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This is the bunk bed for real life: light enough for two people to carry in pieces, cheap enough to build for under $200, and — the design's whole personality — assembled entirely with screws so it can be taken apart. The plan is blunt about why: a finished bunk bed does not fit through a doorway. Either build it in the bedroom, or plan on removing the side rails to move it. No glue on the structural joints, ever, if you want that option to survive.
Construction is straightforward: two ladder-like end panels (2x4 legs, 2x6 rungs), 2x6 side rails screwed at a slight angle into the legs for better bite, 2x2 cleats, and twenty 1x4 slats. The cut list covers both the low bunk (50-1/2" legs) and the standard bunk (64-1/2" legs, an extra ladder rung, and 8" clearance under the bottom rung).
Same ladder philosophy as its loft-bed sibling: the ladder gets its own doubled leg on the free side, because the ladder is the part that gets climbed, yanked, and swung on. And the standing rule for anything with a top bunk — guardrail installed before the first sleepover, not after.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 2x4, 10 ftLegs and ladder. | 4 each |
| 2x6, 10 ftRails — cut the 75" pieces first, the 41" ends come from the offcuts. | 6 each |
| 2x2, 8 ftSlat cleats, both bunks. | 4 each |
| 1x4, 8 ftTwenty bed slats. | 10 each |
| Self-tapping screws, #8 x 2-1/2", star driveMain construction — up to 3" is fine. | 100 each |
| Self-tapping screws, #7 x 1-5/8", star driveSlats only. | 80 each |
Overall cost: $$$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Side rails2x6Cut these first. | 5 | 1 1/2" × 5 1/2" × 75" |
| End rails2x6From the offcuts. | 6 | 1 1/2" × 5 1/2" × 41" |
| Ladder-side top rail2x6Approximate — measure and cut to fit your assembled bed. | 1 | 1 1/2" × 5 1/2" × 55" |
| Legs and ladder sides2x464-1/2" for the standard-height bunk. | 7 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 50 1/2" |
| Ladder rungs2x4Cut 3 for the standard-height bunk. | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 18" |
| Slat cleats2x2 | 4 | 1 1/2" × 1 1/2" × 75" |
| Bed slats1x4 | 20 | 3/4" × 3 1/2" × 38" |
Buy 30 boards at 8 ft.
9 boards
7 boards
4 boards
10 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Screw the 41" end rails across pairs of legs with 2-1/2" screws — two rungs per bunk level. Building the standard-height version, leave 8" of clearance under the bottom rung.
Read the plan's warning twice: an assembled bunk does not fit through a doorway. If you're building in the garage, these are among the screws you'll remove later — so drive them clean and USE NO GLUE.
Screw the 75" side rails to the end panels, driving at a slight angle into the legs — angled screws bite across more grain and hold better than straight ones in this joint. Keep the same clearances as the end panels.
Screw the 18" rungs between two ladder sides — rungs spaced 14" apart on the standard height, which also gets a third rung. Ease every rung edge; this gets climbed barefoot at 6 a.m.
Attach the seventh 2x4 to the back of the ladder on the side that won't meet a bed leg. The ladder ends up with doubled structure on both sides — deliberate over-building for the hardest-used part of the bed.
Screw the ladder to the bed from the inside. Then measure the remaining opening between ladder and end leg — around 55", but measure YOURS — cut the last 2x6 to fit, and screw it to both.
Screw the 2x2 cleats flush to the bottom edges of the side rails — at least six screws per side, both bunks. Every pound of kid and mattress rides these cleats; this is not the place to economize on screws.
If the bed was built outside the bedroom: remove the end-panel screws, carry the flat panels and rails in, and rebuild in place. This is the payoff of the no-glue rule.
Lay ten slats per bunk across the cleats and screw down with the 1-5/8" screws, two per end — the doubled screws stiffen the whole platform.
Then the non-negotiable: fit a guardrail to the top bunk's open sides before anyone sleeps up there. The upper side rails give you solid wood to bolt one to.
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