Loft beds for my girls

Submitted by Talarin on Fri, 12/27/2013 - 07:03

My wife and I came across this site 2 years ago and immediately fell in love with the loft beds.  I have never done any kind of project like this and really wasn't sure if I could do it.  I'm an IT guy, so the idea of fumbling around with power tools was a bit intimidating.

I decided to give it a try this year, 2013, as a Christmas present for my two girls, ages 9 and 7.  I bought a chop saw and circular saw, had the wood delivered and proceeded to take over the garage.  Following the plans, I started making my cuts.  Made a few mistakes and had to go buy extra wood, but eventually I completed my cut list.  I proceeded to prime and paint the wood, except for where I was gluing as I heard from a friend that wood glue worked much better on wood than paint.  Go figure.

I sent the girls to my dad's the weekend before Christmas.  They had no idea what I was doing out in the garage and I wanted to make it a complete surprise.  I had a good friend come over and help me assemble.  The first bed took just over 10 hours to complete.  Neither one of us really knew what we were doing, so we were being extra cautious.  The second one took us 4 1/2 hours.

I have to admit, I was quite proud of how it turned out.  The plans were really easy to follow, even for a complete novice like me.  I was really surprised at how sturdy the beds were, no wobbling, hardly any creaking when getting in them, a really solid product.  I did some touch up paint after it was all assembled and then I was done. I highly recommend this plan to anyone considering a loft bed.

Tal

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$450 for two beds and accessories
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
One coat of primer, one coat of semi-gloss white paint. I used a small roller for the vast majority of it so as to avoid brush strokes.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner