Bed on stilts - self build or off the shelf purchase?

[Adsibob]

I'm looking for a raised bed for my son's room. It needs to be high enough so there is 6' of clearance under it, although in future we might want to lower it slightly to give him more room up top when he grows taller. Most of the ones I've found don't have any adjustment and are too low to give us the 6' of clearance, e.g. this one: https://www.bedkingdom.co.uk/noomi-tera-solid-wood-highsleeper-bed.html?fo_c=264&fo_k=595ca8297aadd4d71819cdfacc162148&fo_s=googlecsv&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=21098690528&cq_term=&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&cq_plt=gp&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiuC2BhDSARIsALOVfBKbolReUuDvTPaB21ORFYqtGal3ph_u2Drqa3AUXsvZH6eOh96u0gQaAqtQEALw_wcB#80=700

 

This has made me consider self building one, but I'm not sure it will be as easy as I think it will be... these things never are.

 

Anyone have any experience building bunk beds? How did you get on? The bits I'm concerned about are the ladder and generally making it all sturdy enough and safe enough. He's only six now, but it should ideally last him till he's 17/18.

[ProDave]

I assume you have very high ceilings?  Otherwise a standard 8ft ceiling height and 6ft under the bed, allowing just 6" for a mattress will give you only 18" between the bed and the ceiling.  It will be like sleeping in the quarter berth on a boat.  Don't try sitting up in bed.

[Adsibob]

6 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I assume you have very high ceilings?  Otherwise a standard 8ft ceiling height and 6ft under the bed, allowing just 6" for a mattress will give you only 18" between the bed and the ceiling.  It will be like sleeping in the quarter berth on a boat.  Don't try sitting up in bed.

Ceilings are only 258cm high, so about 8.5 feet. The idea of the adjustability is that:

• now whilst he's only little 2ft is enough for him to sit up (so 6 foot under the bed, about half a foot for the bed slats and mattress leaving 2 feet for him to sit up; but
• as he grow taller we can reduce the clearance underneath/increase clearance above.

The area underneath is to act as a play area. It will have a table and chairs for a trainset and/or lego. I'm a bit of a kid so want room to play under there without hitting my head, at least whilst he's still interested in my playing with him. 

[ProDave]

The usual configuration is a desk under the bed so you don't need full standing headroom.

[Adsibob]

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

The usual configuration is a desk under the bed so you don't need full standing headroom.

Yes, but because of the layout of the room I'm not sure that will as we need the desk/table to come out from under the bed. I will try drawing some plans to figure out exactly the layout we want, but still interested to hear about any experiences of building bunk beds people have. 

[garrymartin]

I don't understand the requirement for the 6 feet clearance underneath for a child of that age; even for you, you can bend! Bear in mind also that that means they will be quite high up with the potential for a fall...

 

Both of our kids used a raised bed with a desk and storage underneath until about the age of 10 or so, but it had nowhere near that clearance - it just wasn't needed. The beds had a ladder and a slide.

 

I'd suggest the best thing to do would be to go and see some and try them out in practice before making any decisions.

[FuerteStu]

I've built two raised beds for my eldest boy. Both were built to be as indestructible as he is destructive. 

 

I never went that high and they were high enough for plenty to go on underneath. I can post pictures if you're interested in what I came up with? 

[peekay]

You'll want more than 2 foot of headspace above the bed for when you inevitably end up sitting up with him whilst ill or reading with him in bed as he gets older.

 

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I was looking at furniture in Lux for grandchildren and saw some of these, the blue one was on a resell site and has sold so sadly I can't show you the other pics but it has a table you slide out. 

Mobili seems really good even for inspiration. Perhaps you could do something similar and put a table underneath. Otherwise look at loft beds, plenty of designs. Very popular in Lux, Japan etc.

Edited September 4 by CalvinHobbes

[FuerteStu]

First one I built allowed for a sofa bed underneath.. 

 

Large steps for a 5yo to climb, there was a light on a timer at the top, so he didn't have to climb down in the dark. 

 

The rail at the top was made from a length of 2x3 and two broom sticks cut into sections

[FuerteStu]

Second one was when he was older.. Had a steeper ladder, and made with scaffold tubes. 

 

This one was fixed to two walls. With the corner supported with an upright

[Adsibob]

On 04/09/2024 at 19:31, FuerteStu said:

I've built two raised beds for my eldest boy. Both were built to be as indestructible as he is destructive. 

 

I never went that high and they were high enough for plenty to go on underneath. I can post pictures if you're interested in what I came up with? 

Thanks for the pictures. All looks very impressive.

Edited September 8 by Adsibob

[Adsibob]

On 04/09/2024 at 21:48, FuerteStu said:

The rail at the top was made from a length of 2x3 and two broom sticks cut into sections

Brings new meaning to “bed knobs and broom sticks”