top bunk

[Bolerpuller]

I have the bunk bed model (19' bigfoot) and my youngest is about 100lbs. Does anyone have the specs on how much the top bunk will hold? My old Boler only held 80lbs so I thought I should find out before he falls through.

[Franswa]

I think the description in the brochure was..."suitable for a child"....

100 pounds is no child in my book...but what do I know?


fill two five gallon gas cans full of water and throw them up there...if it survives that test it'll probably work....Does your kid have a bike helmet?

[k corbin]

You have a problem so now it is time for some problem solving thinking. There is asking will it hold more than 80lbs and then there is a more positive approach of asking what can I do to make it hold more than 100lbs because on thing is for sure, he will weigh more each year.

You might be able to make it work with some re-engineering of how the bunk is supported. I can't advise on exactly how to do it as I don't own one so I can't walk in and see the situation and think it through and tell you exactly how to accomplish it. But I can offer some generalized suggestions.

Here is what I can tell you, my friend who is an adult and weighs closer to 175lbs has a bunk he put into his highway trailer up over his desk space that is nothing more than cleat on each end wall with board against the back wall and board across the front. The mattress is just a piece of canvas. But he does hook two straps up to fasteners in the ceiling cross bars at the front edge of the bed. You can't hook to the ceiling as there are no cross bar beams but you can put a couple of additional supports going from floor to the front edge of the bunk. The weight will be transferred down to the floor. You can make those uprights removable so they are out of the way during the day.

You might also want to fiberglass in some extra load bearing support on the walls for the rear and sides of the bunk support.

So the answer is you can likely do it but you do need to make some modifications to make it happen. Think it through, visualize your body lying on the bed and imagine your weight pushing things down and imagine what can you do to resist that force. You have to learn to "see" the weight being transferred up, down, sideways...wherever it can go to a place that can help distribute and support the weight. Spreading it around helps

Here is a little graphic visualization to get you started with a very basic explanation.
http://www.simbotics.org/resources/m...e-distribution

[Jon in AZ]

What does Escape say? Scamp told me theirs will hold 120 pounds. Our 14 year old is right at 100 pounds and uses the top bunk without issue.

If it comes to it, I have thought about adding several wedge shaped brackets to support the ledge under the window the bunk rests on and doubling up the support posts.

[Bolerpuller]

Thanks for the replys, looks like I have some work to do.....or a helmet....would be cheaper

[Byron Kinnaman]

Get a tent and put the kid in a tent to sleep. Hard to fall out of tent.

[nolan krombein]

I have the same problem. '72 boler and 165lb "kid" to sleep on it. I don't trust the little fiberglass shelf just under the window to support the bed so I have been thinking of the following solution:

1. For vertical load, I will build a frame out of a combination of 2x2 (for the vertical posts) and 2x3 / 2x4 (for the horizontal bits) cedar (lightweight, doesn't warp, smells nice) and let the vertical posts line up (more or less) with the metal frame underneath. This will prevent the posts punching through the plywood, not that it would, but lets overengineer it.

2. For horizontal support (don't want the whole thing collapsing sideways when my daughter turns over in bed), I will likely just run some 45 degree angles between the posts, like they do for decks.

2a. See picture below.
Instead of the 45 degree angle supports, I could have my vertical posts a little longer, attach the mattress supporting board about 8 inches from the top, and then use 1x6 fencing board (again, cedar) attached so that the tops line up. So, starting at the mattress support board and adding a 4 inch mattress on that, the bottom of the fence board would overlap the mattress by a couple of inches, and then there would be 3.5 inches of the board that is above the level of the mattress. this is to prevent a sleeper falling out. If you are handy, then cut the board so that the area by the head and torso is raised but the area by the legs is level with the mattress - to aid getting in and out of the upper bunk.

The walls of the boler will provide left-to-right support, the front wall of the boler will provide backward stability, so all you have to do it provide enough stability so that the frame doesn't move forwards, as viewed when standing in front of the bunk. Screwing the fence boards, esp the ones by the sleeper's head and feet, properly onto the vertical supports will provide this stability.


Won't be the prettiest job but I don't want to make a permanent installation that is pretty, expensive and time-consuming because in a few years' time, it will just be my wife and I (i.e. we've gone from sleeping 4 to sleeping 2), and the front will likely receive a remodel then.