Wooden Bunk Beds

maureenjscott

Hi there everyone, I was hoping that I could pester some of you for a little advice!

I have two kids at the moment (9 and 4yo) and they currently have a metal frame bunk bed which is badly in need of replacement - its about 5yo and due to buckled tubes etc i feel that it is almost a danger to them and so i need to get a new one before it does become a danger!

My hubby is convinced that a solid pine one is the way to go, however, my sister and I had a pine bunk bed growing up and, although i dont remember much about it, there was an incident where the top bed fell through and thankfully although my sister was on the top, i was not underneath when it fell! So, I am a bit apprehensive about a wooden one!

DH on the other hand reckons he slept in a pine bed for years growing up, well into his teen years (and he was a big lad) too and that if we spent a bit of money on it, this would last for a good bit longer than the metal one! We have a baby on the way, so its likely that the older kid would eventually get a bed of his own and the younger two in the bunks.

If anyone has any advice or even if you have a bunk bed that you'd recommend I look at or even avoid - I'd be very grateful!

thanks to you all in advance
mo x

chinagirl

I have 3 DS and my younger 2 have a wooden bunkbed, which was also used for DS1 and DS2 when DS3 was still in a cot. I prefer a wooden bed, as I do not trust metal for beds. I feel its not healthy to be encased in a metal structure for hours on end during your sleeping period. Its just my silly way, I know, but I would give a vote for the wooden bunk beds.

Alikay

We've just bought these (not from this seller...just used this link for pic and description). Nice solid bunks with good thick slats and a proper ladder - the sheer vertical ones are less safe and harder to climb. They separate into two nice looking singles for future flexibility too.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Joseph-Maple-Haley-Bunk-Beds-With-2-Candy-Mattresses_W0QQitemZ200400756356QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBeds_Mattresses?hash=item2ea8d0de84

Money_maker

My boys had wooden bunk beds. Thought they would be in them as teenagers but our situation changed and we were able to use them as two singles. Really nice beds and no issues with them being wooden. TBH, metal doesn't appeal to me. Cant remember where we got them from - probably one of the sheds.

Sarah-Jane_2

I had metal ones in my teens (single bed on top, double underneath type ones) - they were so noisy and uncomfortable, plus freezing cold if your hand accidentally flopped against the bars in the night. I'd go with wooden ones if I was getting some again:cool:

ka7e

When my boys were small we had pine bunks, but they were incredibly noisy/creaky and the headroom in the lower one was terrible. We eventually bought Ikea metal bunks and they were rock solid. An adult can sit upright on the lower one without bumping your head!
This does mean the top bunk is quite high, but the safety rail is deep too.

The boys used them until their late teens until we freed up another room, otherwise they would still be in them! The bunks were passed on to relatives and are still as good as new.
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60050290

*Louise*

Our boys have a sturdy pine bunk bed, not keen on metal ones either tbh.

No issues with it at all, they have used it for a couple of years since youngest DS finished using the cot It will split down into 2 beds once they get their own rooms.

elektra-2007

I find metal bunks come loose and squeak quite quickly, Im a light sleeper so I hate my lad ahving metal beds.
I would recomend a GOOD set of pine bunk that can be used as 2 beds, I brought pine spindle ones from a catalouge about 10 years ago and my brother is still using them for his kids and they are solid. They look like these and there is good head room from underneath.
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.xcatalogueshop.com/images/ALBANY_BUNK_3FT.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.xcatalogueshop.com/index.php%3Fmain_page%3Dproduct_info%26cPath%3D69_79_85%26products_id%3D210&usg=__UZrbw8reJGqQvMCRALBy-R_-mb4=&h=1001&w=1181&sz=160&hl=en&start=12&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=2jPD7bZD7PxCYM:&tbnh=127&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpine%2Bspindle%2Bbunk%2Bbeds%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1R2ADRA_enGB348%26um%3D1
Ebay is also a good place to look, Ikea have some good ones but i would recomend looking in store as some are really small and cheap made.

maureenjscott

Thanks for all the advice here guys, I really appreciate it.
I think i'm starting to come around with a view to getting wooden ones.
The metal one they have just now makes the most awful creaking noises and i fully agree with the person who said about the metal being freezing on cold nights! I was going to go have a look at ikea this week, I would rather see and feel them before buying. Argos have a set that i think look quite good - http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6661845/Trail/searchtext%3EBUNK+BED.htm

mo x

carefullycautious

If you are worried about the wooden top bed falling off could you not use some type of bracket on each of the legs to screw the top bed to the bottom one?

pigpen

My brother and I had wooden bunkbeds until I was 11.. they were then separated when we moved to a bigger house and we got our own rooms. The other set of bunks we had belonged to my sisters from the younger one being about 3.. I inherited them 14 years later for my children and they were eventually disposed of 5 years later when I could afford new ones (they were dark wood and I wanted pine in keeping with the furniture) The wooden slatted base was reglued once or twice but other than that they did fantastically well..

I now have 3 sets of metal bunks and they are horrible and will be replaced ASAP. They are simply dangerous by comparison.