Anyone here have bun beds?

[Dumb_Polack]

Hi I'm building bunk beds for our daughter and I'm at the point where I need to cut the mortises for the upper bunk, but I'd like to know how far apart the lower bunk (assuming with a mattress and a box spring) are from the upper bunk (presumably just a mattress that rests on a sheet of plywood) need to be.

If you've got them, can you measure from the top of the lower mattress to the underside of the upper bunk for me?  thanks!

[TDKPE]

Don't have one to measure, but I would assume you'd want the space between the top of the lower mattress and the bottom of the upper frame to be the same as the top of the upper mattress to the ceiling, assuming 8 ft ceilings.  More room if the ceilings are higher.  That way both occupants have equal room to rest their buns.

[Cooler]

[BloomingtonMike]

Bunk beds have box springs?

[NormT]

Bunk beds have box springs?

When buying a mattress recently I asked why a box spring was used.  The answer was, the box spring insures a flat smooth surface  for the mattress.  Makes sense.  Pedestal beds don't use a box spring, not needed.
As far as bunk beds, I know nothing! 

Norm

[highpi]

I made a set many years ago but I don't recall the distance between the two. I think I used a set of plans from Rockler. 

I used plywood for each bed, no box spring and just had the standard mattress. Kids never complained.

[5thumbs]

We used to have bunk beds but after my wife turned 70, she didn't like climbing the ladder anymore.

[hbmcc]

We used to have bunk beds but after my wife turned 70, she didn't like climbing the ladder anymore.

I quit when it rained on me every night. 

[TheCabinetmaker]

I put my buns in a bed every night. 






(you might want to correct the subject line)

[Bibliophile 13]

First of all, you really don't need a box spring for a bunk bed, even on the bottom one.  Space-wise it's a lot more efficient to just use 3/4" plywood or even 2X material for underlayment and put the mattress directly on top of that.  If you use 2X material for slats, you can space them about every 3"-4" and still have a rock-solid base.  

I built some bunk beds for my kids, but we had special space constraints, so they have only 3 feet of space from the bottom of one bunk to the bottom of the next.  It's a tight fit, but it works (for now).  I think the recommendation of about 45" of headroom between the bottom of the lower mattress and the bottom of the upper mattress is a good ballpark figure. 

Finally, my 11-year-old daughter just walked into the room to see what I was typing here.  (She sleeps in the top bunk.)  She said to tell you that you should really build shelves into the structure.  Might be too late in the build for that, but I told her I'd pass it on.