have plenty of headroom for this setup, and plenty of room underneath the bed for my craft area. Before you invest in this sort of thing, be sure to check what kind of room you have to work with, and don't forget that the shelves themselves are about 2" thick, and your mattress will be on top of that, then you on top of the mattress. Sit in a chair or something and measure from the bottom of your butt to the top of your head and use this as a guide for how much space you're going to want above the mattress for movement.
To build this frame:
You're probably going to want a second or third person to help you out.
Put an end-piece up against the wall your going to want the end of the frame up against. Lay your beams on the floor near it, and have the opposing end-piece ready on the other end. Start with the top beam: lift it up, with the molded drop-in-shelf area facing up for your wire racks later, and fit the notches on the end of the beam into the holes on the side of the frame. Do the same with the other end of the beam and the opposing frame. Make sure the notches are as far down into the slots as possible (I had my mom spot me while I used them like monkey bars real quick to make sure they were fully locked into the frame. Be careful no matter how you choose to do it, but be sure it's done before you put anything on top of the shelf). Repeat the process with the other beam for that shelf, and then repeat the whole process for the second set of rack parts. So far, you should have used 4 beams, and all four frame end pieces. It's really recommended to have a beam across the bottom of the frame, and/or to have it up against a corner of the room, or it'll be super wobbly. I chose to have one beam across the bottom of the side of the rack that would be up against the wall, and another one across the middle of that same rack side (hence having 6 beams).
To keep the two frames held together, you can use screw-down c-clamps, nuts & bolts, locking clamps, or whatever semi-permanent method you think is best, but don't skimp on this and just hope that it'll hold.
I used a large adjustable curtain rod and some outdoor zip ties to attach it to the "outer" part of the frame, towards the top, to act as a sort of warning bar for my bed. Having slept on bunk beds before, my fiance is good about not rolling towards the edge, and I sleep on the inside next to the wall, but if you intend to do something like this, I would suggest using something stronger, such as a piece of plywood bolted to the frames, or another welded beam or two. I was originally going to do that, but this was cheaper, and we both accepted it. If I'd been worried about either of us rolling towards the edge, I would have just bought the beams.
For me, there's an extra foot and a half or so of space at the end of the mattress, so I keep small things on the shelf there, such as my laptop (I use it in bed most of the time, since I get uncomfortable at a desk), and the laptop bag. Sometimes my shoes end up there just to keep them out of the way.
I haven't done so yet, but I intend to put undershelf storage baskets underneath that top shelf, hooking them through the wire racks supporting my bed. I have other shelves and racks attached to the frame and beams for my craft supplies, since one of my craft tables is under there, along with my fluorescent lights and my gaming area.
The total weight limit for this bed is well over 400 lbs, and I think it actually goes up to 3 or 4 thousand pounds, I'm just not sure off the top of my head.
NOTICE: Many states have laws regarding the way a loft/bunk bed can be built, and how retailers have to respond if they know you're planning to have one built. I got chewed out the first time I tried to ask an industrial rack company about my idea of building a bed, and have been met with strange reactions from other retailers when I brought it up, so I found it best to just stop mentioning the bed and just talk about using it as a shelf unit in my home. By the same token, please don't come after me if you wind up hurting yourself with this setup. I'm just telling you what I did, and what I would suggest doing or not doing to keep yourself safe if you do choose this. You could just as easily do this just to have an overhead storage area for your desk or crafting area.
Just to repeat, This is my recount of how I built my loft bed, and safety precautions I recommend. I am not liable for what you choose to do with your own purchases.
The second part will be posted at another time, and will be the details for how to build the desk and shelf area that my fiance made with his edsal rack parts.
Part 1:
I really wanted a bunk bed, ever since I was little, but being an only child, there was never going to be one in my future, but you couldn't keep me from dreaming. In my high school and early college years, I started looking into the combination Futon/Top Bunks, but they were either super expensive, or only made to hold children, which would never work for me. I'm lightweight, but I'm also really tall, so I need an adult-sized bed.
Looking into custom-built wooden beds of all shapes and sizes, I stumbled across the wonderful concept of a Loft Bed: Basically the top bunk of a bed, with the underneath area being completely open. I kept looking into this new route, but the price and wait time for a custom-built loft bed was at least $1,000, and that was for chincey, poorly-made, ugly beds that were completely unfinished, wobbly, and probably wouldn't hold more than just myself and a thin mattress. A well-made bed that could hold myself and my fiance, not to mention a real mattress (and not some skinny little uncomfortable mat) was well over $2,500, even before shipping, which was a few hundred on it's own. I think the wait time was at least a month, as well. Obviously this was not going to work.
My fiance had somewhat recently built his own desk with an overhead shelf from a small set of industrial rack parts (which I'll cover in the second part), and I knew this was sturdy, since it holds his computer, 40"+ television, and a ton of things he didn't have room for before. I couldn't remember the exact weight limit, but I started looking into it anyway and discovered that I had two really nice options for this. The first option was a custom-made industrial rack from L.K. Goodwin Co., which would have been roughly $500 after shipping and all of the necessary parts, but I'd still have had to wait at least 3 weeks and be sure to be home when the shipment arrived.
The second option was less custom, but cheaper, and available immediately, was to go the same route my fiance had, and head to a local hardware store to buy industrial rack pieces in person. I believe they are Edsal brand, which is also available at other hardware stores, but in my area, the only store that carries them on hand is Lowe's. Prices can vary depending on location or inflation, but I do believe it cost me less than $500 for all of the pieces I needed.
Now, for the parts I used... I wanted a Queen bed, since I've been sleeping on a twin my whole life, and I wanted more length and enough room for my hubby when he comes over, so I had to use two sets.
A queen-size mattress is roughly 60" wide by 80" long, so I needed something at least that big. There's only 3 separate sizes for each part, so I chose the ones that worked best for me.
Four 96" tall by 30" deep Welded Steel Frames
Six 96" long Steel Beams
Eight 24" wide by 30" long Wire Shelves (to support the mattress)
Six 30" long cross beams (no link available), which come with the nuts & bolts to attach them to the frame (sometimes the baggy comes off of the bar in store, so make sure yours has it's parts).
And some extra pieces to keep everything together:
Three Iron C Clamps (used to clamp the two sets to each other)
Ten to Thirty sets of Nuts, Bolts, and washer pairs (used in the unused slots of the end pieces to help hold the two rack sets together)
Eight 2" square furniture anti-scuff cups (placed underneath the feet of each of the end pieces. Perfect fit for the ones I bought from Big Lots)
One 84" to 108" adjustable curtain rod
Zip ties
The mattress I bought was a Queen size innerspring futon mattress for about $80 or $90 from Wal-Mart (Really great bed, actually), and I used a Queen-size sheet set for it. I bought a queen size futon mattress cover, but I can't imagine trying to put it on and take it off every week to wash it. Any mattress you use is going to be heavy, so it's best to have someone help you lift the mattress onto the frame.
The room I have now has an angled ceiling that goes from 8' high on one end to just over 12' high on the other end, so I have plenty of headroom for this setup, and plenty of room underneath the bed for my craft area. Before you invest in this sort of thing, be sure to check what kind of room you have to work with, and don't forget that the shelves themselves are about 2" thick, and your mattress will be on top of that, then you on top of the mattress. Sit in a chair or something and measure from the bottom of your butt to the top of your head and use this as a guide for how much space you're going to want above the mattress for movement.
To build this frame:
You're probably going to want a second or third person to help you out.
Put an end-piece up against the wall your going to want the end of the frame up against. Lay your beams on the floor near it, and have the opposing end-piece ready on the other end. Start with the top beam: lift it up, with the molded drop-in-shelf area facing up for your wire racks later, and fit the notches on the end of the beam into the holes on the side of the frame. Do the same with the other end of the beam and the opposing frame. Make sure the notches are as far down into the slots as possible (I had my mom spot me while I used them like monkey bars real quick to make sure they were fully locked into the frame. Be careful no matter how you choose to do it, but be sure it's done before you put anything on top of the shelf). Repeat the process with the other beam for that shelf, and then repeat the whole process for the second set of rack parts. So far, you should have used 4 beams, and all four frame end pieces. It's really recommended to have a beam across the bottom of the frame, and/or to have it up against a corner of the room, or it'll be super wobbly. I chose to have one beam across the bottom of the side of the rack that would be up against the wall, and another one across the middle of that same rack side (hence having 6 beams).
To keep the two frames held together, you can use screw-down c-clamps, nuts & bolts, locking clamps, or whatever semi-permanent method you think is best, but don't skimp on this and just hope that it'll hold.
I used a large adjustable curtain rod and some outdoor zip ties to attach it to the "outer" part of the frame, towards the top, to act as a sort of warning bar for my bed. Having slept on bunk beds before, my fiance is good about not rolling towards the edge, and I sleep on the inside next to the wall, but if you intend to do something like this, I would suggest using something stronger, such as a piece of plywood bolted to the frames, or another welded beam or two. I was originally going to do that, but this was cheaper, and we both accepted it. If I'd been worried about either of us rolling towards the edge, I would have just bought the beams.
For me, there's an extra foot and a half or so of space at the end of the mattress, so I keep small things on the shelf there, such as my laptop (I use it in bed most of the time, since I get uncomfortable at a desk), and the laptop bag. Sometimes my shoes end up there just to keep them out of the way.
I haven't done so yet, but I intend to put undershelf storage baskets underneath that top shelf, hooking them through the wire racks supporting my bed. I have other shelves and racks attached to the frame and beams for my craft supplies, since one of my craft tables is under there, along with my fluorescent lights and my gaming area.
The total weight limit for this bed is well over 400 lbs, and I think it actually goes up to 3 or 4 thousand pounds, I'm just not sure off the top of my head.
NOTICE: Many states have laws regarding the way a loft/bunk bed can be built, and how retailers have to respond if they know you're planning to have one built. I got chewed out the first time I tried to ask an industrial rack company about my idea of building a bed, and have been met with strange reactions from other retailers when I brought it up, so I found it best to just stop mentioning the bed and just talk about using it as a shelf unit in my home. By the same token, please don't come after me if you wind up hurting yourself with this setup. I'm just telling you what I did, and what I would suggest doing or not doing to keep yourself safe if you do choose this. You could just as easily do this just to have an overhead storage area for your desk or crafting area.
Just to repeat, This is my recount of how I built my loft bed, and safety precautions I recommend. I am not liable for what you choose to do with your own purchases.
The second part will be posted at another time, and will be the details for how to build the desk and shelf area that my fiance made with his edsal rack parts.
